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Rodyman-Feature

Fright of AI and robotics is adequately common in humans. In that location take been ample predictions about how the robot/AI revolution will destroy an enormous number of jobs, while potentially posing an existential risk to the long-term survival of the human race. In the real world, however, our robot designs are much closer to a manufacturing robot on an assembly line than, say, Data (or even Bender). Case in point: Rodyman, the $ii.9 million robot. For the past iv years, Professor Bruno Siciliano and Prisma Lab in Italy accept been trying–and not entirely succeeding–to teach a robot how to make pizza.

"Preparing a pizza involves an extraordinary level of agility and dexterity," Professor Siciliano told Scientific American earlier this summertime. Rodyman can put toppings on a pizza, only it has real trouble with the dough, and has still to master the art of tossing without violent the dough autonomously.

This projection has a serious goal, despite the odd-seeming task. The entire point of the Rodyman project, every bit stated by Prisma Lab, is to create a "unified framework for dynamic manipulation where the mobile nature of the robotic organization and the manipulation of non-prehensile non-rigid or deformable objects will explicitly be taken into account."

The Prisma Lab website continues:

Novel techniques for 3D object perception, dynamic manipulation command and reactive planning will be proposed. An innovative mobile platform with a body, ii lightweight arms with multi-fingered hands, and a sensorized head volition be adult for constructive execution of complex manipulation tasks, also in the presence of humans. Dynamic manipulation will be tested on an avant-garde demonstrator, i.e. pizza making procedure, which is currently unfeasible with the prototypes available in the labs. The research results to be achieved in RODYMAN volition contribute to paving the way towards enhancing autonomy and operational capabilities of service robots, with the ambitious goal of bridging the gap between robotic and human being chore execution capability.

Rodyman

What does a robot similar on its pizza? MANCHOVIES. I'll be here all week, folks. Photograph by Prisma Lab.

Put more simply: The goal is to create a robot with vastly improved dexterity that can handle complex tasks that require a frail affect. Information technology'southward not difficult to see how necessary such capabilities are if we ever want to build robotics that tin act as aid devices to the elderly, infirm, or physically disabled. The more dexterity that can be built into the system, the greater the range of tasks that robots volition be able to perform.

The video above shows office of the training process. The video is in Italian and Google'south Auto Translate subtitle characteristic is truly hilariously terrible, so I recommend watching it without attempting to comprehend the sound. The gentleman making pizza while Rodyman imitates his movements is Enzo Coccia, a highly skilled pizzaiolo (pizza maker). Coccia wears a move capture suit while the robot observes him and attempts to copy his movements. According to Professor Siciliano, Rodyman has the ability to larn from its mistakes and has improved over fourth dimension, though information technology even so can't manage the pizza dough trouble.

Rodyman is scheduled to make his debut at the Naples Pizza Festival (officially now the all-time thing always) in May of 2018. Hopefully his problems will exist ironed out by then. If not, that $2.ix meg funding grant from the EU will represent a lot of diddled dough.