You might think that programming a robot is nearly impossible. Now, though, one student has placed the power of interacting with robots into our hands.
"I wanted to invent better ways to talk with machines who can make things," said Madeline Gannon, who's worked on a way to make robots trainable. "Industrial robots are some of the most adaptable and useful to do that."
Traditional robot programming actually takes place with what is effectively a joystick. Programmers move the robot to a place, record a point, and iteratively build up a motion path for the robot to remember. Then, the robot will repeat the task 24/7. However, these robots can also be dangerous. They're big and have to be programmed by people with years of training.
Now, Gannon has replaced the joystick technique with Quipt, an open-source software that turns a human's motions into instructions a robot can understand. The software switches together the robot with a motion capture system, which are cameras that look into a space and let the robot see where it is.
When the robot looks with its motion-capture eyes, it sees tracking markers on a person's hand or clothes. Now, it can track a person while remaining a certain distance away and mirror a movement. Or, it can be told to avoid markers. This potentially makes the robot a lot safer and a lot smarter. This means that the machines could be taken off control settings and be taken into live environments, like classrooms or construction sites.
"My research is really playing in the field of computer science and robotics, but the questions I'm able to ask those specific domains is conditioned by my architectural background," Gannon said. "It's really a spatial answer, how to control or interact with a robot. That, in my mind, is an architectural answer to this problem."
The latest findings could be huge for robotics in the future. It could allow people to program industrial robots to be more efficient and safer. It could actually change how people design architecture, clothing and furniture in addition to influence industrial design and the arts.
