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Out of the box, and plugged into the wall, I programmed Baxter to move cups across the table this afternoon, using both arms in harmony, and it worked on the first try.

This was the first robot sale by Rethink Robotics. (I need a name for this Baxter… Turing? Dawn?)

To “program” the robot, I simply move its arms from place to place, and it generalizes the task. The arms avoid each other and continue on as the cups arrive in random places, and people get in the work space, bumping and playing alongside.

It learns what its hands can do by looking at them against the table as background. With new fingers, even 3D-printed custom fingers, it learns what it has for prosthetics with a glance and exercise of movement.

Unveiling photo sequence below.

21 responses to “We Welcome Our Humanoid Robot”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Invoice for the first sale…
    Top of Invoice

    The big boxes arrive…
    IMG_2262
    and then it lurks in the lobby, as excitement grows about the creature within…

    I’m coming out…
    IMG_1937
    What a great out-of-box experience, as Baxter stretched out his arms from his cramped box.
    I suggested that he should do a happy dance and ask if this is the uprising?

    Watching the program I entered…
    IMG_2277
    Tomorrow we will add tables and surround him with racetracks and Tesla Hot Wheel toys that he will keep in constant motion, like the Möbius waltz of Sisyphus…

    Then the Stanford Fellows arrive and the Mech E’s are smitten…
    IMG_2286

    And I give them a tour or the lobby turned space museum
    IMG_2279

    Baxter reminds me of my first personal computer, and the revolution in human productivity that ensued. It is like the Apple ][ era for robotics, with radically lower price points, plug and play simplicity, and democratized access ("a safe robot you can trust" as Jobs might envision it). The humanoid form factor makes the target markets intuitive and obvious — anywhere a human is doing mind-numbing repetitive tasks, these robots could drop in with similar capabilities; we need not ask about the performance details of weight, speed and accuracy because the task was already designed for a human with two arms.

    As investors in Tesla Motors and SpaceX, we have seen how scores of robots have made both companies globally competitive, while bringing the manufacturing activities back to California. The modern manufacturing operation shifts to a highly skilled and ultimately rewarding operation, much like the PC liberated us from the repetitive tasks that were originally relegated to human “computers.”

    Here are more photos of Rodney Brooks & Baxter and scenes from the Rethink Robotics HQ in Boston.

    Reply
  2. js.brain Avatar
    js.brain

    Wow that is amazing!

    Reply
  3. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    So while an innovator waits anxiously to find out if you will invest in his or her idea, this robot will be a way to relax! An idea in itself!

    I am sure you will find new ways to make this little guy work for your office! A lovely distraction and something to stimulate the mind!

    Reply
  4. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    they could arm wrestle… or dance… or give each other a kinesthetic Turing test…

    And from the Tech Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2013, which came out on Tuesday:

    MIT Tech Review Baxter Cutaway

    Reply
  5. seatonsnet Avatar
    seatonsnet

    These robots are fantastic, wonderful, clean and productive and they never join unions.

    Seriously, the monstrous things that "we" (everybody on the planet) are seeing in Bangladesh, combined with rising wages in China indicate that robots probably have a huge future… The only problem is that they don’t buy stuff and people without jobs can’t buy stuff.

    If anyone was interested in occupying the sort of historical place that Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi or Alexander Fleming inhabit, they would work out a way for hardworking people with little education and skills to earn a good living with pensions and healthcare, be homeowners and put their kids in good public schools and universities… Impossible? The USA managed to do it somehow in the 1950s and 60s. We are living off the political and social rent of that to this very day.

    Reply
  6. RRNeal Avatar
    RRNeal

    This is extremely cool!

    Reply
  7. ukweli Avatar
    ukweli

    Very cool. I love the expression feedback. Great idea with the hot wheels display. Would it be possible for it fold paper airplanes from a stack of paper and throw them? That would be fun to watch also.

    Oh man, what if you programmed it to set up domino trains? The mind reels!

    Reply
  8. seatonsnet Avatar
    seatonsnet

    Still the problem is when we get all these cool robots, what do we do with the people they replace? Not everybody is smart enough to design robots and who buys all the other stuff.

    Reply
  9. obskura Avatar
    obskura

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/48331433@N05] I suppose I am biased (I am in robotics research…), but I wouldn’t be so pessimistic. Trades and jobs appear and disappear – and it is usually beyond our imagination in which ways. Btw., I think there is a good way to allow hard-working people with little education and skills to earn a good living – give them a good education, and train them to give them skills!

