Humane Robotics

The new humanoid robots not only perform ta­sks, but also can activate interactions and so­cial relationships with other robots and with humans. In this view, the diffusion of humanoid robots with a physical structure reminiscent of the human body, endowed with decision-ma­king abilities, and capable of externalizing and generating emotions, is opening a new line of research with a main objective of understanding the dynamics of social interactions generated by the encounters between robots and humans. However, this process is not easy. To be accepted by society, robots have to ‘understand’ people and to adapt themselves to complex real-life social environments. This goal underlines the importance for research of aspects such as com­munication, acceptance, and ethics that require the collaboration between multiple disciplines: mechatronics and computer science, psychology and neuroscience, social sciences, philosophy and ethics, anthropology, medicine, economics, law and education among others. This book seeks to gather knowledge from these disci­plines with respect to human-robot confluence (HRC) in the application of robots in everyday life, including robot training partners and col­laborative robots for children and the elderly. It covers a wide range of topics related to HRC, involving theories, methodologies, technologies, and empirical and experimental studies. The final goal is to support researchers and deve­lopers in creating robots that not only have a humanoid body but that are really ‘humane’: accessible, sympathetic, generous, compassio­nate, and forbearing.