Machines Like Us

New software lets robots pick up objects they have never seen before -- an important step toward creating multifunctional domestic helpers.

Aside from the Roomba, robots haven't made much progress infiltrating American homes. But researchers at Stanford University have developed software that overcomes one of the biggest challenges: teaching a robot how to pick up an object it has never encountered before. The robot's software suggests that the best way to pick up something new is by determining the most grabable part of the object -- the stem of a wineglass, the handle of a mug, or the edge of a book, for instance.

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