Neuro-Robotics

The Neuro-Inspired COmpanion is an Open Source platform developed at the Knowledge Technology Group for research on haptics, perception, cross-modal learning, developmental robotics, and models for human-robot interaction.

The design of collaborative robots seldom emphasizes both their social interaction and physical collaboration abilities. To bridge this gap, we present the novel semi-humanoid NICOL, the Neuro-Inspired COLlaborator. NICOL is a large, newly designed, scaled-up version of its well-evaluated predecessor, the Neuro-Inspired COmpanion (NICO).

To enable quick prototyping of models and fast neural model training, all our robots are available also as simulated models. This is further supported by a number of high-power workstations with state-of-the-art GPUs for deep learning.

Our Robot Interaction Lab enables us to provide audio-visual stimuli to a robot on a level between simulation and real-world experiment. The environment offers a speaker array and semi-circular projection screen for various scenarios. 

Each project has its specific requirement and we can provide a variety of different platforms that often can be adapted to different needs, thus always providing optimal sensors and an individualized experimental test platform.

The humanoid robot Pepper combines human-robot interaction capabilities with a mobile wheeled platform. Pepper can support a wide range of research from Human-Robot Interaction to navigation. We have two Pepper robots in the Knowledge Technology team.