Piagetian experiments to DevRobotics

Abstract

Integrating robots into our daily lives, once a distant dream, is gradually becoming a reality, surpassing our initial expectations. Today, we aspire for these robots to not only perform rudimentary tasks but to emulate human behavior , and in some aspects, even exceed it. The realm of research dedicated to achieving human-like competencies in robots has given rise to the fields of Developmental and Cognitive Robotics . These domains find their foundation in cognitive architectures and insights from human development. Despite the substantial progress in these fields, a conspicuous gap exists in the literature related to the evaluation of cognitive architectures and the advanced capabilities exhibited by robots. Recognizing this void, we aim at establishing a bridge between the insights gleaned from human developmental theories and the potential applications in robotics. Central to our investigation is the notion that learning follows a cumulative trajectory of escalating complexity. Consequently, our focus centers on the early stages of human development, particularly within the realm of children aged 0 to 2 years. Drawing inspiration from Piaget’s constructivist theory aligned with empirical studies in the Developmental Robotics domain, we unveil a framework that facilitates the classification of these studies. In light of this, we curate a series of progressive experiments, mirroring the motor and cognitive growth exhibited by children from birth to two years of age, to be conducted with robots. We also described a methodology for designing these experiments considering the robotics aspects.