SENSOR
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3018 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
Any element or subsystem in a system which picks up some kind of information.
In natural systems, the sensors are, of course the sensorial organs, attuned to some specific kinds of inputs as for example visible light or sound waves.
We have learned however, to amplify considerably the range of our perceptions by creating numerous and very varied artificial devices that are able to pick up many inputs to which our biological sensors remain insensible, either because the possible effects are too weak or too small, or in inaccessible ranges (as for example herzian waves or X-rays).
These devices are equipped with appropriate optical, mechanical or electronic sensors.
P. CARIANI remembers that “In the late 1950's Gordon PASK constructed several electrochemical devices having emergent sensory capabilities. These control systems possessed the ability to adaptively construct their own sensors, thereby choosing the relationship between their internal states and the world at large… PASK's devices have far-reaching implications for artificial intelligence, self-constructing devices, theories of observers and epistemically-autonomous agents, theories of functional emergence, machine creativity, and the limits of contemporary machine learning paradigms” (1993, p.19).
It could be added that no autopoietic system can be conceived that should not have been able at its beginings to construct its own emerging self-organized sensors.