Getting a Grip

摘要

Our world is built by hands for hands. If robots are ever going to do our chores, they must learn to manipulate everyday objects. The search for the ultimate machine appendage. A G-foot-tall, one-armed robot named Stair 1.0 balances on a modified Segway platform in the doorway of a Stanford University conference room. It has an arm, cameras and laser scanners for eyes, and a tangle of electrical intestines stuffed into its base. It's not pretty, but that's not the point. From his seat at a polished table, roboticist Morgan Quig-ley sends the bot on a mission. "Stair, please fetch the stapler from the lab."