ECE 487Social Robotics: Foundations, Technology, and Applications of Human-Centered Robotics

The course will provide an introduction to the research field of social robotics, with a particular human-centered perspective. Human-robot interaction is a highly interdisciplinary area of research that takes inspiration and adopts methods from a range of disciplines, including social sciences, ethology, primatology, developmental psychology, computer science, engineering, and artificial intelligence. Robots that can interact socially in an effective and acceptable manner with people have become increasingly important for applications ranging from robot-assisted therapy for people with special needs, robotic assistants for older people and care home residents, robots as tools in education, or robotic co-workers for a new generation of industrial robots that emphasize human-machine collaboration and communication. Ideas, theories, approaches, and applications will be discussed and critically reflected upon. Students will gain an understanding of the concepts and theories underlying social robotics, as well as research methodologies and techniques to realize socially intelligent robots and design, plan, and evaluate human-robot interaction experiments.