The project is focused on the study and development of social robots. These robots are a particular class of personal robots. On them, it is given special relevance to human-robot interaction. They have multiple applications: from entertainment and education to assistance to elderly or mentally handicapped people. Results of the research team in previous works, in this field or in other related fields, will be expanded in this project.
The research is made on two platforms: Maggie robot and a new modular social robot. Maggie is a robot that has been designed and built by the research team. It will be updated, adding new elements that will improve their capabilities. The new robot, that will be designed and built in this project, will have a modular configuration. It will be possible to obtain a robot with variable capabilities, depending of the modules that are being used. There will be two types of modules: modules added to the robot and external modules used by the robot to interact with users. This modular approach to social robotics is innovative, and it is one of the most relevant contributions of the project.