Promoting the Integration of Intelligent Human Assistants in Society through the Development of Robotic Sensory-based Intelligence and Control Technologies

机器人最近被定义为21世纪最具影响力的技术之一。现在，它们比以往任何时候都更被视为一种独特的战略技术，将成为社会的重要组成部分。然而，目前使用的个人/服务机器人只能在结构良好的环境中执行非常专业的任务，绝大多数机器人只能自己执行预先编程的行为，以完成通常不涉及人类的单一任务。在我们的日常生活中广泛使用机器人仍然必须解决的一个重大挑战是基于感觉的智能和控制。拟议的研究将通过三个相关的研究子主题来解决这一关键挑战：1）多模态传感，2）机器人社会智能和3）人机交互（HRI）控制架构。这些子主题在为社会装备机器人时非常重要，这些机器人具有执行复杂和交互式行为所需的感知和认知，这些行为与在不同的现实世界应用中协助多个非专家人类用户执行众多任务有关。总体研究计划的目标是开发新的智能和自主机器人技术，在以人为中心的现实世界环境中用作有效的助手。我的团队将在一个集中的框架内共同解决上述研究目标，以解决在为社会开发智能机器人时普遍存在的重要技术和社会问题。为每个目标提出了创新的解决方案，从而为社会提供了一种基于传感器的智能和机器人控制的新方法。通过跨学科的合作，研究成果将被纳入智能机器人的设计中，用于健康和老年人护理等新兴领域。该研究计划的核心成果也将是HQP的培训，他们将有机会在跨学科和协作环境中工作，以获得在现实环境中分析工作，技术创新和实验验证方面的高度期望技能。

Robots have recently been defined to be one of the most influential technologies of the 21st century. Now more than ever, they are seen as a unique strategic technology that will become an important part of society. However, the personal/service robots currently in use today can only perform very specialized tasks in well-structured environments, with the vast majority working on their own to perform preprogrammed behaviours to accomplish a single task that usually does not involve humans. A grand challenge that still must be addressed for the widespread implementation of robots in our everyday lives is sensory-based intelligence and control. The proposed research will address this crucial challenge through three pertinent research sub-themes: 1) multi-modal sensing, 2) robot social intelligence, and 3) human-robot interaction (HRI) control architectures. These sub-themes are important in equipping robots for society with the perception and cognition needed to perform complex and interactive behaviours pertinent to assisting multiple non-expert human users in numerous tasks in varying real-world applications. The goal of the overall proposed research program is to develop novel intelligent and autonomous robotic technologies to be used as effective assistants in person-centered real-world environments. My team will collectively address the above research aims within a centralized framework to tackle important technical and social issues that are ubiquitous in developing intelligent robots for society. Innovative solutions are proposed for each individual aim, resulting in a novel approach to sensory-based intelligence and control of robots for society. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, the research results will be incorporated into the design of intelligent robots for immediate emerging areas of health and elderly care. A central outcome of this research program will also be the training of HQP, who will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment to gain highly desired skills in analytical work, technology innovation and experimental validation within real-world environments.