Can a robot offer companionship? Could a robot friend be your confidante, your wing-man, your ally or your last defence against loneliness?

From KITT and K9 to Scutters and Siri; robot friends, pets, helpers and even lovers have captured our Sci-fi imaginations for many years. As technologies advance to make the dream of a robot buddy increasingly realisable, we want you to give us your perspective on what a modern/near future robot companion might be. We are collaborating with the International Conference on Social Robotics 2013 to welcome conceptual or practical submissions to this year's robot design competition, held during the conference. The competition is open to all disciplines and centres on the theme of ‘companionship’ in social robotics. We are looking for ideas for creating future robots that people will want to spend time with in a social sense, and the benefits that such robots may give to society or individuals.

This year the robot design competition welcomes applicants from any background and in whatever format best suits your idea and your practice. Submissions may include posters, videos, prototypes, models, puppets, performances, sculpture etc. The only constraint is that your idea can be presented to the conference audience in a busy room during an hour long session.

Each submission will need to be accompanied by a (maximum) 2 page summary including a concise synopsis of a maximum of 50 words. 10 submissions will be initially selected for presentation at the conference during an interactive session. One person from each of the selected designs will also be invited to attend half a day of the conference for free (attendance fees waived). Following the presentation, conference attendees will vote for the top three entries, all of whom will receive certificates and prizes (to be announced). Whatever your background or experience, this competition is a great way to meet and present your work to an international robotics research audience.

Submit your robot companion design in whatever format suits your idea to competition@pmstudio.co.uk If your application is physical, performative or otherwise unsuitable to submit via in this way, please send details to the email above and we will arrange the appropriate means to receive it. Please note that we are unable to cover transport or accommodation costs for shortlisted presenters.

Deadline for applications: Friday 13 September, 5pm
Shortlist contacted: Friday 27 September
The judging panel will include:
Ad Spiers – haptics and robotics expert at BRL
Verity McIntosh – Pervasive Media Studio Producer

The robot design competition is jointly run by Bristol Robotics Laboratory and Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio.

Image by Tom Redfern www.iamtom.net