Robots which could operate as security guards or care home assistants of the future are being developed in a British-led £7.2 million project.
Researchers working on the Strands (spatio-temporal representations and activities for cognitive control in long-term scenarios) project are developing the highly complex computer software needed by robots which would allow them to work usefully in the real world clutter of an office, or a hospital.
The long-term aim of the work is in creating mobile, independent robots with practical real-world applications and which can run unaided for days at a time, although researchers admit this will need “great leaps forward” in knowledge.
At the moment, even the most cutting-edge examples of such robots are unable to operate for any length of time on their own without human intervention, because their programming cannot cope with changes to its working area, such as people walking around an office.
However, the project, involving three British universities as well as European research agencies, is aiming to create a robot which could run for up to 120 days.
