I have to admit to a certain amount of skepticism when it comes to robots designed to mimic human modes of action. For years, I've had to explain to friends outside the industry that anthropomorphic robots were almost never the optimal solution for industrial automation.
So, here's a company with a product that claims to have created a robot that can co-exist with humans in a workplace, side-by-side, without guarding, light curtains, etc.
http://nyti.ms/U5TGWj
This isn't exactly anthropomorphic -- in fact, its arms look fairly conventional -- but it's alleged to be trainable by "demonstration", meaning you physically move its arm and hand to teach a motion.
Now, I seem to recall other robots being introduced previously that are similarly trainable, and I have to imagine that real automation problems are a *lot* more complex than can be addressed in such a rudimentary manner.
The main distinction seems to be that they've added extensive sensing to detect imminent collisions with any nearby humans. Note also that the robot features a display in the location of a human head, with cartoon eyes -- just too cute.
Does anyone have any experience with these, or similar, systems? Does any of this sound plausible?
Ken Crater
So, here's a company with a product that claims to have created a robot that can co-exist with humans in a workplace, side-by-side, without guarding, light curtains, etc.
http://nyti.ms/U5TGWj
This isn't exactly anthropomorphic -- in fact, its arms look fairly conventional -- but it's alleged to be trainable by "demonstration", meaning you physically move its arm and hand to teach a motion.
Now, I seem to recall other robots being introduced previously that are similarly trainable, and I have to imagine that real automation problems are a *lot* more complex than can be addressed in such a rudimentary manner.
The main distinction seems to be that they've added extensive sensing to detect imminent collisions with any nearby humans. Note also that the robot features a display in the location of a human head, with cartoon eyes -- just too cute.
Does anyone have any experience with these, or similar, systems? Does any of this sound plausible?
Ken Crater