Robo-Jeeves Finds and Folds Your Crumpled Shirts From: New Scientist - 05/24/2011 By: Paul Marks Routine domestic chores are still a problem for robots because they need to be able to distinguish between distinctive objects, and efforts to tackle such problems were discussed at the recent International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Pieter Abbeel and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley have devised software that would have Willow Garage's PR2 commercial robot hold up a mystery garment with its two grippers, estimate the length using its twin cameras to detect the lowest point, and record the outline and distinguishing features that may correspond to a collar or button. The software then applies a statistical technique to generate a digital signature that characterizes the item and compares it against a database of common clothes to determine what the robot is holding. Meanwhile, a Cornell University team has programmed a robot to find shoes scattered about a home, using software that contains data on the form and other characteristics of shoes. "These 'little' tasks are in fact very valid challenges that are big problems for machines," says University of Hertfordshire roboticist Kerstin Dautenhahn. Read the entire article at: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028137.800-robojeeves-finds-and-folds-your-crumpled-shirts.html Links: PR2 robot http://www.willowgarage.com/pages/pr2/overview Pieter Abbeel http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pabbeel/ http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/abbeel.html Personal Robotics (with videos) http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pabbeel/personal_robotics.html Cloth Grasp Point Detection based on Multiple-View Geometric Cues with Application to Robotic Towel Folding http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pabbeel/papers/Maitin-ShepardCusumano-TownerLeiAbbeel_ICRA2010.pdf