My research is on proactiveness in robots. By the term proactive I understand a robot that is able to generate and select among its own goals and pursue activities towards their achievement. Consider the following example: Anna, who owns a personal robot, has instructions from her physician to take pills daily at meal times. Not taking the pills can result in Anna being unwell. Throughout the day, there are moments in which it would be benefificial for the robot to proactively prompt Anna to take her pills, and moments in which it would not be. For instance, it would be pedantic to remind her of the pills at breakfast, but it may be adequate at lunch and really needed at dinner. If Anna goes to bed and has not taken her pills yet, the robot may become more invasive and bring the pills to her. The robot should also bring the pills at breakfast, if it knows that Anna will be out for the rest of the day. The decision on when to act and what to do must consider, in general, a multitude of aspects related to the current and future state of the whole system, including the robot, the user, and the pills