A Robot That Learns to Use Tools
Kristina Grifantini,
Technology Review,
Jul 09, 2008
A robot developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst reminds me of myself at 7 years old. Whenever I received a new toy, I would tear it apart to see how it worked. The UMass Mobile Manipulator, or UMan, "pushes objects around on a table to see how they move. Once it identifies an object's moving parts, it begins to experiment with it, manipulating it to perform tasks." Intelligent robots have been developing slowly, and are able to learn basic tasks. Japan is the leading country in this field - one professor has designed a robot in his own image, and by wearing motion sensors, can deliver lectures at the university through the robot, even though he is miles away. "The robot is a spitting image of the professor, and it even has a bit of stage presence: It can accurately mimic Mr. Ishiguro's posture, lip movements, and vocal tics." I'm not sure this is really progress... -GW
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