Communications of the ACM
Madrid Opts For Robotics For Its Citizens Services
The Autonomous Community of Madrid is sponsoring Robocity2030, a consortium aimed at developing new applications for service robots to help improve humans' quality of life. The group is led by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid's Carlos Balaguer, and includes more than 60 Ph.D.s and 100 researchers.
The project has already yielded Asibot, an intelligent domestic robot that can help the disabled and the elderly live alone without human assistance. The robot can climb on vertical surfaces and perform preprogrammed tasks, but the researchers are working on developing new systems so the robot can complete tasks on its own. The robot can lift up to 4.4 pounds, but only weighs about 22 pounds.
The Robocity2030 project focuses on developing robots for quality of life in open environments and quality of life in closed environments. The open environment robots are designed to improve infrastructures to enhance citizen safety. The closed environment robots are designed to make people's everyday life easier in homes and offices. "From a technological point of view, the challenge is to make the systems much more user friendly, much sturdier, and obviously, much more affordable," Balaguer says.
From Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
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