To develop the humanoid robot, the team used a combination of AI, sensors and fine-tuned motor skills, all of which enable the robot to interact with its surroundings much like humans do.
Source: Ruaridh Mon-Williams
Explaining that robots in factories and on production lines perform pre-programmed actions and responses but fail to adapt to unforeseen obstacles in real-time, the team combined advances in sensitive motor skills and AI to develop a robot that can successfully interact with objects and people in challenging environments.
According to its developers, the humanoid Kinova robotic arm, which features seven movable joints, is capable of interpreting verbal instructions and then analyzing its surroundings.
During trials, the humanoid robotic arm searched a kitchen to find a mug by accessing drawers with opening mechanisms it had not previously encountered. The robot then measured and mixed a pre-set ratio of ground coffee from a jar with water from a kettle.
Further, the technology powering the robot allows it to adapt to unforeseen events — for instance, when a person bumps or moves the mug unexpectedly while the robot is working. The robot can also offer sound output, explaining what it will do when presented with more than one request to do something.
An article detailing the robotic arm, “Embodied large language models enable robots to complete complex tasks in unpredictable environments,” appears in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.