    The people who are replaced by robots don’t necessarily have to become robot designers. The PC and the internet have eliminated millions of jobs in some sectors, yet not everyone became a network engineer. People move on and do things they couldn’t have done before without the technology, and the technology creates jobs across the board.
    In this case, automation allows manufacturing in high-loan countries, which will actually _create_ more jobs there (and well, probably free up some badly paid jobs in China… but they move on and do other things). Germany for example has among the highest employment overheads and costs, and also has automated industry to an incredible degree, and yet is doing quite well and most people have jobs. (Germany also provides free university education to everyone…)

    Having more powerful tools doesn’t just mean that we can do the same things more cheaply and with less people, but that we can do a lot more with the same amount of people. The fact that we can now produce computers and phones for 1/100 of the cost than 10-20 years ago (thanks to almost full automation – nobody hand-solders circuit boards any more, machines do it 1000x faster), means that many, many more people can afford multiple computers and phones. In consequence, many more are produced, creating jobs for more people. Our large internet companies wouldn’t exist without that. And people who can’t program software work in customer support, marketing, sales, catering, cleaning, … for those new high-tech industries, or use the new infrastructure to do things that weren’t possible before.

    (edit: here is an interesting article regarding automation and jobs in Germany: http://www.economist.com/node/21552567)

    Reply
  10. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    enjoy 🙂

    Reply
  11. jgury Avatar
    jgury

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3y5GSznNfI

    Reply
  12. obskura Avatar
    obskura

    Just saw Brooks presenting Baxter a short while ago at a robotics exhibition in Zurich. When I asked him how safe the robot is, he held his head into the way of one arm and let it run into him (the robot arm stopped immediately – if it hurt he certainly didn’t show it…)

    I also asked him what he thinks about the research done at DLR regarding "crash tests" between robots and humans, potential injury at blunt and sharp impacts, and how to prevent it:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMh6cHSG3ng (warning – don’t watch if you don’t like knife-wielding robots and pieces of meat…)

    He said "My advice – don’t give the robot a sharp knife…" 🙂

    Reply
  13. jgury Avatar
    jgury

    The thing is made for doing the Bishop knife trick if it works as advertised….
    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgury/8684505010/]

    Reply
  14. Chucil Avatar
    Chucil

    first model s
    first baxter
    the list continues

    Reply
  15. js.brain Avatar
    js.brain

    They did a great work with the eyes.
    I saw a robot at a conference without arms neither eyes, when the person gave a speech, it felt little borring because the movements of eyes and arms were missing.
    Congrats on your Robo-Rocko. Is he a she?

    Reply
  16. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    The robot Dawn is androgynous to the ear… =)

    Reply
  17. jgury Avatar
    jgury

    I bet it could do a fair job on being Robo Tito Puente or Cal Tjader if you train it with sticks or mallets. I’m surprised it does not come with at least a decent robo xylophone or glockenspiel. Then work up to timbales and vibes. Robot percussion/drummers have been terrible so far but it is something they should excel at with more sensitive touch and articulation. Xylophone with that pure tone is how you could have Robo Tito learn like a kid in gradeschool. A midi track would just get in the way since you want to learn based strictly on sound and visual input. Then you could have the trained Robo train other Robos, like a conductor. Audio is a powerful ontologic space that is still up for grabs in any number of big areas. For humans, audio is still the fastest way to neuro muscular coordinated logical response by far. Robo would not have that problem with visual processing time response wise but have other issues.

    Reply
  18. keen trucks Avatar
    keen trucks

    I love the pictures and mostly the idea of Baxter. I referred to him in a (Dutch) article on robots possibly replacing humans and how HR should deal with this (see here: http://www.expand.nl/hr-weblog/wat-als-er-straks-niet-genoeg-wer... – hope this is okay, since the picture was listed under cc 🙂 ).
    Thank you for your awesome work on this!

    Reply
  19. jgury Avatar
    jgury

    I just caught the "kinesthetic Turing test" That is a test I don’t think I would do well on. Although if the task is to id yourself as human by strict tactile methods vs. a robo even a dim human should be able to win any number of ways. Eg. tap out shave and a haircut, any vast number of universal ero gropes and so on.

    Reply
  20. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Ah yes, that is what it means to be truly human. =)

    Who, you ask?

    That deaf dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pin ball ♫ ♪

    Reply
  21. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    This particular robot has now been inducted to the Computer History Museum.

    And to celebrate, a very cool music video I just discovered.

    Reply

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