Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science News

RoboHow: the Wikipedia that teaches robots how to cook

An European initiative founded in 2012, dubbed RoboHow, comes to take up the challenge of improving the way robots work and interact with humans by creating a database that should help robots learn and share information with each other (even by using actual language), mimicking human learning processes.

Alexandru Micu by Alexandru Micu
August 27, 2015
in News, Robotics

Developing robots that behave like us is one of the holy grails of modern robotics. And although recent advances in AI technology, human mimicking and automation have brought us closer than ever to that goal and gave machines a better sense of how to navigate their surroundings, there is a lot to improve in the way they work and interact with humans.

D’aaaaaaaaaaaaaw!
Image via today

But fear not! A European initiative founded in 2012, dubbed RoboHow, comes to take up the challenge by creating systems that should help robots learn and share information with each other (even by using actual language), mimicking human learning processes. The aim of the platform is to do away with pre-programming our machines to perform certain tasks, and to teach them how to put information together, use it, and remember it for the future – to “program” themselves.

The German robot PR2 – backed by the RoboHow team – is an example of a machine designed to take advantage of this new approach.

The PR2 is engineered to process written instructions from websites like WikiHow and then physically perform the associated tasks. After being tested in a bar tending setting, the robot is now interested in the kitchen – specifically pancakes. That may seem like a small task, but it requires an intricate framework of prior knowledge of micro-tasks that humans take for granted — such as the amount of pressure required to open a container.

We should have all known the Robot Revolution started when we saw this pancake.
Image via pancakeoftheweek

Ideally, the PR2 would gain that knowledge through experimenting, use it in its environment, and communicate what it has learned to an online database called OpenEase. This would create an open, easily accessible repository of growing knowledge for any robot to tap into and learn from.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

MIT Technology Review researchers said they are also considering implementing techniques that would allow robots to learn from observing humans at work, performing certain tasks. One such approach would be studying virtual-reality data after humans have performed such tasks wearing tracking gloves.

The ultimate goal would be creating a set of robots that could adapt to changing environments and instructions and react in an appropriate manner. The biggest barrier is relaying the semiotics of language into algorithm. Bridging that gap would be a giant step forward in developing robots that learn and grow like humans.

Tags: Artificial InteligencePR2robotroboticsrobots
Alexandru Micu

Alexandru Micu

Stunningly charming pun connoisseur, I have been fascinated by the world around me since I first laid eyes on it. Always curious, I'm just having a little fun with some very serious science.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.