Now it’s not just people – robots
are also connected by internet thanks to RoboEarth. Next week, after four years
of research, scientists at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Philips
and four other European universities will present this online platform through
which robots can learn new skills from each other worldwide – a kind of ‘Wikipedia
for robots’. This brings the development of robots that can carry out caring or
household tasks a big step closer.
The greying population means
there is an urgent future need for robots to take over caring or household
tasks. To enable robots to successfully lend a mechanical helping hand, they
need to be able to deal flexibly with new situations and conditions. For example
you can teach a robot to bring you a cup of coffee in the living room, but if
some of the chairs have been moved the robot won’t be able to find you any
longer. Or it may get confused if you’ve just bought a different set of coffee
cups.
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