The RICE lab is currently involved in various research projects. Below, you will find a list of selected ongoing and past projects.
Selected ongoing projects
2023: SONRIE – SOcial eNtertaining Robotics for Intercultural Education (2023-2025), PRIN – BANDO 2022 PNRR. The project SONRIE aims at defining the new concept of Intercultural Robotics Pedagogy, by developing a software framework for social robots able to operate in kindergartens and primary schools with children of different cultures. The SONRIE robot will leverage its multilinguistic abilities during verbal interaction, acting as a bridge between children of different nationalities, also implementing specific culture-aware functionalities, such as traditional games, music, art, tales of specific cultures. RICE funding: 122,000 Euros. Duration: 24 Months from November 2023. RICE lab is the coordinator of the project.
2023: DHEAL-COM, Digital Health Solutions in Community Medicine (2023-2026), PNC-MDS ‘Program “Innovative Health Ecosystem”: PNC Digital Health, UNIGE funding approximately 2,580,000 Euros. Duration: 36 months from April 2022.
2022: Fit4MEDRob, Fit for Medical Robotics (2022-2026), National Plan for complementary investments to the National Plan for recovery and resilience. “Fit for Medical Robotics” aims to address, through robotic technologies, a significant clinical, socioeconomic, and humanitarian problem arising from the demand for rehabilitation and care of people with reduced or absent motor, sensory, or cognitive functions due to injuries or congenital reasons. The proposal involves 25 partners in Italy. Funding: 20,373,062.00 Euros. UNIGE funding: 1,852,578. Duration: 44 months from December 2022 to 2026. RICE lab is involved in Spoke 2 and Spoke 3.
2022: PROPER – Pursuing RObotic PERsonalities (2022-2024), European Union – NextGeneration EU, Università di Genova – Curiosity-Driven projects. The project aims at developing a generative model to implement the synthetic personality of robots and artificial agents. To this aim, the project focus not only on verbal communication, but also includes non-verbal features. RICE funding: 70,000 Euros. Duration: 24 months from November 2022.
2022: RAISE, Robotics And AI for Socio-economic Empowerment, PNRR, Ecosistema dell’Innovazione (2022-2025). The proposal includes 4 research Spokes: Spoke 1: Urban Technologies for Inclusive Engagement; Spoke 2: Smart Devices and Technologies for Personal and Remote Healthcare; Spoke 3: Environmental Caring and Protection Technologies; Spoke 4: Smart and Sustainable Port. The proposal is coordinated by the University of Genova. Duration: 35 months. Funding: 144,442,024.00 Euros. UNIGE funding: 19,186,625.76 Euros. Duration: 36 months from October 2022. RICE lab is involved in all Spokes.
Selected terminated projects
2021: IENE-10 (Erasmus+), a project aimed at preparing healthcare workers to work with socially intelligent robots in care contexts. The proposal is coordinated by Middlesex University, London, UK, with the participation of the University of Genova, Italy; Asociatia EDUNET, Romania; Technologiko Panepistimio, Cyprus; University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK; Fachhochschule Vorarlberg GmbH, Austria. UNIGE funding: 37,014.00 Euros. Duration: 24 months from 2021. RICE lab (previously Laboratorium) is the leader of technological aspects.
2017: CARESSES – Culture-Aware Robots and Environmental Sensor Systems for Elderly Support (H2020), EU-Japan coordinated project. The project aims to study and develop a robot with cultural competence, capable of adapting its behavior based on the cultural identity of the user it interacts with. The project involves 6 European partners and 3 Japanese partners, with interdisciplinary expertise ranging from Robotics and Artificial Intelligence to Health Sciences and Transcultural Nursing, as well as the evaluation of Health Technologies. Consortium members include SoftBank Robotics, one of the world’s leading producers of assistance robots, and Advinia HealthCare, one of the largest care home networks in the UK. UNIGE funding: 548,875 Euros. Duration: 37 months from January 2017. RICE lab (previously Laboratorium) is the coordinator of the project.
2016: DIONISO: Seismic Domotics Innovative Technologies for Home and System Safety (PON R&C 2007-2013, Smart Cities and Communities and Social Innovation), ranked first in the Domotics field. The project aims at interdisciplinary research objectives for emergency and post-earthquake rescue management, integrating scientific (ICT, Domotics, Robotics, Geophysics, Seismic Engineering, Medicine, Law) and entrepreneurial skills. Funding: 8,171,544.76 Euros. UNIGE funding: 904,736 Euros. Duration: extended to 84 months (also due to the COVID emergency) from July 2016. RICE lab (previously Laboratorium) is the leading partner and is involved in the development of robotic systems and wearables to support Search&Rescue operations.
2014: WearAmI – Wearable and Ambient Intelligence Make Assistive Robots Smarter (MAE, Joint Research Projects Italy-Sweden). The project aims to develop robotic systems and distributed sensors integrated into intelligent environments to assist elderly or mobility-impaired individuals in their daily activities. WearAmI focuses on using information from wearable sensors to accurately and efficiently recognize the activities performed by the person, enabling assistance robots and the intelligent environment to make better and faster decisions. UNIGE funding: 90,000 Euros. Duration: 36 months from 2014. RICE lab (previously Laboratorium) is the coordinator of the project.