Town Robot { toward Social Interaction Technologies of Robot Systems {

This paper proposes a new research approach, which we call Social Robotics, for developing robots which works in human societies. The robots needs three elements: robot itself, infrastructures which support robot behaviors, and human interfaces for communication between robots, humans and operators who maintain the robot systems. The research approach aims to develop robust systems with the three elements and develop Town Robots which move in streets and interact with humans. The concept and fundamental issues are discussed and a prototype of the town robot is shown.