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Rethink's workplace robot is now smarter and easier to train
Think of a warehouse robot and a huge, cumbersome machine probably comes to mind. They're reliable, but difficult to reprogram if you're not a trained specialist. Rethink Robotics is trying to tackle the problem with Sawyer, a one-armed robot with a tablet for a face. A new software update called Intera 5 means it's now easier to program for new, custom tasks in the workplace. At its core is a "behavior engine" that can be visualised like a logic tree. Similar to basic coding applications, that makes it easier for people to change specific movements and 'if this, then that' style reactions.
Robots learn to grasp objects by practicing and teaching each other
Even for robots, practice makes perfect. At least that's how it works for the technique developed by Brown University assistant professor Stefanie Tellex, which teaches robots how to pick up objects so they can relay the info to other robots. Tellex has been working on the technique with the help of an industrial machine called Baxter, which has two hands and a touchscreen face. These slightly human-shaped automatons use cameras and infrared sensors to examine an object -- they then pick it up from various angles using different grasps in order to find the most secure way to hold it. Once they do determine the perfect grip, the information is encoded in a format that can be shared online and uploaded onto other robots' brains.
Rethink delivers Baxter the friendly worker robot, prepares us for our future metal overlords (video)
No one would characterize existing factory robots as especially warm and fuzzy: they're usually disembodied limbs that are more likely to cut you than hug you. Rethink Robotics wants to put a friendly face on those machines, both figuratively and literally. Its about-to-ship Baxter worker robot carries a touchscreen face that's as much about communicating its intent as giving humans something more relatable. Likewise, it's designed to be easily programmed by its organic coworkers and react appropriately -- you guide Baxter by one of its two arms to tell it what to do, and its combination of cameras and a quad-core processor let it adapt to real-world imperfections. Even the series elastic actuators in its arms give it a softer, subtler movement that's less likely to damage products or people. While Baxter isn't as ruthlessly quick as most of its peers, the relatively low $22,000 price and promise of an SDK for its Linux brain in 2013 should make it easier to accept than the six-digit costs and closed platforms of alternatives. We just hope we're not being lulled into a false sense of security as lovable robots invade our manufacturing base ahead of the inevitable Robopocalypse. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
