¤ Objectives
The main objective of the RoboCom++ Project is to lay the foundation for a future global interdisciplinary research programme (e.g., a FET-Flagship project) on a new science-based transformative Robotics, to be launched by the end of the H2020 Programme.
The RoboCom++ community will pursue these ambitious objectives by cooperating along three main lines of action.
- Building an interdisciplinary community of outstanding, highly motivated and committed experts and organisations.
A coordination of efforts and the construction of an interdisciplinary community by means of structured large-scale cooperation at the European level will be carried out. By taking advantage of the experience and outcomes of the CA-RoboCom Project (http://robotcompanions.eu/), its community and its scientific and technical heritage, RoboCom++ will go beyond and will involve a wider community of roboticists and non-roboticists (including material scientists, mathematicians, AI experts, biologists, physicists, neuroscientists, economists, sociologists, philosophers and others).
- Targeted exploratory pilots.
In order to ground the discussion, the core scientific issues of the future Robot Companions will be addressed by a few initial scouting pilot studies carried out by the Project partners. Research on emerging disruptive ideas will be stimulated and carried out in the RoboCom++ Project, to the level of proof-of-concept to be applicable in the further definition of the FET-Flagship, by means of a few additional exploratory studies. The objectives of these Flagship Core Projects-like actions will be to investigate and assess new discoveries and technologies relevant to RoboCom++ and that could be developed at a much larger extent during the envisioned future FET-Flagship. The scouting pilots will address the following key topics:
- computational foundations of actions;
- morphological computation and Soft Robotics;
- soft technologies for wearable and mobile robots;
- bio-inspired self-healing materials;
- biomimetic cognitive architecture for Human-Robot interaction.
- Defining the long-term S&T roadmap, competitiveness strategy, governing and financing structure, and the ethical, legal, economic and social framework of a future FET Flagship–like initiative on Robotics.
Through the implementation of the above described activities RoboCom++ will pave the way to an envisaged FET-Flagship on Robotics. Specifically, RoboCom++ will test and validate the viability of a model for the future FET-Flagship comprising such actions as the involvement of a large interdisciplinary and multi-national community, focused research projects, fund raising, social and industrial impact and efficient management. RoboCom++ will also focus on dissemination, education and outreach to and involvement of EU citizens, with special attention to young people and schools, and to elderly users. A large number of stakeholders (from science and technology, society, finance, politics, industry and other relevant communities) will be actively involved aiming at community and consensus building at European and international level. Particular attention will be paid to ethical issues raised by the pervasive use of Robot Companions.
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