I-Corps: Translation Potential of an Advanced Cognitive-Robotics Technology

This I-Corps project investigates the commercial potential of an advanced cognitive-robotics technology designed to transform general-purpose robots into trusted human teammates. The robots are to be used as members of human-robotic teams. To facilitate efficient communication, explainability and mutual trust within a team, the robots will have the ability to understand the meaning of what people communicate to them, and the ability to learn through language combined with interpreted visual perceptions. This technology has the potential to benefit society by enabling robots to take on hazardous or fatigue-inducing jobs while keeping humans “in the loop” of decision-making processes.

This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. This solution is based on the development of a dual-layer framework featuring a high-level strategic cognitive layer and a low-level tactical control layer. This framework combines complex reasoning and natural language understanding with real-time sensorimotor functionality. The cognitive-robotic integration enables long-horizon planning and broadens the robot’s reasoning scope, adding metacognitive awareness and social intelligence that together support human-level explanations, essential for robots to serve as trusted teammates, not just tools, in human-robot teams. These distinctive capabilities of demonstrated explainable artificial intelligence (AI) behavior, adaptive learning, and long-horizon planning grounded in cognitively inspired decision models, hold promise for wider adoption of cognitive-robots, especially in high-risk settings where human–robot trust is critical.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2535365
Principal Investigator: Sergei Nirenburg
Funds Obligated: $50,000
State: NY