A learning robot built at Iowa State University is being developed to learn like a human child; researchers are aiming for the learning capabilities of a human two-year old child. It was developed by assistant professor Alexander Stoytchev and a team of students.
The robot uses a series of tests to learn to recognize objects. Much like a child, it grabs, pushes, taps, shakes and drops (that sounds like two year-olds I've had in my own house) objects to learn about them. It can even try to mark them with a pencil, and then see if the surface of the object can be marked. I hope they 'child-proofed' their lab before turning it loose.
In a test with 22 different objects, it could successfully identify them 99% of the time after performing its testing sequence.
Take a look at this video to learn more; you can skip about 1 minute and 15 seconds in to get to the good parts.
(Iowa State learning robot video>)
The Iowa State learning robot has quite a wide variety of facial expressions as well; take a look at this shorter video to see the face of the robotic future.
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'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
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'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.' - Neal Asher, 2008.
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'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Orb Nomad Zero-Emission Electric Aircraft
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair or to perch on a flagpole in imitation of a giant bird, even in the windy city of Chicago.'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'