{"id":7755,"date":"2016-05-18T06:34:48","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T06:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kurzweilai.net\/?p=280481"},"modified":"2016-05-19T06:36:29","modified_gmt":"2016-05-19T06:36:29","slug":"using-animal-training-techniques-to-teach-robots-household-chores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2016\/05\/18\/using-animal-training-techniques-to-teach-robots-household-chores\/","title":{"rendered":"Using animal training techniques to teach robots household chores"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Virtual environments for training a robot dog (credit: Washington State University)<\/p><\/div>\n

Researchers at Washington State University<\/a> are using ideas from animal training to help non-expert users teach robots how to do desired tasks.<\/p>\n

As robots become more pervasive in society, humans will want them to do chores like cleaning house or cooking. But to get a robot started on a task, people who aren\u2019t computer programmers will have to give it instructions. \u201cSo we needed to provide a way for everyone to train robots, without programming,\u201d said Matthew Taylor<\/a>, Allred Distinguished Professor in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.<\/p>\n

User feedback improves robot performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Bei Peng, a doctoral student in computer science, and collaborators at Brown University and North Carolina State University, Taylor designed a computer program that lets humans without programming expertise teach a virtual robot that resembles a dog in WSU\u2019s Intelligent Robot Learning Laboratory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the study, the researchers varied the speed at which their virtual dog reacted. As when somebody is teaching a new skill to a real animal, the slower movements let the trainer know that the virtual dog was unsure of how to behave, so trainers could provide clearer guidance to help the robot learn better.<\/p>\n

The researchers have begun working with physical robots as well as virtual ones. They also hope to eventually also use the program to help people learn to be more effective animal trainers.<\/p>\n

The researchers recently presented their work at the international Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems conference, a scientific gathering for agents and robotics research. Funding for the project came from a National Science Foundation grant.<\/p>\n