Humanoid robots can now serve tea and wash the cup afterwards, but they still need to learn from their mistakes if they are to become real household helpers.
Last month a Tokyo University team showed their latest robots which can perform more complicated daily tasks, but the machines still have a learning curve to undergo.
In a model living room equipped with robotic items including two humanoids, professor Tomomasa Sato plopped himself down on the sofa, prompting a reading lamp to turn on automatically.
PHOTO: AFP
He then raised his hand and HRP-2, a humanoid — wearing an apron and kitchen gloves over its metallic frame — rolled over and asked, "Do you need help?"
"I'd like a cup of tea," Sato said.
The wheeled robot dutifully turned around and went to the kitchen counter, where a two-legged fellow humanoid grabbed a plastic bottle to pour tea into a cup.
"The focus used to be on making humanoid robots walk with two legs, but now the point is to shift one step beyond to make it do a variety of practical movements," Sato said.
"There is no script in this demonstration," he said. "These components of information systems react to my actions and create an environment to assist me."
Professor Masayuki Inaba, who heads the team that designed the humanoids, said the next challenge was to make machines that can handle unexpected situations.
"They will need to memorize information from different situations," Inaba said. "They need to learn and expect what will happen next, making their own judgement using an accumulated memory of what causes what kind of results.
"That is an ability necessary for them to learn — that when a wet cup slips from their hand, then they have to grab more firmly when picking up a wet container."
(AFP)
人型機器人現在不但會奉茶，事後還會清洗杯子，但若想成為真正的家庭好幫手，它們還需要從錯誤中學習。
上個月東京大學一個研究小組展示了他們最新的機器人，這些機器人能執行更複雜的日常工作，但它們還得多多學習。
在配備了包括兩具人型機器人在內的自動化物件展示廳中，佐藤知正教授一坐上沙發，閱讀燈便自動開啟。
接著佐藤教授舉起手，有著金屬外殼且穿戴圍裙、手套的HRP-2人型機器人便靠上來問了一句：「您需要幫忙嗎？」
佐藤教授說：「我想要一杯茶。」
這個行動機器人聽話地轉往廚房流理台，而流理台那頭則有另一個人型機器人取出一個塑膠瓶，把茶倒進杯子裡。
佐藤教授說：「過去的研發重點在讓人型機器人用雙腿行走，現在則要進一步讓它們實際執行多種動作。」
他說：「這項示範是沒有腳本的，這些資訊系統元件不但回應我的動作，也提供協助的環境。」
帶領人型機器人設計團隊的稻葉雅幸教授表示，下一個挑戰是讓機器人有能力處理突發狀況。
稻葉教授說：「它們需要熟記不同狀況的資訊，學習並預料接下來會發生的事，藉由不斷累積記憶的因果經驗，自行做出判斷。」
「這對它們來說是必須學習的能力─當一個濕的杯子從手中滑落，之後在拾拿濕淋淋的容器時，就得抓得更牢。」
（法新社／翻譯：林倩如）
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