Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
SliceIt! Why Not Teach Robots To Use Knives?
Although science fiction authors imagine that robots with knives may not be the most cheerful scenario, it's still a practical use for our mechanical friends - witness the Kebab Robot Hyperslicer.
You may not be up to that level in your kitchen, however. Perhaps you just want a robot to play nice while making dinner?
Cooking robots have the potential to greatly enhance the home experience by automating food preparation tasks. However, enabling a robot to safely and dexterously manipulate kitchen tools like knives while handling delicate food items poses significant challenges. This study tackles the problem of training a robot arm to perform robust and compliant slicing motions on food items with varying material properties. We present SliceIt!, a simulation-based framework for training robust food-slicing skills through reinforcement learning before deployment on the physical robot. Our approach follows a real-to-sim-to-real pipeline: first collecting a small dataset of real food-cutting examples, then calibrating high-fidelity simulations of knife-food cutting interactions and robot motion control. Reinforcement learning agents are trained in this calibrated simulation environment to learn optimal compliance control policies that modulate knife forces. The learned policies are then transferred to the real robot, enabling it to perform intricate food-slicing tasks efficiently and safely by leveraging simulation-based policy training while minimizing real-world training risks, effort, and food waste.(Via SliceIt!: Simulation-Based Reinforcement Learning for Compliant Robotic Food Slicing.)
Consider the robotic abbatoir from Freedom's Landing, by Anne McCaffrey, published by Ace Books in 1996:
One building now gushed forth smoke and another stench that was unmistakable. Kris had encountered it once before when she passed a meat-packing company on a detour through a grotty area of Denver. The abattoir? And it was opposite buildings that resembled the barn they'd been in that night. To confirm her hideous surmise, the double doors of one of the barns now opened and its inhabitants, comprised of the six-legged grazers and some other smaller and different types, were being herded into the abattoir by a curious mechanical which had long extendable "arms" and which spat electrical sparks at laggard beasts.
However, its vision skills might not be up to the standard set by the Knife-Wielding Robot With X-Ray Vision now in use in meat-processing plants in New Zealand.
Update: 28-May-2024: A reader pointed out to me in a comment that Monty Python had done a sketch in which an apartment block designed by a man who thus far had only designed slaughterhouses is shown to investors:
End update.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/10/2024)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Food ")
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'- H. Beam Piper, 1962.
SliceIt! Why Not Teach Robots To Use Knives?
'One building now gushed forth smoke and another stench that was unmistakable.' - Anne McCaffrey, 1996.
3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality
With each successive print, our model needed to incorporate more structural ingredients to minimize print failures
Porcine Fat Cells For 3D-Printed Whole Pork Products
'I grabbed two Syntho-Steaks out of the freezer...' - Robert Heinlein, 1950.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'
Solar-Powered Space Trains On The Moon
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These
There are alternative names that are probably in the public domain by now.
How Old Are Tesla Designs?
You be the judge.
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'
Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'
Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Please, no stingers.
