Robots are rather multi-talented machines. They can drum, for a start, help in search and rescue missions, work as receptionists and even go into space. The question we're all asking, though, is this: how can these supremely intelligent machines, whose capacity for learning surpasses that of many humans, be best utilised to do our housework? At least one team is trying to find out.
One team, from Columbia University, has recently unveiled a robot that can iron your clothes. Described as a "novel solution" to regular ironing, the system uses a 'curvature scan', to estimate the "height deviation of the cloth surface", and a 'discontinuity scan', which detects wrinkles in cloth.
The robot is then able to detect the areas of your clothes that need ironing and -- obviously -- iron them.
Robots designed for other purposes can also be utilised for housework, as evidenced by Atlas, the robot designed and operated by the the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC).
Atlas, which came second place at the DARPA Robotics Challenge, was designed to compete in a number of search and rescue categories, such as stair climbing, door opening and vehicle driving -- a selection of challenging tasks for a robot. That doesn't mean Atlas is above household chores, though, and the team taught it to clean a house.
Your house is clean, your ironing done -- what left is there for your robot pal to do? If you're peckish, RobotHow's PR2 can whip you up pizza or pancakes. The tasks -- which are simple for humans -- are fairly difficult for robots to carry out, but PR2 is able to unscrew a jar, pick up a glass of water and even make your dinner.
Similarly, Barrett WM, a robot developed at the Italian Institute of Technology, can flip pancakes with ease.
And if these domestic tasks don't appeal? There's always the robot who punches through doors.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
