The scientists assigned the robot a task to build an Ikea chair in the similar way a human would.
According to CNN Tech, Assistant professor Pham Quang Cuong, who led the team of scientists said: “The job of assembly, which may come naturally to humans, has to be broken down into different steps, such as identifying where the different chair parts are, the force required to grip the parts, and making sure the robotic arms move without colliding into each other.”
A simple Ikea chair was bought and dismantled with parts laying around the robot. To complete the assignment it took the robot three seconds to spot all the parts using its 3D photo capabilities. In the next step, the robot spent 11 minutes assessing the next move and was able to assemble the chair in nine minutes.
“So it can learn the different steps of assembling a chair through human demonstration or by reading the instruction manual, or even from an image of the assembled product,” Pham said.