RAMCIP

Energy consumption over the whole Building Life Cycle (BLC) is difficult to monitor and predict due to the complexity of the processes involved. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a concept which has arisen to address the management and interoperability of the data exchanged between different computer aided tools employed at different stages the BLC, including design, construction, commissioning, operation, refurbishment and demolition. BIM therefore plays a key role in all aspects of energy management across the BLC.

The W3C Data Activity makes use of Linked Data, which is a structured form of data storage, distributed across the web, and which is supported by tools to easily query that data. By integrating BIM into the wider web of data, building information can be queried alongside all other Linked Open Data (LOD) sources, which include data on materials and systems (e.g. sensor and state of building devices data) which make up the building, profiles of occupants, and information about weather patterns and regional and global energy prices.

RAMCIP will research and develop a novel domestic service robot, with the aim to proactively and discreetly assist older persons, MCI and AD patients in their every day life. Instead of simply being an obedient servant, the RAMCIP robot will have high-level cognitive functions, driven through advanced human activity and home environment modelling and monitoring, enabling it to optimally decide when and how to assist. The robot will provide subtle physical and cognitive user skills training, by maintaining an optimal balance between physical assistance provision and user stimulation to act. The cognitive functions will orchestrate an ensemble of advanced lower-level mechanisms, enabling the robot to (a) communicate with the user and (b) establish dextrous and safe robotic manipulations. Communication will be based on multimodal interfaces, adapted and fused so as to meet the current user’s needs and interaction context. Apart from touch-screen, speech and gestural modalities, RAMCIP will incorporate an augmented reality display, as well as an underlying empathic communication channel, allowing it to sense user affect and moderate it. In the context of robotic manipulations, RAMCIP will introduce advanced dexterity in service robots for assisted living environments; the robot will employ a sophisticated anthropomorphic hand, manipulated though novel grasping and dexterity algorithms, being capable to grasp and manipulate a variety of objects in realistic user homes, supporting also safe handover. Safety will be a major research focus. By establishing safe and dextrous manipulations, emphasis will be paid on physical HRI, enabling novel assistance scenarios that will involve physical contact between the user and the robot. Through multi-faceted proactive assistance enabled through all the above, RAMCIP will advance user independency and quality of life of its user. The robot will be evaluated in two pilot sites that will be deployed in two countries.

Consortium

• Centre for Research and Technology Hellas – Information Technologies Institute (CERTH-ITI), Greece

• Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), Germany

• Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), Italy

• Foundation For Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), Greece

• ACCREA Engineering (ACCREA), Poland

• Medical University of Lublin (LUM), Poland

• Barcelona Alzheimer Treatment and Research Center (Fundacio ACE), Spain

• The Shadow Robot Company (SHADOW), United Kingdom