Can a robot have emotions? Or is that question even relevant - is it for meaningful interactions even sufficient to act as if the bot has emotions? The 'toddler' robot Kismet demonstrates that a robot can evoke strong emotions in other organisms interacting with it, and that this can be an important tool for robot social interaction, learning and other uses. People even easily ascribe motivations, intentions and emotions to abstract forms such as circles and triangles, as demonstrated in a classical psychological experiment by Heider and Simmel.
(photo of electrofacial choreography by artist/researcher Arthur Elsenaar)