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