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Using a perturbative expansion for weak synaptic weights and weak sources of randomness, we calculate the correlation structure of neural networks with generic connectivity matrices. In detail, the perturbative parameters are the mean and the standard deviation of the synaptic weights, together with the standard deviations of the background noise of the membrane potentials and of their initial conditions. We also show how to determine the correlation structure of the system when the synaptic connections have a random topology. This analysis is performed on rate neurons described by Wilson and Cowan equations, since this allows us to find analytic results. Moreover, the perturbative expansion can be developed at any order and for a generic connectivity matrix. We finally show an example of application of this technique for a particular case of biologically relevant topology of the synaptic connections.

We quantify the finite size effects in a stochastic network made up of rate neurons, for several kinds of recurrent connectivity matrices. This analysis is performed by means of a perturbative expansion of the neural equations, where the perturbative parameters are the intensities of the sources of randomness in the system. In detail, these parameters are the variances of the background or input noise, of the initial conditions and of the distribution of the synaptic weights. The technique developed in this article can be used to study systems which are invariant under the exchange of the neural indices and it allows us to quantify the correlation structure of the network, in terms of pairwise and higher order correlations between the neurons. We also determine the relation between the correlation and the external input of the network, showing that strong signals coming from the environment reduce significantly the amount of correlation between the neurons. Moreover we prove that in general the phenomenon of propagation of chaos does not occur, even in the thermodynamic limit, due to the correlation structure of the 3 sources of randomness considered in the model. Furthermore, we show that the propagation of chaos does not depend only on the number of neurons in the network, but also and mainly on the number of incoming connections per neuron. To conclude, we prove that for special values of the parameters of the system the neurons become perfectly correlated, a phenomenon that we have called stochastic synchronization. These discoveries clearly prevent the use of the mean-field theory in the description of the neural network.

To assess the feasibility of planetary exploration missions using rovers, the French national agency CNES, with a consortium of European laboratories and industrial concerns, has initiated the Eureka project, 'Illustration of an Autonomous Robot for the Exploration of Space' (IARES). IARES is a demonstrator composed of a rover and a ground station, linked by telemetry and telecommand. It is aimed at verifying, on earth, robotic concepts developed by the RISP group of French laboratories (LAAS, INRIA, CERT, LETI) to perform scientific missions such as autonomous terrain sample collecting over large areas. To cope with the actual needs of planet exploration, IARES suitability is assessed through constraints on limited bandwidth, time delay and on-board resources. This autonomy relies heavily on robust onboard trajectory generation capabilities. This paper presents the main functions of the IARES navigation sub-system and shows how they are combined to allow movement in Mars-like environments. Section 2 gives an overall description of the IARES system. Section 3 details the functions of the Navigation sub-system, and finally, section 4 illustrates with a simple example the use of these functions.

A method to build a dense and reliable 3-D description of a scene from three digital images by means of passive stereovision is presented. This method uses figural continuity to improve the results of a previously developed algorithm. In particular, it copes much better with curved objects and produces results which are organized as 3-D chains of segments.

The conference presents papers on segmentation techniques, three-dimensional recognition and representation, processing image sequences, and navigation and mobility. Particular attention is given to determining the pose of an object, adaptive least squares correlation with geometrical constraints, and the reliable formation of feature vectors for two-dimensional shape representation. Other topics include the real-time tracking of a target moving on a natural textured background, computer vision for the guidance of roving robots, and integrating sensory data for object recognition tasks.