An investigation of service degradation in long-term human-robot interaction with a particular reference to recharge behaviour

Autonomous long-term operation of social robots has always been a challenge in Human robot-interaction. Social mobile robots acting as companions or assistants will need to operate over a long-term period of time (days, weeks or even months) to perform daily tasks and interact with users. Therefore they should be capable of operating with a great degree of autonomy and will require sustainable social intelligence. Social robots are fallible and have their own limitations with the service they provide. One of the most important limitations of mobile robots is power constraints and the need for frequent recharging. Social mobile robots generally draw power from batteries carried on the robot in order to operate various sensors, actuators and perform tasks. However, batteries have a limited power life and take a long time to recharge via a power source. While the recharge behaviour is active, which may impede human-robot interaction and lead to service degradation. This thesis raises some important issues related to recharge behaviour of social mobile robots which appear to have been overlooked in social robotics research. This work investigated service degradation in long-term interaction due to recharge behaviour of autonomous social mobile robots and proposes an approach to manage service degradation due to recharge. First we performed a long-term study to investigate the service degradation caused by the recharging behaviour of a social robot. Second we conducted a more focused social study which helped to understand user’s attitudes towards a mobile robot with respect to recharge activity. We explored a social strategy by modifying the robot’s verbal behaviour to manage service degradation during recharge. The results obtained from our social study indicates the use of verbal strategies (transparency, apology, politeness) made the robot more acceptable to the users during recharge. We believe that social mobile robots should behave in a socially intelligent manner while managing service degradation. We also provide some recommendations for social mobile robots to manage their recharge behaviour in this thesis

Bioanalytical Method Development and Validation Study of Neuroprotective Extract of Kashmiri Saffron Using Ultra-Fast Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS): In Vivo Pharmacokinetics of Apocarotenoids and Carotenoids

Kashmir saffron (Crocus sativus L.), also known as Indian saffron, is an important Asian medicinal plant with protective therapeutic applications in brain health. The main bioactive in Kashmir or Indian Saffron (KCS) and its extract (CSE) are apocarotenoids picrocrocin (PIC) and safranal (SAF) with carotenoids, crocetin esters (crocins), and crocetins. The ultra-fast liquid chromatography(UFLC)- photodiode array standardization confirmed the presence of biomarkers PIC, trans-4-GG-crocin (T4C), trans-3-Gg-crocin (T3C), cis-4-GG-crocin (C4C), trans-2-gg-crocin (T2C), trans-crocetin (TCT), and SAF in CSE. This study’s objectives were to develop and validate a sensitive and rapid UFLC-tandem mass spectrometry method for PIC and SAF along T4C and TCT in rat plasma with internal standards (IS). The calibration curves were linear (R2 > 0.990), with the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) as 10 ng/mL. The UFLC-MS/MS assay-based precision (RSD, <15%) and accuracy (RE, −11.03–9.96) on analytical quality control (QC) levels were well within the acceptance criteria with excellent recoveries (91.18–106.86%) in plasma samples. The method was applied to investigate the in vivo pharmacokinetic parameters after oral administration of 40 mg/kg CSE in the rats (n = 6). The active metabolite TCT and T4C, PIC, SAF were quantified for the first time with T3C, C4C, T2C by this validated bioanalytical method, which will be useful for preclinical/clinical trials of CSE as a potential neuroprotective dietary supplement