Toward version 1.1
April 22, 2008
We are finishing up version 1.1 of Ikaros that will be released within a few days. The new version mainly contains bug fixes for version 1.0. In addition, a number of new WebUI object have been added.
MiniBot Completed
December 10, 2007
The mobile robot MiniBot has been completed. It was built as part of the EU funded project MindRaces to study learning of anticipatory behaviors.
The robot is equipped with an arm using five digital servos and an active vision head with two degrees of freedom. The robot is controlled by a Mac Mini which was modified to run from a battery. All servos are controlled by the SSC-32 controller though the SSC32 module in Ikaros. The two motors for the wheels are controlled by the Motor Mind B through USB directly from the computer.
The robot uses Ikaros to implement a model of autonomous learning of anticipatory sensory-motor transformation. Using continuous observation of its hand and the behavior of a target object, the robot is able to learn motor behaviors that uses predictions of the motion of the target. With such aniticpatory behaviors, the robot can move its gripper to the anticipated future location of the target object.
Most of the modules used to control the robot will be available as part of release 1.1. of Ikaros.
Two New Articles
September 4, 2007
Two new articles were added to the site today. In "3D Interpretation of Edges: Part 1", Stefan Karlsson describes his work on the interpretation of depth in 2D-images and in "Tracking Colors with Ikaros", Christian Balkenius and Birger Johansson describe how a number of Ikaros modules can be combined to track colored objects.
Screen Shots of Version 1.1
August 22, 2007
Screen shots from the new WebUI from the forthcomming version 1.1 are now available. The new WebUI will include several enhancements of the graphical objects. The colors of most elements can be changed and color tables can be used for more advanced graphs.
Transparency is handled automatically if several object are placed on top of each other, which makes it easy to draw information over an image. There are alse several new objects that can be used as overlays for images to plot markers or traces.
Two other new objects draw 3d plots and polar plots. Both objects can be highly customized as can be seen in the linked screen shots.
To make more elaboate layouts possible, the WebUI in version 1.1 allows the size and spacing of the objects to be set in the ikc file. This is useful if several small graphs need to be shown in a smaller area.
Finally, the new version will include a few objects which makes the interface interactive. We are currently working on button and sliders that can be used to set inputs to modules. With these objects, it becomes possible to make interactive demos where parameters are changed during execution.
Running Ikaros on a Linux Cluster
August 16, 2007
Thanks to the hard work of Alexander Kolodziej and Birger Johansson, Ikaros now runs on the eight node Linux cluster Rama.
To concurrently control six robots, a number of Ikaros processes run i parallel in real-time mode with millisecond resolution. Communication between the different processes takes place on the internal ethernet network. For robot control, there are six bluetooth channels to each of the six robots. The set-up uses real-time visual input to control the robots.
Although the current version of Ikaros (1.0) can only run in parallel on a single computer, future versions will include the functionality necessary to run multiple processes on different computers.
Tutorial at NBU in Sofia
July 28, 2007
Christian Balkenius and Birger Johansson gave a tutorial on Ikaros during the 14th International Summer School in Cognitive Science at New Bulgaria University in Sofia from July 23 to July 27.
For the tutorial, we developed a number of demos that will be included in future versions of Ikaros. One demo compares reinforcement learning with potential field methods and classical planning (A*) for robot control and navigation. Another demo illustrates how Ikaros can be used to predict the movement of a dynamic object and to learn an inverse model to control a simulated robot arm. We also showed how Ikaros can be used to control reactive behavior and for simple behavioral learning using the e-puck robot. Finally, we developed a number of demos of self-organizing maps.
Ikaros Works with Safari 3.0
June 11, 2007Safari 3.0, which was released today runs smoothly with Ikaros. It is no longer necessary to downloads WebKit to run Ikaros on a Mac. We have nor yet confirmed that the Windows version of Safari works with Ikaros, but this is very likely. Update: The Window version works well with Ikaros and is the fastest way to run the WebUI on a Windows machine.
