Couch to 5km robot coach: An autonomous, human-trained socially assistive robot

Abstract

We present a robot exercise coach, co-designed and then trained in real-time by a human fitness instructor, via interactive machine learning, to support the UK National Health Service (NHS) Couch to 5km (C25K) programme. The programme consists of undertaking 3x weekly exercise sessions for 9 weeks, with sessions building up from a combination of short runs and walks to a full 30 minutes running. The simplicity (and relatively boring nature) of the task places great importance on the ability of the robot, our 'C25K coach', to provide engaging and appropriate social supporting behaviour.