Half of my research work for my PhD has been published: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbot.2015.00007/abstract. It's about the the "brain" I designed and implemented for a robot that embodies it with the ability to learn things about itself, specifically how to reach for and navigate toward distant objects. The robot I used in this case is a Roomba with an arm and a Kinect on top.

Here's a demo of the robot in action: