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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Designing a domestic robot. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
If robots ever become common household helpers, computer scientist Aaron Edsinger and his colleagues at MIT can take some of the credit. They’ve designed several generations of robots that are intended to act and respond more like people. The latest is named Domo.
AARON EDSINGER (Massachusetts Institute of Technology):
And really a lot of the advances with Domo have to do with that it can work with a person, and that it can do it in someone’s home, where it’s very unstructured, it’s very cluttered, and it’s very difficult to predict.
HIRSHON:
For example, Domo can find Dr. Edsinger, take an unfamiliar object from him, and set it down on a nearby shelf, all of which involves surprisingly complex skills and judgments. Edsinger says such robots may someday help elderly or disabled people perform household chores.
I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.