Ikaros Version 1.0 Released
June 1, 2007Ikaros 1.0 was released today. This is the eight public distribution of the Ikaros kernel and a small set of modules. This version is mainly intended for potential developers and not for more general use. Only a minimal set of modules are included.
The new version includes an updated multithreded kernel with support for real-time execution, a completely reworked WebUI, an optimized math library, support for the new IKC files, as well as versions for Linux, OS X and Windows. All documentation is also available on-line at this site. This version represents six years of development work since the project started in early 2001. Download Ikaros.
Talk at Trolleholm
May 15, 2007
Christian Balkenius gave a presentation on Ikaros at the yearly research meeting of Lund University Research Program in Medical Informatics, (LUMI) at Trolleholm castle outside Lund in Sweden.
The talk presented Ikaros from an medical informatics perspective and focused on the model validation aspects of the systems where brain models can be automatically tested against neuroscientific databases.
Released Date for Version 1.0
May 14, 2007Ikaros version 1.0 will be released on June 1, 2007. The new version will include an updated multithreded kernel with support for real-time execution, a completely reworked WebUI, an optimized math library, support for the new IKC files, as well as versions for Linux, OS X and Windows. All documentation will also be available on-line. This version represents six years of development work since the project started in early 2001.
Module Documentation
May 5, 2007The module documentation is now live. The list of modules represents the standard modules that are planned for inclusion in version 1.0. This list is smaller than the number of modules distributed with earlier version since we only wanted to include those modules that have been thoroughly tested with the new version. The module documentation is now automatically generated from the IKC files that are used to describe modules to the Ikaros kernel.
Updated Documentation
April 18th, 2007A number of new articles have been added that describe Ikaros version 1.0. "System-Level Cognitive Modeling with Ikaros" gives an overview of the project and describes the functionality of the new version. The article "The Ikaros Math Library" descibes the new mathematical functions and how they are used. Previous versions of the programming guides have also been updated to reflect the current version.
A New Design for the WebUI
January 15th, 2007We are working hard toward version 1.0 of Ikaros. For the new version, the user interface has been reworked to allow for easy switching between different views. The picture below shows the design of the new user interface running in WebKit. It is also compatible with Firefox.
The WebUI uses JavaScript+SVG to render dynamic views of the operation of an Ikaros process. It contains classes that display images in color, grayscale or pseudocolor; bar graphs and plots, as well as vector fields and grids. The basic set of user interface elements can easliy be extended using small pieces of JavaScript.
An Optimized Math Library
January 14th, 2007The next version of Ikaros will include an optimized math library that is used by all the standard modules. The functions in the library operates on the three types of data used in Ikaros: scalars, arrays and matrices.
Matrix operations include vector and matrix operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and will use the BLAS/ATLAS library when it is available on OS X, Linux and Windows.
The library also contains a number of image processing functions including convolution and morphological operations. When running under OS X, these library makes use of the highly optimized vImage framework for image processing. Ikaros can also be compiled to use the vDSP and vForce libraries.
The new math library greatly increases the execution speed of Ikaros. In some cases, the speed has increased by a factor of ten or more compared to the previous Ikaros version. Because the math library is also used by the WebUI, it makes for a more responsive user interface. For example, it is now possible to view image processing of an image from a camera in real time.
The Contribution Section is Open
November 27th, 2006The contributions section of this site was opened today. The contributions section will contain recent updates to modules and externally developed modules. A submission form is available for those who want to contribute modules to the project.
Ikaros Support for the e-puck Robot
November 20th, 2006 
Ikaros now supports the e-puck developed at EPFL, which is a small mobile robot with a built in color camera and eight IR proximity sensors and three acceleration sensors together with a number of LEDs and wireless blutooth communication.
A new module has been added to Ikaros to handle communicaion with the robot. Several modules can be run in parallel to control several robots.
