Can robots adapt their own working methods to solve complex tasks? Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new form of AI, which, by observing human behavior, can adapt to perform its tasks in a changeable environment. The hope is that robots that can be flexible in this way will be able to work alongside humans to a much greater degree.
“Robots that work in human environments need to be adaptable to the fact that humans are unique, and that we might all solve the same task in a different way. An important area in robot development, therefore, is to teach robots how to work alongside humans in dynamic environments,” says Maximilian Diehl, Doctoral Student at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and main researcher behind the project.
When humans carry out a simple task, such as setting a table, we might approach the challenge in several different ways, depending on the conditions. If a chair unexpectedly stands in the way, we could choose to move it or walk around it. We alternate between using our right and left hands, we take pauses, and perform any number of unplanned actions.
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