Petar Kormushev and Sylvain Calinon of the Italian Institute of Technology recently taught a robot built by Barrett Technology to flip a pancake. The experiment was related to “the application of algorithms that help learn by imitation and reinforcement”, and required 50 trials before success was achieved.
As you can see in the video, one of the researchers initially goes through the motion while holding the robot’s arm, after which the robot tries it by itself. You can also see many of the failed attempts using a solid, artificial pancake, and the patient reactions of the researchers as they drive toward their goal. Most of us would have soiled that lab with more four letter words than were heard in Steve Anderson’s 2005 film “F*ck”.
(via Wired)
