Robots are becoming increasingly common in everyday life, with many people now using robots to mow their lawns or vacuum their floors. Recent advancements in legged robots promise to tackle even more household tasks. However, these modern robots are often viewed as hard, mechanical constructs or tools. Exploring how robots can display emotions or communicate their intentions through their actions is a fascinating area of research. This could significantly enhance trust, safety, social acceptance and overall interaction for robots working closely with humans.
One possible approach is to start with an existing robot design and create a simulation model. In simulation, you can develop behaviors that effectively communicate intentions or evoke emotions in humans using different machine learning or AI techniques. If there is time, transferring these behaviors from the virtual model to a physical robot allows you to examine the reality gap, the difference between simulation and the real world, both in terms of the robot's performance and human reactions.
Another approach is to design and build a simple robot specifically optimized for clearly communicating intentions or evoking emotions in humans. This can be achieved with a body that dynamically can change its own shape, or a flexible body that offers numerous options for expression. Such a project would focus more on CAD design and 3D printing, and less on machine learning and AI.
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The robotics and intelligent systems research group at IFI also offers the following two project proposals within the same topic:
- Show me how you feel: transforming the emotional content of movement for robots and virtual creatures
- Rhythm is a dancer - but can a robot be one?