Running projects

APRIL “Applications of Personal Robotics for Interaction and Learning” (820k EUR to Plymouth University, 550k EUR to Aldebaran Robotics) project. APRIL is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Industrial Doctorate project between Plymouth University and Aldebaran Robotics (France), in collaboration with Sony, MetraLabs, Osaka University, Humboldt University, Fondazione Centro San Rafaelle, and Scuola di Studi Superiore Sant’Anna. Awarded to Angelo Cangelosi, Tony Belpaeme, Nikolas Hemion (Aldebaran Robotics) and Torbjorn Dahl.

CASTOR (CompliAnt SofT Robotics), Royal Academy of Engineering – Industry Academia Partnership Programme grant to Dr Cifuentes Garcia Carlos Andres (University of Julio Garavito, Bogota, Colombia), Prof Tony Belpaeme (University of Plymouth) and Dr Martin Stoelen (FieldRobotics Ltd).

I am part of the AI for Flanders Initiative, a 30M€ per year investment to boost AI research and uptake in Flanders, Belgium.

Completed projects

L2TOR “Second Language Tutoring using Social Robots” (3.043M EUR total budget, 544,013 EUR to Plymouth University) project. H2020 project, coordinated by Tony Belpaeme. Other partners University of Tilburg, Bielefeld University, Utrecht University, Koc University, Aldebaran Robotics and QBMT. The L2TOR studies how robots can be used to tutor a second language to young children. L2TOR capitalises on research that shows how social robots have marked benefits over screen-based tutoring technologies.

Human-Robot Interaction Strategies for Rehabilitation based on Socially Assistive Robotics, £35,154, Royal Academy of Engineering – Industry Academia Partnership Programme (IAPP\1516\137) funding collaboration between the United Kingdom and Colombia. PIs Dr Gifuentes Garcia Carlos Andres and Prof Tony Belpaeme.

DOROTHY is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship funding Dr Séverin Lemaignan. DOROTHY (Donating Robots a Theory of Mind) studies meta-cognition in social robotics and uses an interdisciplinary approach to comprehend and formalize higher-order artificial cognition. The aim of which is to advance the design and practical implementation of socially interactive robots, aiming for “cognition beyond problem solving”.

DREAM “Development of Robot-Enhanced therapy for children with AutisM spectrum disorders” (ref. FP7-ICT-600915). Integrated Project under the 7th framework programme of the European Union. 4.5 year project, start 1 February 2014. Total budget of 8.6M EUR, with 1.23M EUR for Plymouth. Tony Belpaeme is Principal Investigator at Plymouth. Other partners are Hogskolan I Skovde (Tom Ziemke, Project Coordinator), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universitatea Babes Bolyai, University of Portsmouth, De Montfort University and Aldebaran Robotics.

COGNOVO is an Innovative Doctoral Programme, funded by the EU Marie Curie initiative and Plymouth University, to foster research training in the emerging field of Cognitive Innovation. CogNovo offers transdisciplinary training that combines scientific studies of the neural correlates and mechanisms of creativity, with investigations into the role of creativity in human cognition, and their application in sustainable technological and social innovation. The CogNovo consortium includes academics and experts from 24 international partner Institutions.

ROBOT-ERA “Implementation and integration of advanced Robotic systems and intelligent Environments in real scenarios for ageing population”. Integrated Project under the 7th framework programme of the European Union. 2012-2016,  6.602M EUR project, for which Plymouth receives 898,440 EUR. Partners include Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari Sant’Anna, Pisa (Prof. Paolo Dario, Project Coordinator); Instituto Nazionale di Riposo e Cura per Anziani, Ancona, Italy; Youse GmbH, Berlin, Germany; Orebro University, Sweden; University of Hamburg, Germany; Metralabs GmbH, Ilmenau, Germany; STMicroElectronics, Italy; RoboTech Srl, Sarzana, Italy; TechnoDeal, Peccioli, Italy; Municipality of Peccioli, Italy; Lansgarden Fastigheter, Orebro, Sweden.

ALIZ-E “Adaptive Strategies for Sustainable Long-Term Social Interaction”. Integrated project under the 7th framework programme of the European Union.  Plymouth coordinated the 8.3 M€ 4.5-year project, of which Plymouth received 1.4 M€. The ALIZ-E consortium consists of 7 academic partners (Tony Belpaeme as coordinator, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Imperial College, University of Hertfordshire, National Research Council Padova), one hospital (San Raffaele del Monte Tabor, Italy) and one SME (Gostai, Paris). ALIZ-E ran from 2010 to 2014.

ROBOTDOC Marie Curie Initial Training Network. Led by the University of Plymouth. ROBOTDOC unites top European universities to jointly train early career researchers to study the development of cognition in robotics. With a total budget of 3.2M EUR, Plymouth received 840,000 EUR for coordinators Angelo Cangelosi, Tony Belpaeme and Davide Marocco. Partners include the University of Zurich, the Italian Institute of Technology, the University of Skovde (SE), the University of Bielefeld (D), the University of Sunderland, Uppsala University, Yale University (USA), RIKEN (Japan) and companies Telerobot (IT) and Honda (JP & DE).

Socio-cognitive mechanisms of symbolic communication (ref. IG-11-20), Nederlands fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Belpaeme as co-applicant, PI: Dr Paul Vogt (University of Tilburg), 1 August 2011 – 31 July 2014.

ITALK: Integration and Transfer of Action, Language and Knowledge (ref. FP7-ICT-214668). Integrated project under the 7^th framework programme of the European Union. Angelo Cangelosi and Tony Belpaeme (University of Plymouth) coordinated this 6.25M EUR 4-year project, for which Plymouth received 1.68M EUR. Other partners included the University of Genoa, the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Rome, the University of Southern Denmark, the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Bielefeld, Germany. ITALK ran from 1 March 2008 to 29 February 2012.

CONCEPT: Linguistic and direct transmission of concepts in human-robot networks. Project funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for 192,000 GBP. Tony Belpaeme as sole and principal investigator. CONCEPT ran from 1 October 2008 to 30 September 2011.