Neurorobotics: A strategic pillar of the Human Brain Project in Booklet: Brain-inspired intelligent robotics: The intersection of robotics and neuroscience sciences

Neurorobotics is an emerging science that studies the interaction of brain, body, and environment in closed perception–action loops where a robot’s actions affect its future sensory input. At the core of this field are robots controlled by simulated nervous systems that model the structure and function of biological brains at varying levels of detail (1). In a typical neurorobotics experiment, a robot or agent will perceive its current environment through a set of sensors that will transmit their signals to a simulated brain. The brain model may then produce signals that will cause the robot to move, thereby changing the agent’s perception of the environment. Observing how the robot then interacts with its environment and how the robot’s actions influence its future sensory input allows scientists to study how brain and body have to work together to produce the appropriate response to a given stimulus. Thus, neurorobotics links robotics and neuroscience, enabling a seamless exchange of knowledge between these two disciplines. Here, we provide an introduction to neurorobotics and report on the current state of development of the European Union–funded Human Brain Project’s (HBP’s) Neurorobotics Platform (2, 3). HBP is Europe’s biggest project in information communication technologies (ICT) to date (www.humanbrainproject.eu) and is one of two large-scale, long-term flagship research initiatives selected by the European Commission to promote disruptive scientific advance in future key technologies. It will have a duration of 10 years and deliver six open ICT platforms for future research in neuroscience, medicine, and computing, aimed at unifying the understanding of the human brain and translating this knowledge into commercial products.