The Uncanny Valley: Robot Tool Use

So, if you have read this blog for any length of time, you know how I feel about robots - about the same way I feel about giant insects: fascinated, but horrified at the same way. Today, I bring you another edition of this: UMass Mobile Manipulator, a robot that taught itself how to use tools.

UMan uses a regular webcam to look down at a table from above. By analyzing differences between adjacent pixels, it guesses where an object's edges might be found. Then it prods the object and, on the basis of how it moves, revises its estimate of the object's shape (see video below). It continues shoving the object around, observing how its parts move in relation to each other. UMan will push the object backward and forward along its width and length and at a 45-degree angle to both, if necessary, until it's satisfied that it understands how the object moves. Wherever the movement is restricted, the robot concludes that there's a joint. UMan then uses that information to figure out the best way to manipulate the object. It can also tell if there are multiple joints, and how those relate to each other.

Video of this sin against nature in action