This is what a world designed for robots would look like
One of the hurdles robot engineers come up against is that we live in a world designed for humans. Creating robots that can live in this space and effectively interact the way we do — navigating with two legs, five senses and the ability to learn — is a tall order indeed. To that end, designer Diego Trujillo Pisanty is designing a more robot friendly world.
In With Robots, Pisanty wants to realize that tantalizing dream of a robot helper being able to live and work in the home. "With Robots approaches the issue from an alternative perspective looking at how our homes and objects might change in order to accommodate the needs of robots," Pisanty writes on his blog. "The changes on the objects were designed thinking on the tasks domestic robots will be doing such as folding bed sheets, setting the table, washing, cooking and learning to interact with the 3D world."
In the gallery below you'll find his changes, as well as a brief explanation for each.
With Robots, via BotJunkie
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Here we see sheets with robot-friendly tags on them. The tags, which wouldn't have to standout as much as they do here (they could be integrated into a pattern, for instance), would allow a robot to quickly identify what the sheet is, where its corners are, and fold it for a lazy human.
Here we see a table tagged, too, so that a robot knows what it is, and can tell what to do with it. Example: setting the table for dinner. The plate has been modified, too. Not only is the notch there for easy robo-gripping, but the 'bot would know "this is a plate."
A cupboard tagged for robot goodness. Tags could tell a robot where things go, and what kind of objects should be on that shelf. The design of the cups, you'll notice, are also different, with a peg that could be gripped by something other than a human hand, and easily. Don't like the cup design? Well, you might like it when a robot brings you your morning coffee.
Cooking is one of those things today's robots are already learning pretty darn well, but Pisanty's design optimizes the experience, with a cutting board 'bots can grip and understand, as well as a package with a robot-readable label. (Personal note: The part of me that lived in Texas for six years is horrified by how that steak has been handled, however.)
This isn't some weird totem built to the robo-gods, but rather a training tool for 'bots expected to function in a house. Tested here is a robot's ability to stack, balance and arrange. It's just one example of tools robots could use to calibrate themselves to function inside the human household.
