<p> 1. INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________________ 1<br>1.1. Motivation ______________________________________________________________ 2<br>1.2. Report Structure __________________________________________________________ 2<br>2. BACKGROUND_____________________________________________________________ 3<br>2.1. Autonomous Robotics _____________________________________________________ 3<br>2.2. First Efforts _____________________________________________________________ 3<br>2.3. ‘Engineered’ Robotic Learning Methods ________________________________________ 4<br>2.4. The Influence of Cognitive Neuroscience_______________________________________ 5<br>2.5. Bioinspired Neural Paradigms________________________________________________ 7<br>2.6. Using Neuron Models in Biological Research ___________________________________ 12<br>2.7. The Nature of Robotic Investigations_________________________________________ 14<br>2.8. Tools Assisting Theoretical Robotics _________________________________________ 17<br>3. METHODOLOGY _________________________________________________________ 20<br>3.1. Requirements ___________________________________________________________ 20<br>3.2. Program Structure________________________________________________________ 22<br>3.3. Design Detail ___________________________________________________________ 24<br>4. IMPLEMENTATION_______________________________________________________ 32<br>4.1. Interactive Simulation_____________________________________________________ 32<br>4.2. Batch Mode ____________________________________________________________ 37<br>5. TESTING _________________________________________________________________ 39<br>5.1. Code Validation _________________________________________________________ 39<br>5.2. Research carried out using the simulator_______________________________________ 40<br>5.3. Conclusions of the Entrainment Study ________________________________________ 45<br>6. EVALUATION_____________________________________________________________ 47<br>6.1. Potential Future Work ____________________________________________________ 49<br>7. REFERENCES ____________________________________________________________ 51<br>Appendix A REFLECTION____________________________________________________ 53<br>Appendix B PROJECT SCHEDULE_____________________________________________ 55<br>B.1. Diary Extract ___________________________________________________________ 56<br>IV<br>Appendix C TEST OUTPUT ___________________________________________________ 58<br>Appendix D EXAMPLE SIMULATION SCREENSHOT____________________________ 61<br>Appendix E SCRIPTING LANGUAGE STRUCTURE______________________________ <br></p>