I Robot, Your Companion
From: IST Results - 06/29/2006

Researchers working under the IST-funded COGNIRON project are attempting to
develop cognitive robotic companions that could help people in everyday tasks
and eventually serve as assistants for the elderly or disabled. The principal
challenge to the transition from single-function robots to full-fledged
companions is intelligence. The COGNIRON project addresses robotic
intelligence on seven fronts: multimodal dialogues, awareness and
comprehension of human activity, social behavior, skill and task learning,
spatial cognition, intentionality, and initiative. Regardless of what a robot
is tasked to do, the ability to make decisions and understand its environment
are key to its success. "Getting a robot to move around a human, without
hurting them, and while making them feel comfortable, is a vital task," said
Raja Chatila, coordinator of the COGNIRON project. That requires robots to
pick up non-verbal environmental clues, such as the meaning behind a subtle
movement or gesture. In an effort to give robots the ability to learn in a
similar manner as humans, the researchers are developing a topological model
by which a robot could learn the functions of objects such as a door or a
corridor, rather than the more quantitative model common to machines that
might define objects by their dimensions or geometric properties. To measure
their success, the researchers will conduct three trials, showcasing the
ability of a robot to build a model of its environment, infer that a human
wants something to be done, and learn through repetition and imitation. 

Read the entire article at:
http://istresults.cordis.lu/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/Features/ID/82530

Links:
COGNIRON - The Cognitive Robot Companion
http://www.cogniron.org/

European Integrated Project Cogniron: Cognitive Robot Companion
http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqkd/HRI-UH.htm

The Cognitive Robot Companion
http://pi.ijs.si/PiBrain.exe?Cm=Project&Project=COGNIRON&Reference=002020

Developing Robots as Social Companions
http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/extrel/press-office/index.cfm?E738CB84-ECCC-519F-7576-C7B0F4C5850A

Raja Chatila
http://www.laas.fr/~raja/

An Architecture for Cognitive Robots
http://www.laas.fr/ICRA2006-Cognition/Talks/ICRA06workshopCogRob-Chatila.pdf
