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System lets robots identify an object's properties through handling
Robots developed at MIT can now learn about an object’s weight, softness, or contents by picking it up and gently shaking it. A robot can accurately guess parameters like an object’s mass in a matter of seconds, without the need for cameras or other external sensors.
This low-cost technique could be especially useful in applications where cameras might be less effective, such as sorting objects in a dark basement or clearing rubble inside a building that partially collapsed after an earthquake. They utilize a technique called differentiable simulation, which allows the algorithm to predict how small changes in an object’s properties, like mass or softness, impact the robot’s ending joint position. This work is significant because it shows that robots can accurately infer properties like mass and softness using only their internal joint sensors, without relying on external cameras or specialized measurement tools,” says Miles Macklin, senior director of simulation technology at NVIDIA, who was not involved with this research.
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