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世纪最有影响力的技术之一。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门的任务，绝大多数机器人靠自己工作来执行预先编程的行为，以完成通常不涉及人类的单一任务。机器人在日常生活中的广泛应用仍然需要解决的一个重大挑战是基于感官的智能和控制。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)多模式传感，2)机器人社交智能，3)人-机器人交互(HRI)控制体系结构。这些次级主题对于为社会配备机器人所需的感知和认知是重要的，这些感知和认知需要执行与协助多个非专家人类用户在各种现实世界应用中的许多任务相关的复杂和交互行为。整个拟议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。

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.