Slashdot Mirror
Making a Birdhouse is Like 'Hello World' for a Versatile Factory Robot (2 Videos)
Many millions of American students have been called on to construct a wooden birdhouse as part of a middle- or high-school shop class. To make a birdhouse from wood and nails may not requite advanced carpentry, but it does take eye-hand coordination, object recognition, the ability to lift constituent pieces, and to grasp and wield tools -- and each of those can be broken down further into smaller tasks and skills of the kind that we as humans don't generally have to think about. ("Rotate wrist slightly to account for board angle.") For robots, it's another story: like the computers that run them, robots generally only do what they're told. Industrial robots can do some complex tasks, but they're expensive and complex to program.
Benjamin Cohen is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Pennsylvania working under adviser Maxim Likhachev with a real-world, cheap way to make robots to accomplish a multi-step project with minimal human intervention, which he calls "autonomous robotic assembly." Project Birdhouse -- part of his Ph.D. work, along with teammates Mike Phillips and Ellis Ranter -- is Cohen's effort to create a sort of "Hello, World" for robots. With a combination of a research-platform robot base, off-the-shelf parts, like a nail gun (read: "One not built for robot use"), and software to squeeze greater accuracy out of the system as a whole, he and his colleagues have come up with a robot that can grab a selection of parts, align them properly, and assemble them with nails into a functional birdhouse. QR codes let the robot give the robot a sort of recipe to follow, and the system is smart enough to squawk if it doesn't have the right parts to complete the task. (Check out more video with the robot in action, and a great many photos, sketches, and diagrams illustrating the project's evolution.)
NOTE: We split today's video in half, with both halves running right here, today. This way, if you watch the first video and and want to learn more, you can move on to the second one. And the transcript not only covers both videos, but has "bonus" material that isn't in either one.
Benjamin Cohen is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Pennsylvania working under adviser Maxim Likhachev with a real-world, cheap way to make robots to accomplish a multi-step project with minimal human intervention, which he calls "autonomous robotic assembly." Project Birdhouse -- part of his Ph.D. work, along with teammates Mike Phillips and Ellis Ranter -- is Cohen's effort to create a sort of "Hello, World" for robots. With a combination of a research-platform robot base, off-the-shelf parts, like a nail gun (read: "One not built for robot use"), and software to squeeze greater accuracy out of the system as a whole, he and his colleagues have come up with a robot that can grab a selection of parts, align them properly, and assemble them with nails into a functional birdhouse. QR codes let the robot give the robot a sort of recipe to follow, and the system is smart enough to squawk if it doesn't have the right parts to complete the task. (Check out more video with the robot in action, and a great many photos, sketches, and diagrams illustrating the project's evolution.)
NOTE: We split today's video in half, with both halves running right here, today. This way, if you watch the first video and and want to learn more, you can move on to the second one. And the transcript not only covers both videos, but has "bonus" material that isn't in either one.
Have the robot build a bird to go with it. Maybe they will soon be able to 3D print one.
Is it too late to put this thing together as a 2015 summer blockbuster?
Sorry, I forgot there are ads on the Web; I use Lynx.
NOTE: We split today's video in half, with both halves running right here, today. This way, if you watch the first video and and want to learn more, you can move on to the second one.
Why not split the video into four? Or eight? In fact, why not split it up into individual frames, each one 1/30th or so of a second long and autoplay them one after the other, then I can exercise my free will and stop watching any time I want to because I'm not a gibbering idiot?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
"When the robots come, they will replace all workers. And humans will be free to pursue other interests, like art and culture."
"How will the humans eat and pay rent?"
"The robots will provide all their needs"
"But how do they pay the robots for this?"
"The robots will also provide them with money."
"Are you sure you've thought this through?"
"No, not really. But look, isn't this robot COOL?"
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
I thought the spice rack was the first carpentry project to make or break a would-be carpenter? Honestly, it doesn't take a robot to make a birdhouse. My guess is someone could do it with all mechanical means with little problem. You're talking about six to eight pieces of wood, only some of which need to be cut other than to length, and one hole.
I figure all those cheap birdhouses in places like Christmas Tree Shops are made by machines in China. But that isn't the point here -- this robot is supposed to know how to do it, not just repeat predefined steps in a highly controlled environment. Robots already do that on a much more complex level - like assembling parts of cars.
Help fight poverty: Punch a poor person.
If someday instead of looking for a "Made in America" sticker I'll be looking for a "Made By A Human" sticker
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Before you became youtube, but with longer crappier descriptions of crappy video.
Great research that builds on the author's previous work:
Autonomous Poop Scooping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkcaivxHZnY
That birdhouse is horrible. The sides aren't straight, there are gaps between the pieces of wood, and the nails are sticking out. Get ready birds for robots are going to be pumping out a ton of crappy homes for you.
I look forward to our birdhouse-building robotic overlords
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
You know what would have made this story really really cool? Hmmm, how about the two main videos actually showing a robot making a birdhouse. After watching the videos I am confused as to which guy was the robot; the one with the dark hair or the blond hair.