Artificial Intelligence for Robotics

An emotion state machine

What is a state machine? We covered state machines in the section on systems engineering – state machines are a technique for understanding or modeling automation or computer programs. A state is a set of conditions that exist at the present. I like to think of a state as being a set of functions that are constrained by limits. The machine (our robot) changes from state to state based on some event that causes the state to change.

Let’s work through a quick refresher example. Let’s take a slice of bread. When we get it, it is already baked and sliced, so it’s initial state is as a slice of bread. If we subject the bread to infrared radiation (that is, heat), then the surface becomes caramelized and we call that ...