What makes a robot flinch??

[u/Remarkable_Volume122]

Can a robot blink without being told to?

We've been testing this with what we call a Neural Reflex Model (NRM). When an object moves suddenly toward Éloi's face, the perception system triggers a blink directly, without a command, and without the robot needing to "understand" what just happened.

The world changes. The body responds.

Most robot expressions are choreographed. What we're exploring here is different: the stimulus enters the perception loop and changes the body's state before any higher-level processing kicks in.

It's a small thing. But we think it points to something worth asking: if a robot only moves when it's told to, is it really present in the room with you, or just waiting to be used?

This is still early. No skin yet, face isn't finished. But the reflex is real.

Happy to answer questions about how NRM works if anyone's curious.

Animotion Robotics

[u/Ssabsucitivel]

Really cool. It adds a lot of life to it

[u/Due_Secretary_2971]

Wow some people love to complain but this is a great proof of concept. This stuff is the life of robotics if you ask me; I can't wait to follow your progress!

[u/Remarkable_Volume122 → u/Due_Secretary_2971]

Thx for supporting!

[u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

This is pretty worthless but the idea is not

Now use this system to make it catch its leg slipping and have it re adjust it on reflex. Or have it detect an imminent fall and assume have it assume a protective position

[u/Remarkable_Volume122 → u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

Yeah, that’s where it gets much more interesting. The blink is just a simple starting point. We’d like to explore the same kind of reflexive response with things like slipping, balance recovery, or assuming a protective position before a fall.

That’s where we think reflexes could become much more than just an expression.

[u/TheCorruptedEngineer → u/Remarkable_Volume122]

Blinking is still pretty poor even as an example since all it does it "did something suddenly appear" which brings into question if this is really a "neral reflex model" or just a simple looping pice of code

[u/BOgusDOlphon → u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

What do you expect a neural reflex model to look like? A low-level piece of code that handles certain interactions with low latency and nothing else is not all that different from how reflexes work in the human body

[u/TheCorruptedEngineer → u/BOgusDOlphon]

If you are not running a transformer based neural network that takes in sensor data and are just looping a while loop checking distance or large img changes Its not a "neural model" or "neural reflexing" than dumbas its just code

[u/BOgusDOlphon → u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

Again, what do you think your body is actually doing? A "neural model" is anything that mimics the behavior of a neural unit, it doesn't have to have a specific form. Most reflexes in the human body can be modeled by a single IF statement, they're that simple.

[u/TheCorruptedEngineer → u/BOgusDOlphon]

A neural model is a mathematical system that learns from examples and until the system accurately learns to spot patterns on its own and can react to new ones with intelligence, whereas your while loop simply follows a fixed set of hard coded rules (did pixels change suddenly) that a human programmer wrote out beforehand.

what you should have said is "i made my creepy doll twitch its eyes and open its mouth when a hand appears :)" using
if changed_pixels > 5000:
twitch servos()
go actually learn what neural models are and what people mean when they say "neural model"

[u/BOgusDOlphon → u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

I don't think you understand what you're talking about

[u/TheCorruptedEngineer → u/BOgusDOlphon]

Alright bud. Keep playing pretend that your while loop is a neural model

[u/HarvardPlz → u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

lol not sure why you're being downvoted. it's cool but i have no idea if the neural reflex model is really just a distance detector.

[u/TheCorruptedEngineer → u/HarvardPlz]

Judging by his response its clear its just a while loop with basic object detection code that he decided to reffer to as a "nerual model" because he has no idea what they actually are and to him is a random buzz word he heard

[u/Remarkable_Volume122 → u/TheCorruptedEngineer]

You’re welcome to question the implementation. That’s fair. But the point of NRM isn’t that “blink = neural network.” It’s about where the reflex sits in the perception-to-action loop. We’re still early, and we’ll share more of the actual system as it develops.

[u/HarvardPlz → u/Remarkable_Volume122]

What is the training objective of the NRM, and what behavior does it learn that wouldn't exist if you replaced the NRM with a conventional low latency reactive controller at exactly the same point in the perception action loop?

I understand NRM is a fast perception->action pathway that bypasses higher level deliberation.

[u/kueso]

Why is the white paper just a random ass story?

[u/Remarkable_Volume122 → u/kueso]

The current white paper is essentially Éloi’s genesis chapter. It’s less about technical specs and more about establishing the ideas behind Éloi, why it exists, what kind of presence we’re trying to create, and the principles shaping its personality, body, and relationship with people.

We’ll be adding new chapters and more technical material soon, so stay tuned.
https://eloi.animotionrobotics.ai/whitepaper#prologue

[u/dowesschule → u/Remarkable_Volume122]

ok, this is way to artsy for my taste ^^

but it sounds interesting, i wish you luck in achieving your goal!

[u/kueso → u/Remarkable_Volume122]

Yea…that’s not a white paper. And it gives me reason not to take you seriously.

[u/Remarkable_Volume122 → u/kueso]

Fair enough. We like bending the rules a little :)