It is impossible to argue with the fact that in spite of everything, robots have a very large potential in helping people with disabilities. They can be especially helpful for people whose limitations come down to mobility problems. And in theory, robots will be able to help such people dress, which will greatly facilitate their life. However, at the moment, for robots in their current state, this is an especially difficult task, because it requires a fair amount of dexterity, safety, and speed, as well as the ability to adapt to the changing position of a person.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – July 13, 2021 – Technology
However, scientists from MIT CSAIL managed to develop a special algorithm, which, in turn, provides the necessary balance of requirements, allowing robots not to harm people with their impacts, accurately and quickly performing their tasks. As you know, people are “programmed” to adapt to other people and interact harmoniously with them. However, robots must learn all of this from scratch. For example, it is relatively easy for a person to help someone dress because we instinctively know where and how to hold a particular piece of clothing, and how people can bend their arms, as well as how the fabric reacts, and so on.
And yes, to program all such information into a form that is convenient and understandable for robots is not so easy as it might seem at first. In the recent past, various algorithms of artificial intelligence and machine learning generally did not allow robots to influence people in the interests of their safety in any way. While this is good on the one hand, it is still impossible to deny the fact that this can lead to the so-called “freezing robot” problem. It consists of the fact that in order not to harm a person, the robot stops doing at least something.
That is why you need to find something in between. And the MIT CSAIL team, led by graduate student Shen Li, has just developed an algorithm that redefines the safety of robots by allowing “safe strikes”, while not forgetting about improved collision avoidance technology. This allows the robot to make safe contact with a person to complete its task, exerting little influence on him, which means small collisions, comparable to a small, fairly light poke.
Read Also: Inventing a Robot That Harvests Fruit Crops!
Source: Ukrgate
