We present M, an open-source, low-cost social robot platform designed to reduce platform friction that slows social robotics research by making robots easier to reproduce, modify, and deploy in real-world settings. M combines a modular mechanical design, multimodal sensing, and expressive yet mechanically simple actuation architecture with a ROS2-native software package that cleanly separates perception, expression control, and data management. The platform includes a simulation environment with interface equivalence to hardware to support rapid sim-to-real transfer of interaction behaviors. We demonstrate extensibility through additional sensing/actuation modules and provide example interaction templates for storytelling and two-way conversational coaching. Finally, we report real-world use in participatory design and week-long in-home deployments, showing how M can serve as a practical foundation for longitudinal, reproducible social robotics research.

翻译：我们提出M，这是一个开源、低成本的社交机器人平台，旨在通过使机器人更易于复制、修改和在真实场景中部署，从而减少阻碍社交机器人研究的平台摩擦。M结合了模块化机械设计、多模态感知以及表达力强但机械结构简单的驱动架构，并配备了一个ROS2原生软件包，该软件包清晰地分离了感知、表达控制和数据管理。该平台包含一个与硬件接口等效的仿真环境，以支持交互行为的快速模拟到真实转移。我们通过额外的传感/驱动模块展示了可扩展性，并提供了用于故事讲述和双向对话辅导的示例交互模板。最后，我们报告了在参与式设计和为期一周的家庭部署中的实际使用情况，展示了M如何作为纵向、可复现的社交机器人研究的实用基础。