Second Draft Specification of Ikaros Control Files
November 8th, 2006An updated draft specification of Ikaros control files (IKC) has been released today. The new file format supports automatic generation of help files from IKC files. An experimental list of automatically generated help pages is available. Comments on the draft are very welcome.
Tutorial on Feature Analysis at EpiRob
September 6th, 2006Christian Balkenius and Christopher G. Prince will have a tutorial on featural processing of auditory and visual inputs at the Sixth International Workshop on Epigenetic Robotics in Paris, Friday September 22. The tutorial will cover Ikaros, YARP and Intel Open CV.
A feature is an auditory or visual elements at a level of processing more abstract than that of the raw signal typically used as input in vision and audition (e.g., grayscale pixels of visual frames, or amplitude samples of audio), but less abstract than visual elements such as objects or auditory elements such as words. Perceptual features are needed for various tasks, such as learning auditory or visual categories. The raw sensory data (e.g., grayscale pixels for visual, or amplitude samples for audio) are typically too noisy (e.g., sensitive to illumination variation in the case of visual) to be used directly in these tasks.
The intent of this tutorial is to be as practical as possible, with attendees subsequently being able to make use of each of these techniques if they so please. To this end, we intend to provide working program code (through web links), and examples of usage. Background theory will be provided where this helps understanding, but the main goal is for people to come away with code they can use and a clear idea of where they might apply these techniques in their own projects.
Ikaros runs with WebKit
September 1st, 2006The nightly builds of WebKit for OS X are now compatible with Ikaros as its implementation of SVG and JavaScript includes all the required functionality. We are looking forward to the first version of Safari to include this functionality which would add a second Ikaros compatible browser to OS X in addition to Firefox.
Tentative Specification of Ikaros Control Files
May 23th, 2006A tentative specification of Ikaros control files (IKC) has been released today. Comments on the draft are very welcome.
A New Tool for Model Validation
May 10th, 2006System level models of the brain are widely used in the cognitive sciences. Validating the architecture of such models against neurobiological facts often involves extensive literature research. The Evaluator of System Level Models (ESYLM), which was designed by Sepp Kollmorgen and Sylvia Schröder, finds relevant literature and constructs arguments for a model's architecture by performing inferences on neurobiological data. The set of allowed inference rules can be specified according to the researcher's paradigms. ESYLM's inference procedure allows for a faster computation than simple search algorithms do. As the result of the evaluation a written report is produced.
The imlemented system works on Ikaros model descriptions in XML combined with data extracted from the CoCoMac database and is implemented in a combination of Java and Prolog and uses LaTex to neatly format the validation report.
New Web Site
March 23d, 2006The new web site for the Ikaros project will soon appear here. During the transition, all material will continue to be available at the old site.
A Multi-Threded Kernel
February 2, 2006The new multi-threaded kernel was tested for the first time today. The new kernel will allow Ikaros to automatically take advantage of multiple processors. In addition, it makes it possible to run modules at different frequencies which makes robot control much easier. For example, a motor control loop can run in the kHz range while the visual system may run at a only few Hz. This functionality will be available in version 0.8.2.
Version 0.8.1 Released
November 25th, 2005Ikaros version 0.8.1 released. The new version includes a web based user interface where running Ikaros processes can be controlled and monitored from a web browser. The interface uses SVG for visualization and works with FireFox 1.5 as well as with Adobe's SVG plug in.
Version 0.8.1 can be downloaded from the old site.
First Version of the Web Viewer Running
September 6th, 2005The first version of the new web based viewer for Ikaros was running for the first time today. Ikaros is extended with a small web server that interacts with a web browser to show the state of a running Ikaros process. The browser side of the viewer combines JavaScript and CSS with SVG rendering of images and graphs. A plug in interface similar to that used for Ikaros modules has been developed that allows arbitrary visual elements specified in SVG. The web interface requires the next version of Firefox which will soon be released and has been tested with Deer Park Alpha 2.
