The project called Co-operative Human Robot Interaction Systems and based at the Bristol Robotics Lab has been funded by the European Commission.
A lab spokeswoman said: "It will specifically look at the problems of a human and a robot working together in the same space, for example in a kitchen where the service robot is performing a task such as stirring soup, while you add cream.''

Sitting pretty
Police in Venice have arrested a man who was wandering St Mark's Square and other city landmarks while secretly filming women's bottoms.
A patrol noticed him closely following a young woman while carrying a large bag on his shoulder.
The bag turned out to contain a sophisticated camera which the man had used to film some 3,000 women in the area over more than three years, storing their rears on DVDs.

Safe and Sound
An Australian driver who secured a carton of beer in his car with a seat belt but left a five-year-old child unrestrained has been fined £355.
Constable Wayne Burnett said he was "shocked and appalled'' when he pulled over the unregistered car in Alice Springs.
The 30-can carton was strapped in between the two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in the back - on the floor.

Room with a tune
The former home of the Von Trapp family made famous by the The Sound of Music is being refashioned into a hotel.
The Villa Trapp on the outskirts of Salzburg once housed the family which gained global fame in the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews.
Salzburg tourism officials said the park surrounding the villa will also be open to the public.