<div dir="ltr">What is the HRI 2021 Student Design Competition? The HRI 2021 Student Design Competition (short: SDC) is a friendly international competition, open to small teams (or even just you!) of high-school and university-level students: invent and design an interactive robot, and present it in front of an international audience of researchers, during the HRI 2021 Conference, that will be held online, in March 2021. We invite students from all nationalities & all backgrounds to join the challenge, whether you are working and studying in technical, art/design, or social science disciplines. More information here:<a href="https://humanrobotinteraction.org/2021/student-design-competition/" style="text-decoration-line:none"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://humanrobotinteraction.org/2021/student-design-competition/</a> THE DESIGN CHALLENGE AND CONTEXT Acknowledging the very special circumstances caused by COVID-19, and building upon the conference theme of Bolder Human-Robot Interaction, this year’s student design competition theme is “A Robot to Support Us Through Lockdown”: it is up to you to interpret this theme your way! (and feel free to go a bit beyond it if you already have a clear idea in mind!) Some examples could be:<ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:11pt">A robot that facilitates staying in touch with your loved ones</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:11pt">A robot comforting you at home with its calming sounds or smells</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:11pt">A robot dancing with you when you feel down</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:11pt">A robot that you send down the street to carry messages for your self-isolating neighbours</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:11pt">A robot that helps managing family dynamics</li></ul> But of course, these are only examples! We expect you to come up with your own, crazy & creative ideas!We encourage participants to focus on the actual process of creating a robot, including what the robot would bring to us; what are the ideas and principles behind it; how the robot is built, how it feels (textures, materials, shape, colours, sounds...), how it 'exists' in our environment (its place, role, interactions with other objects or places), and, of course, how it interacts with its human companions. For this, feel free to focus on particular interaction situations, and create scenarios that illustrate how the robot fits within the lives of the humans involved. How to create your robot?We imagine participants using recycled materials (cereal card boxes, straws, clothes...), or sourcing small products from your local stores (including IKEA or MUJI), hacking toys, or using everyday objects from their homes or labs, then actuating them using purchased or homemade hardware and software (perhaps using open-source tools) to add movement, visual indicators, or sound, so the robot can express itself and/or communicate its use or purpose. Don’t feel limited by any of these suggestions: be creative! The competition focuses less on demonstrations of technical proficiency and more on the design process of ideas that inspire, surprise, and delight. How to take part in SDC 2021? Form a team (5 people max., but you can also participate as an individual) and prepare the initial submission to be submitted via the HRI website before the 10 December 2020. Creating and submitting an initial submission is how student teams enter the competition and indicate that they are working on a project. Each initial submission should be a 1–2 page document, that includes the following informations: <ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:36pt">Project title and authors (names, school/university, and email addresses).</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:36pt">An abstract of 100 words or fewer.</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:36pt">A brief description of the design or application scenario: who will interact with the robot? Where? What kind of activities will the robot and the humans do together? The description can be technical and/or behavioral. Feel free to add pictures and drawings to explain your idea.</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;margin-left:36pt">A brief description of your design process: How did you generate ideas? Challenge them? Revisit them?You can include the different robot ideas/concepts you have explored (and not just the final one). You can do that by adding pictures of your ideas, making videos, including drawings, 3D models, post-its, etc.</li></ul> IMPORTANT DATESSubmission Deadline: 10 December 2020Acceptance Notification<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">: 8 January 2021Camera-ready Deadline: 18 January 2021 Closer to the conference, we will ask you to submit your presentation material: a video showcasing your project and design process, and, optionally, an additional interactive presentation of the robot that you created. Additional details on these submissions will be provided to you after acceptance of your project. However, do not forget to document and (video-)record your design process from the very start! STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION CHAIRSPatrícia Alves-Oliveira, University of WashingtonSéverin Lemaignan, Bristol Robotics Lab</div>