Uflibrary: A simulation library implementing the utility function in autonomous robots

Journal article, 2007

A simulation software package (UF Library) implementing the utility function (UF) method for behavior selection in autonomous robots, is introduced and described by means of an example involving a simple exploration robot equipped with a repertoire of five different behaviors. The UF Library (as indeed the UF method itself) is aimed at providing a rapid yet reliable and generally applicable procedure for generating behavior selection systems for autonomous robots, while at the same time minimizing the amount of hand-coding related to the activation of behaviors. It is demonstrated how the UF Library allows a user to rapidly implement individual behaviors and to set up and carry out simulations of a robot in its arena, in order to generate and optimize, by means of an evolutionary algorithm,the behavior selection system of the robot.