How do social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis at the School of Business FHNW, Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. All are shown on informationsethik.net. The ninth proposal is RoofBot (go here to the previous). RoofBot was inspired by FLORABORG. FLORABORG is a concept for a plant cyborg from 2015 by Oliver Bendel. RoofBot detects via sensors if there is too much or too little sun and if it is too hot or too cold. When it detects that the plants are thirsty, it gives them water. It can also provide them with shade via a flexible roof. RoofBot, unlike the other proposals, is not necessarily a good example of simple, soft social robots, but it is an interesting variant of FLORABORG, which leaves the plant itself untouched. Two books by Oliver Bendel on social robots – „300 Keywords Soziale Robotik“ and „Soziale Roboter“ – will be published in October 2021.

Fig.: RoofBot (image: Trần Hoàng Yến Nhi & Hoàng Vũ Thắng, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam)