Robots are very useful. They are used in industrial applications, manufacturing, and assembly. Now, a new system will teach them to do something more refined. Something like molding sticky rice into that edible little thing called sushi.
A group of MIT researchers, namely Yunzhu Li, Jiajun Wu, Russ Tedrake, Joshua B. Tenenbaum, and Antonio Torralba, have developed a system that improves a robot’s ability to mold certain materials into a variety of shapes, Engadget reported.
The system, known as “learning-based particle simulator,” allows a robot to learn and predict how certain materials will respond when it touches them. While this isn’t the first time researchers have tried enabling robots to grab delicate objects, this is the first time researchers tried this kind of approach.
Unlike previous learning systems that had robots relying heavily on approximation techniques that usually fail in real-life applications, this new system allows robots to learn how small portions of items -- called “particles” -- respond when touched. This helps refine the robot’s control of certain materials...
Read the full articel on the International Business Times website using the link below.