Applications of Robotics in Social Robotics

[Date of submission and author affiliation] Applications of Robotics in Social Robotics First A. Author, Fellow, IEEE, Second B. Author, and Third C. Author, Jr., Member, IEEE Abstract—The field of social robots deals with the design and development of robots that can interact with humans, thus advancing robots from being tools used in automation to partners with humans in vast areas including education, healthcare, entertainment, and scientific research. The area of social robotics depends largely on robotic technologies; another vast domain depended on other technologies such as big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science. The growing needs of robots at home, industrial, and workplace companion has led to the design of smart robots that can interact with people using the natural language. However, challenges are designing and building such robots are still to be resolved. This paper discusses some of the applications of robotics in enabling the design of social robots such as human-robot interaction technologies, cognitive robotics, and behavioral dynamics and automation technologies. Index Terms—Artificial intelligence, cognition, cognitive robotics, robotics, social robotics INTRODUCTION R obotics research has advanced to the level where scientists can begin designing robots acting not only as tools, but also as partners with humans in different domains including healthcare, education, entertainment, household tasks, and scientific research (1). To act as a partner and not as a tool means that robots are configured to interact with humans in a way that is in line with human social psychology to understand human commands in accomplishing a task, assist humans when they need a helping hand, and give directions in learning novel ideas (2). In a study involving staff members, participants were asked if they preferred working with fellow humans to having a robot as a companion to assist them with tasks (3). Overwhelming answers pointed out that social robots are better companions when employees are unwell, and this poses a challenge to consider the role of social robots in the workplace as a new area of focus (4). This new breed of robots are referred to as sociable robots/socially interactive robots, or social robots and the long-term goal of social robotics in building competent robots acting as capable partners for humans is a daunting task (5). Social robots will need to communicate naturally with people through both verbal and nonverbal communication signals (6). The field of robotics has to ensure that social robots engage humans both at cognitive and emotional levels to provide appropriate social and task-related support to humans (7). In addition, social robots require an array of social-cognitive skills and mind theories to appreciate human behavior to be subliminally understood by humans (8). Therefore, the area of social robotics needs an understanding of human intelligence and how people behave across manifold dimensions such as social, physical, cognitive, and physical aspects is critical in building robots that can play important roles in people’s daily lives (2). To achieve these goals, the field of social robots needs a multidisciplinary approach where the development of social rob...