Please note that this subject is taught only in Spanish



The subject of Social Robotics is one of the optional subjects taught in the 4th year of the Degree in Artificial Intelligence. In this subject, the state of the art of this area of robotics and its multiple applications will be presented. Specifically, the different areas of social communication, both verbal and gestural, and artificial emotional models will be studied, and the need to integrate different capacities into an appropriate cognitive framework will be emphasized. Additionally, they will be taught how to program and integrate different behaviors into a social robot to perform specific tasks.



Being an interdisciplinary area, it has a close relationship with certain subjects taught in the Artificial Intelligence Degree, and therefore it is recommended that students have passed some of the previous subjects. On the one hand, it is advisable to master the basic concepts acquired in the subject “Introduction to Robotics”. Specifically, know the capabilities and limitations of the different types of sensors currently used in robotics; the main aspects of intelligent robot control architectures; and the robot-specific programming tools used. On the other hand, it is advisable to have passed the subject of "Computer Vision", since when working on the topic of perception, it will be necessary to know the different techniques used for filtering and segmentation in images, as well as master concepts basics of extracting their characteristics.



It is expected that social robots will soon become part of our daily lives, and to do so they must be prepared to interact with people naturally in complex contexts. This subject can be very relevant for the professional development of students. Through it, students can acquire technical skills in programming, designing and building robots that interact with humans. They can also learn about the latest advances in robotics and automation technology, social and communication skills necessary to design effective social robots, and encourage innovative and creative thinking. All of this can be beneficial to apply in the technology industry and other related fields, which helps develop the exit profile of the students.

1.- Know the state of the art in the development of social robots and their applications, as well as understand the different aspects that define human-robot interaction.

2.- Be aware of the importance of morphology in the design of a social robot, and how this affects its capabilities.

3.- Work on the different aspects of the sensory capabilities of robots for the perception of the environment (both objects and people).

4.- Know and understand the different areas of human-robot communication.

5.- Understand the principles and theories about emotional models and techniques used to show emotions.

6.- Develop a design proposal related to a communication task in the field of social robotics.

1. Introduction

2.- Design

3.- Perception

4.- Verbal communication

5.- Non-verbal communication

6.- Emotions

The approach that is intended to be given in this subject aims for students to understand the different aspects that define social interaction and, through the development of different robotic behaviors, to be able to apply the knowledge acquired in a real humanoid robot.



To achieve this objective, the teaching techniques considered to teach in this subject are the Master Class, the Oral Presentation, and the Laboratory Practices.



Master classes - They will be used to transmit the basic theoretical contents of the subject in a systematic, orderly and as complete way as possible in order to work on all the aforementioned skills. Student participation will be encouraged to stimulate interest and increase the level of learning.



Oral presentations - Students, in groups or individually, must carry out research on a current application of social robotics and present it to the rest of the students. Student participation will be encouraged by generating a debate after each presentation.



Laboratory Group Practices – The students, in groups, will develop a final project in several phases. Incrementally, the NAO robot will be provided with different social skills, such as the ability to perceive objects and people, verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and the ability to both perceive and show emotions, and in each of In these phases, the results obtained will be collected in a scientific document. In a more elaborate end-of-subject practice, all these skills must be combined to provide the robot with social and intelligent behavior that allows it to perform one or more specific tasks in an environment that requires natural human-robot interaction.

• Continuous Assessment System
• Final Assessment System
• Tools and qualification percentages:
  • Details and rating percentages are specified below. (%): 100

The subject has two modes of evaluation: continuous evaluation and final evaluation.



Continuous evaluation, to which students may participate voluntarily, is offered exclusively to those students who can continuously monitor the subject within the established framework of dedication and attendance at face-to-face activities.



Preferably, students will follow the continuous evaluation system. Otherwise, students must notify in writing the renunciation of continuous evaluation on the dates established (between 60% and 80% of the course) and after verification of partial performance by the teaching staff.



In this subject, the Protocol in force at the UPV/EHU on academic ethics and prevention of dishonest or fraudulent practices in evaluation tests and in academic works at the UPV/EHU is applied.



CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT



- Oral presentation: 10%

- Laboratory practices: 60%

- Written test: 30%



The final grade will be obtained from the sum of the previous grades, but it is necessary to obtain a minimum of 4 out of 10 in each of the tests described above.





FINAL EVALUATION



- Written test: 100%



In both evaluation modes, the written test will be carried out on the dates indicated for the ordinary call. To resign from the call, it will be enough to not appear for the written test.

FINAL EVALUATION



- Written test: 100%



The written test will be carried out on the dates indicated for the extraordinary call

The required material will be published on eGela. It is recommended to consult at least the proposed basic bibliography.

Basic bibliography

C. Bartneck, T. Belpaeme, F. Eyssel, T. Kanda, M. Keijsers, and S.Sabanovic, Human-robot interaction: An introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2020.

C. Breazeal, A. Takanishi, and T. Kobayashi, Social Robots that Interact with People, pp. 1349–1369. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2008.

R. W. Picard, Affective computing. MIT press, 2000.

In-depth bibliography

A. Sussman and J. B. Hollander, Cognitive architecture: Designing for how we respond to the built environment. Routledge, 2014.
Lugrin, B., Pelachaud, C., & Traum, D. (Eds.). (2021). The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents: 20 Years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics, Volume 1: Methods, Behavior, Cognition.
Lugrin, B., Pelachaud, C., & Traum, D. (Eds.). (2022). The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents: 20 Years of Research on Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics, Volume 2: Interactivity, Platforms, Application.

Journals

Journal of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (Elsevier).
ACM Transactions on Human Robot Interaction.
International Journal of Social Robotics (Springer).
International Journal of Robotics Research (SAGE).

Web addresses

TED Talks: https://www.ted.com/
Furhat Robotics Webinars: https://furhatrobotics.com/meet-us-online/webinars/
SoftBank Robotics Webinars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU2x4uo25hLECQ2ULnByI3Yb4kFQrRYyM