Thursday, September 23, 2010
Everyday Robot Helpers Could be Affordable in a Decade Or Less
From Cornell University
They’re mundane, yet daunting tasks: Tidying a messy room. Assembling a bookshelf from a kit of parts. Fetching a hairbrush for someone who can’t do it herself.
What if a robot could do it for you?
Cornell University Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ashutosh Saxena is working to bring such robots into homes and offices. He leads Cornell’s Personal Robotics Lab, which develops software for complex, high-level robotics. Among the lab’s goals are programming robots that can clean up a disheveled room, assemble an Ikea bookshelf and load and unload a dishwasher – all without human intervention.
“Just like people buy a car, I envision that in five to 10 years, people will buy an assistive robot that will be cheaper or about the same cost as a car,” Saxena said.
Read the full article here.