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Skin-based technologies and capabilities for safe, autonomous and interactive robots Università di Genova - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne - University of Hertfordshire - Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia - University of Wales - Università di Cagliari This project will develop and demonstrate a range of new robot capabilities based on robot skin tactile feedback from large areas of the robot body. An investigation of these issues until now has been limited by the lack of tactile sensing technologies enabling large scale experimental activities, since so far skin technologies and embedded tactile sensors have been mostly demonstrated only at prototype stage. The new capabilities will improve the ability of robots to operate effectively and safely in unconstrained environments and also their ability to communicate and co-operate with each other and with humans. To support this aim, one part of the project will focus on the investigation of methods and technologies enabling the implementation of skin sensors that can be used with existing robots. Other parts of the project will develop new structures for representing and integrating tactile data with existing cognitive architectures in order to support skin-based cognition, behaviour and communication. As a result, the project will address three main objectives. The first is to develop new sensor technologies that can provide tactile feedback from large areas of the robot body. This development process will be incremental and will take advantage of feedback produced from the application of these technologies in the work done on the other project objectives. The second objective is to develop and integrate fundamental cognitive structures for efficient and safe utilisation of tactile data in terms of a robot body image, safe reflexive reactions to tactile events and flexible representations of spatially and temporally distributed patterns of physical contact. The last objective is to develop cognitive mechanisms that use tactile feedback to improve human-robot interaction capabilities particularly in the domains of programming through demonstration and robot assisted play. Project Budget: 4.670.000,00 euro Duration 01/05/2009 - 30/04/2012 For more information please conact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (RBCS) |