SenseStream ported to Ikaros
August 28, 2005Chris Prince at University of Minnesota Duluth has ported the SenseStream system to Ikaros. The system implements synchrony detection based on the Hershey and Movellan (2000) algorithm. This method computes the mutual information between the audio and visual streams of an QuickTiime input file. It also uses the centroid of this mutual information to segment out faces from the video.
The original system is decribed in Prince, C. G. & Hollich, G. (2005). Synching models with infants: A perceptual-level model of infant audio-visual synchrony detection. Journal of Cognitive Systems Research, 6, 205-228.
Ikaros + BoeBot + Bluetooth
February 1, 2005 
Birger Johansson has developed Ikaros modules for Bluetooth communication with BeoBot robots. The communication protocol allows Ikaros to control many robots at the same time.
The goal is to study the collective behavior of a number of robots in various tasks. At present, the individual robots do not have any sensory systems. Instead an overhead camera tracks the motion of all the robots and gives Ikaros their current coordinates.
The robot set-up is used within the EC funded project MindRaces.
Version 0.8.0 Released
January 26, 2005Ikaros version 0.8.0 released. The new version includes 64 standard modules and 37 contributed modules. There are several new features including the ability to delay signals between modules in a simple way. It is even possible to have no delay at all between modules to speed up simulations. There are also several new ways to schedule the execution of modules.
Work toward version 0.8.0
January 18, 2005The release of Ikaros version 0.8.0 is planned before the end of January 2005. The new version will include 100 modules and several new features including the ability to delay signals between modules in a simple way. It is even possible to have no delay at all between modules to speed up simulations. There will also be several new ways to schedule the execution of modules.
Subproject on 3D Interpretation of Edges Completed
August 1, 2004A number of modules have been added to Ikaros within this subproject. These modules process line images and finds illusory contours, performs amodal completion and sorts surfaces in depth based on local images cues such as T-junctions and line-endings.
Ikaros + Keepon
July 1, 2004 
Jan Morén at NICT in Japan is controling the robot Keepon with Ikaros. The robot, which was designed by Hideki Kozima, uses Ikaros to to grab images and to locate faces and a toy rabit.
A number of new Ikaros modules have been developed for high-speed image processing including fast visual template matching and color based image segmentation.
Somatosensory Processing Model Completed
June 15, 2004 
The first part of the subproject "Somatosensory Processing and Cortical Plasticity" has been completed. The developed model includes processing stages corresponding to the palm, medulla, thalamus, and somatosensory cortex and is used to simulate reorganization of somatosensory cortex after nerve injury. Read more »
The figure shows the activity in the different processing steps in one of the models without nerve injury. The different images illustrates the sensory input, the initial coding, two intermediate steps, and the cortical coding of the stimulus.
First Brain Database
June 3, 2004A minimal prototype of the brain database has been implemented as a proof of concept. The implementation uses semantic web techniques to store brain data and to reason about them. It also illustrates how it is possible to validate an Ikaros experiment file agains the brain data. Read more »
Ikaros Controls a Mobile Robot
May 7, 2004 
For the first time, Ikaros is used to control a mobile robot. The robot LUCOR III is built for outdoor navigation. It uses a number of Ikaros modules for motor control, to grab images from the camera and to control the pan/tilt camera head. In addition, Ikaros modules for image processing including elastic template matching are used for visual navigation.
Ikaros runs on a standard Linux computer on the robot which is powered by two 12V accumulators that are also used for the motors. The computer uses two serial connections to talk to the control system/drivers that control speed and acceleration of the two motors. The camera head is controlled by an ethernet connection.
The robot LUCSOR III was build by Birger Johansson from the disaster called LUCSOR II left by Christian Balkenius and Jan Morén. Lars Kopp helped out with the control systems for the motors.
Ikaros 0.7.7 Released
March 22, 2004Version 0.7.7 of Ikaros has been released. The new version contains many bug-fixes and a number of new modules
Version 0.7.6 Released
October 31, 2003Ikaros version 0.7.6 is now available for download for Linux and OS X. This distribution includes the command line version of Ikaros with many minor changes and bug fixes.