MRI: Acquisition of Robotic Hardware for Humanoid Research in Cognitive Science and Engineering

该奖项在加州大学默塞德分校建立了一个人形机器人设施，用于认知科学家和工程师研究(1)体现如何限制人类认知模型，(2)人类如何自然地与人形机器人互动，以及(3)机器人控制系统的设计如何最好地解决围绕人机交互的认知问题。该设施的核心部分将是一个完全可移动的人形机器人和一个人形躯干，配有两个类似人类的灵巧手臂和一个安装在完全驱动的头部的视觉系统。虽然人形机器人的许多工作都集中在解决与现实世界环境中稳健操作相关的基本工程问题上，但拟议的设施将支持使用机器人作为测试人类认知假设的工具的研究，或者以一种敏感的方式增强机器人的能力，对人-机器人协调的认知限制。作为一种科学仪器，人形机器人可以用来向人类实验参与者呈现精确的、可控的运动和交互模式，为探索人类在交互环境中的反应提供了新的方法。这种机器人的感知和运动能力也使其成为人类认知过程计算模型的一个具有挑战性的试验台。开发适当支持人机交互的认知系统将验证和测试我们对具身感知、类人运动协调和合作交互的理解。拟议中的设施还旨在支持认知科学和工程学之间的跨学科研究。新兴的人机交互认知研究有可能改变机器人研究，并导致人形机器人控制系统设计的实际创新。这些额外的工程贡献将是非常有价值的，因为机器人将配备适合人类环境的身体和认知能力，以及适合人机协作的沟通和协调技能。事实上，机器人助手已经在许多应用领域展示了潜力，包括物理治疗、老年人和残疾人的护理、协作工作以及太空探索期间的宇航员支持。虽然最近的技术创新已经允许开发可靠和负担得起的模仿人体的机器人机构，但与这些身体的智能控制有关的许多问题仍然存在。通过支持在机器人框架内探索人类认知模型，并通过将认知科学的见解普遍应用于具身感知和运动控制问题，期望在诸如混乱环境中的运动，空间意识和空间推理，灵巧物体操作，任务导向的注意和感知，模仿和学习，终身适应等领域取得实际进展。以及与人类的多模式社会互动和协调，包括使用自然手势。该设施将促进加州大学默塞德分校的综合研究和教学项目的发展，这是一个位于经济困难地区、教育水平较低的新校区。该设备的可用性将使学生获得认知科学，人工智能，运动规划，计算机图形学，计算机动画，计算机视觉，机器学习，机器人算法和类人机器人等方面的独特培训机会。

This award establishes a humanoid robotics facility at the University of California, Merced to be used by cognitive scientists and engineers to investigate (1) how embodiment constrains models of human cognition, (2) how people naturally interact with humanoid robots, and (3) how the design of robotic control systems can best address the cognitive issues surrounding human-robot interaction. The centerpieces of this facility will be a fully mobile humanoid robot and a humanoid torso equipped with two human-like dexterous arms and a vision system mounted on a fully actuated head. Though much work on humanoid robots has focused on solving fundamental engineering problems associated with robust operation in real world environments, the proposed facility will support research that uses the robot as an instrument to test hypotheses of human cognition or that augments robotic capabilities in a manner sensitive to the cognitive limitations of human-robot coordination. As a scientific instrument, a humanoid robot can be used to present precise, controlled motions and patterns of interaction to human experimental participants, offering new methods for probing human responding in interactive contexts. The embodied perceptual and motor capabilities of such a robot also make it a challenging testbed for computational models of human cognitive processes. Developing cognitive systems that appropriately support human-robot interaction will reify and test our understanding of embodied perception, humanoid motor coordination, and cooperative interaction.The proposed facility is also intended to support interdisciplinary research at the boundary between cognitive science and engineering. Emerging cognitive research on human-robot interaction has the potential to transform robotics research and result in practical innovations in the design of humanoid robot control systems. These additional engineering contributions will be extremely valuable, as robots will be equipped with physical and cognitive abilities that are appropriate for human environments, and with communication and coordination skills that are appropriate for human-robot collaboration. Indeed, robotic assistants have already demonstrated potential in numerous application areas, including physical therapy, care for the elderly and disabled, collaborative work, and astronaut support during space exploration. Though recent technological innovations have allowed for the development of reliable and affordable robotic mechanisms that mimic human bodies, many questions related to the intelligent control of these bodies remain. By supporting the exploration of models of human cognition within a robotic framework, and by generally applying insights from cognitive science to the problems of embodied perception and motor control, practical progress is expected in domains such as locomotion in cluttered environments, spatial awareness and spatial reasoning, dexterous object manipulation, task-oriented attention and perception, imitation and learning, life long adaptation, and multi-modal social interaction and coordination with humans, including the use of natural gestures.This facility will advance the development of integrated research and teaching programs at UC Merced, a new campus located in an economically challenged region with low educational levels. The availability of this equipment will grant students access to unique training opportunities in Cognitive Science, Artificial Intelligence, Motion Planning, Computer Graphics, Computer Animation, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Robot Algorithms, and Humanoid Robotics.