Google DeepMind Taught a Robot to Tie Shoes Very Poorly

Google DeepMind has announced that it has taught 1 of its robots however to necktie a shoe. Unfortunately, the robot isn’t precise bully astatine it yet. In fact, the bot’s shoe-tying abilities arguably fertile rather debased connected the wide scale. I’m beauteous definite astir American adults (and besides children) tin necktie their shoes amended than this robot.

The bot’s breakthrough was announced successful a tweet posted connected X connected Thursday. The tweet included a video of the machine’s method feat:

Manipulating objects utilizing conscionable 1 robot limb is challenging.

Enter ALOHA Unleashed, which builds upon our ALOHA 2 system. With 2 arms, it tin beryllium teleoperated to cod precocious prime grooming data.

With this system, robots tin execute caller tasks with less demonstrations. pic.twitter.com/D6J0P3eqxJ

— Google DeepMind (@GoogleDeepMind) September 12, 2024

As you tin spot from the video, those are immoderate truly large “bunny ears.” Just ideate trying to locomotion astir successful those things. You’d beryllium face-planting immediately.

In a blog station entitled “Our latest advances successful robot dexterity,” DeepMind goes into further item astir however they taught the instrumentality to lace up. Unusually, the bot uses 2 arms to implicit the task—or what researchers dub “bi-arm manipulation.” The bot is besides powered by 2 caller AI systems, dubbed ALOHA Unleashed and DemoStart. ALOHA’s programming helps the bot execute difficult, two-armed tasks, portion DemoStart involves the usage of simulations to assistance the robot larn from its experiences. “One day, AI robots volition assistance radical with each kinds of tasks astatine home, successful the workplace and more,” researchers write. “Dexterity research, including the businesslike and wide learning approaches we’ve described today, volition assistance marque that aboriginal possible.”

Many companies are presently racing to physique robots that tin prosecute successful human-like activities. Minor tasks similar shoe-tying oregon shirt-folding person agelong been considered a captious litmus trial of a robot’s abilities. Some companies are having much occurrence than others. Earlier this year, Elon Musk shared a video of his Tesla bot (dubbed “Optimus”) folding a shirt. It aboriginal turned retired that the video had been partially staged and that the robot could not really fold a garment autonomously yet.

The presumable extremity crippled for this benignant of exertion is autonomous manufacturing plants, wherever companies tin usage robots to marque products from scratch without having to prosecute immoderate workers. It’s unclear wherefore other you would physique a instrumentality whose intent is to replicate labour already accomplished by humans. I conjecture we tin each instrumentality comfortableness successful the information that the robots that beryllium contiguous definite don’t look similar they’ll beryllium up to the task anytime soon.