CoreSense

Context

The trend towards increased autonomy conveys augmented problems concerning reliability, resilience, and trust for autonomous robots in open worlds. The essence of the problem can be traced to robots suffering from a lack of understanding of what is going on and a lack of awareness of their role in it. This is a problem that artificial intelligence approaches based on machine learning are not addressing well. Autonomous robots do not fully understand their open environments, their complex missions, their intricate realizations, and the unexpected events that affect their performance.

Idea

This project tries to provide a solution to this need in the form of:

1. A theory of understanding,
2. A theory of awareness,
3. Reusable software assets to apply these theories in real robots, and
4. Three demonstrations of its capability to a) augment the resilience of drone teams, b) augment flexibility of manufacturing robots, and c) augment human alignment of social robots.

In summary, CORESENSE will develop a cognitive architecture for autonomous robots based on a formal concept of understanding, supporting value-oriented situation understanding and self-awareness to improve robot flexibility, resilience and explainability.

Aim

This project has four main objectives:

1. Theoretical objective: Formulation of the theory of awareness based on a systemic concept of understanding.
2. Technological objective: Implementation of a reference architecture and engineering toolbox for aware autonomous robots.
3. Application objective: Use of the theory and the technical assets in the construction of autonomous robots, with increased capabilities to work without/with limited supervision, as well as the next generation of interactive robots, with greatly improved intuitive, safe and efficient cognitive, social and physical capabilities, to assist humans.
4. Impact objective: Creation of an open-source community in the ROS ecosystem around the architectural software developed in the project.

IMR’s role in CoreSense

In Work Package 6 (WP6), IMR leads the task of demonstrating and validating the CoreSense technology within a manufacturing setting. The focus is on building and testing two distinct industrial robotic demonstrators: a flexible, on-demand mobile manipulator capable of various assembly and maintenance tasks, and a robot cell designed to manufacture large load-bearing composite structures. Both systems aim to showcase the benefits of increased automation and cognitive capabilities in enhancing the efficiency, robustness, and flexibility of manufacturing processes.

IMR is also the leader of WP9, Dissemination Communication and Exploitation, to promote and disseminate the project’s concept and relevant outcomes. IMR’s responsibilities extend to orchestrating the planning, coordination, and execution of these dissemination activities.

This WP ensures the project’s outcomes are not only effectively communicated and shared with the public and right stakeholders, but also capitalised upon. This will encompass activities like presenting findings at public forums or conferences, publishing results in widely accessible media, or using digital platforms for extensive reach.

CoreSense Consortium