Cognitive Synergy Architecture: SEGO for Human-Centric Collaborative Robots

This paper presents SEGO (Semantic Graph Ontology), a cognitive mapping architecture designed to integrate geometric perception, semantic reasoning, and explanation generation into a unified framework for human-centric collaborative robotics. SEGO constructs dynamic cognitive scene graphs that represent not only the spatial configuration of the environment but also the semantic relations and ontological consistency among detected objects. The architecture seamlessly combines SLAM-based localization, deep-learning-based object detection and tracking, and ontology-driven reasoning to enable real-time, semantically coherent mapping.

Towards Cognitive Collaborative Robots: Semantic-Level Integration and Explainable Control for Human-Centric Cooperation

This is a preprint of a review article that has not yet undergone peer review. The content is intended for early dissemination and academic discussion. The final version may differ upon formal publication. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshapes industrial paradigms, human-robot collaboration (HRC) has transitioned from a desirable capability to an operational necessity. In response, collaborative robots (Cobots) are evolving beyond repetitive tasks toward adaptive, semantically informed interaction with humans and environments. This paper surveys five foundational pillars enabling this transformation: semantic-level perception, cognitive action planning, explainable learning and control, safety-aware motion design, and multimodal human intention recognition. We examine the role of semantic mapping in transforming spatial data into meaningful context, and explore cognitive planning frameworks that leverage this context for goal-driven decision-making. Additionally, we analyze explainable reinforcement learning methods, including policy distillation and attention mechanisms, which enhance interpretability and trust. Safety is addressed through force-adaptive control and risk-aware trajectory planning, while seamless human interaction is supported via gaze and gesture-based intent recognition. Despite these advancements, challenges such as perception-action disjunction, real-time explainability limitations, and incomplete human trust persist. To address these, we propose a unified Cognitive Synergy Architecture, integrating all modules into a cohesive framework for truly human-centric cobot collaboration.