In this section, we will describe various components in the implementation of FARS. The core program, FARS, is implemented in NSL, but it is not a stand-alone program. FARS requires some other programs to generate part of its input files. We will look at these programs, the input/output files of FARS, and their inter-relations.
At the bottom of this page is a flow diagram of the relations between all the files and programs of FARS. It is also a for easy access of further descriptions and sample files. But first...
The FARS core program requires five input files:
object.nsl | PIP representation of an object to be grasp |
network.rsnet | network wiring, weight matrices between layers |
network.nsl | default setting of the network and experiments, paramters of neural dynamics of different layers |
protocol.nsl | experiment protocol |
track.trk | names of units whose output would be monitored during the simulation |
Two of the input files (object.nsl and network.rsnet) are created by some supplementary programs (mknet and genmcx). These supplementary programs are implemented in Perl. They themselves require input files that specify the type and high-level behaviour of the neurons in different layers and the set of grasps and objects to be encoded in the network.
How the input files are loaded into FARS is described in exp.script, which is parsed to the network. In return, the network generates four output files:
track.out.dump | time profiles of the state of the units specified in track.trk |
events.evn | occurrence time of major events in the experiment |
exp.log | normal output trace of running FARS |
synthetic.pet | synthetic pet measurement during the simulation |
The relations between all these files and programs are
summarized in the following .
To access more details or inspect sample files, simply click on the
icon of interest.