DO AS I do, not as I say. That is the idea behind a new way to give instructions to robots. at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and colleagues are developing a system in which robots learn by example. Instead of programming a robot to carry out a task, a demonstration could suffice.
However, the robot does not simply mimic the human鈥檚 actions. The prototype system uses an Xbox Kinect camera to observe the human performing an activity, then breaks that activity into a sequence of key actions necessary to carry out the task. These actions are converted into a general set of instructions 鈥� much like those found in an IKEA furniture instruction manual 鈥� that can be interpreted even by non-humanoid robots.
鈥淵ou want to somehow capture the important aspects of the human鈥檚 motion and transfer that to the robot,鈥� says Dantam. 鈥淭hink about how you鈥檇 tell someone how to make a cake,鈥� he says. The way people follow those steps may vary. 鈥淎n adult might bend down over the counter to work while a child may stand on tiptoes.鈥�
Advertisement
Dantam鈥檚 system has been tested by teaching a robot arm to assemble a Lego-like structure consisting of wooden bars and pegs. A robot can also be taught alternative ways to perform a task by demonstrating it many times 鈥� if it gets stuck doing it one way, it can try another.
鈥淎s robots are already widely used within the manufacturing domain, focusing on assembly tasks makes a lot of sense,鈥� says at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
鈥淥ne of the big wins in teaching robots via demonstration is that the act of developing control paradigms or task behaviours is no longer restricted to robotics experts,鈥� she says. 鈥淚mportantly, it now becomes accessible to a broader population of people, which has a huge potential for making robotics more accessible to the general public.鈥�
The team presented the work at the in Vilamoura, Portugal, this week.
