A mechatronic platform for behavioral studies on infants

In this article the design and fabrication of a new mechatronic platform (called “Mechatronic Board”) for behavioral analysis of children are presented and discussed. The platform is the result of a multidisciplinary design approach which merges input coming from neuroscientists, psychologists, roboticians and bioengineers, with the main goal of studying learning mechanisms driven by intrinsic motivations and curiosity. A detailed analysis of the main features of the mechatronic board is provided, focusing on the key aspects which allow studying intrinsically motivated learning in children. Finally preliminary results on curiosity-driven learning, coming from a pilot study on children are reported.