Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!cat.cis.Brown.EDU!agate!overload.lbl.gov!dog.ee.lbl.gov!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!jfox
From: jfox@netcom.com (Jeff Fox)
Subject: Re: 100 Billion Neurons Nonsense NONSENSE
Message-ID: <jfoxCs9v8K.Eu3@netcom.com>
Sender: jfox@netcom.com (Jeff Fox) 
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760)
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 17:29:07 GMT
Lines: 42

try comp.ai.philiosophy, this is comp.robotics! :-)

Most of the robots discussed in this group should limit the discussion
to what you can do with one neuron.  I have seen robots with no micro
at all, and just a bump sensor and switch.  The more advanced ones 
have very slow primitive 8 bit micros, and the intelligence of a
flatworm! :-)

Although there are artificial insect robots with a bunch of these
primitive micros enabling reflexes and life like movements there
is a BIG difference between a few neurons and billion of neurons
with trillions of interconnections!

For perspective I would suggest that you start with the number of
instructions your robot can execute in a millisecond, divide this
by ~100 (if your a clever programmer) and you have the number of
equivalent neurons.  So most of the robots I have seen are dealing
with a couple or a few neurons.  On the high end, if you have a 30 MIP
CPU that might be equal to a few hundred.  If your robot has dozens of
these high end CPU then maybe it can simulate thousands of neurons.

For a while at least I think discussions of hundreds of billions of
neurons is NONSENSE here.  Unless you are using some VERY exotic
hardware in your robot lets keep the discussions real! :-)

The questions that are more appropriate here are what you can do with
a few neurons in a robot, not what 100 billion will do.  Since on one
has 100 billion neurons in their robot I think this should remain
in comp.ai.philosophy.  Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to hear
about your robot with thousands of high end cpu and neural network
chips wired together, and programmed with 20 years of education and
trail and error experience at human like activities.

I think the nonsense belongs in .philosophy. :-)  Maybe we should
start a comp.robotics.philosophy.nonsense newsgroup.

Jeff Fox
Ultra Technology
2510 10th St.
Berkeley CA 94710
(510) 848-0565
jfox@netcom.com
