Robotics researchers to build more human-like robots with complex, adaptable movements

• Purdue University is leading a four-year project to enable humanoid robots to move more like people and adapt quickly to new situations so that they can complete a variety of tasks they weren't specifically programmed to perform.
• "We are trying to give humanoid robots the ability to behave and move more like human beings, to have the skill-learning capabilities of humans," said C.S. George Lee, a Purdue professor of electrical and computer engineering who specializes in robotics.
• "What we are going to try to do is capture the essence of how people learn movement skills," said Howard Zelaznik, a Purdue professor of health and kinesiology.
• "For example, if I asked you to open a door and you were carrying two bags of groceries, you would know how to do that the first time through because you have in your repertoire the flexibility to combine old skills into new ones," Zelaznik said.
• "Imagine that a person in a wheelchair has just dropped his or her keys under the wheelchair, and the robot wasn't programmed specifically to retrieve them from that location," Zelaznik said.
• Tiny coiled wire "receivers" will be placed around certain body parts, such as fingers and arms, as a person moves in a low-level magnetic field.
• The ultimate goal is to create software that enables robots to combine several of the most "primitive" skills to perform more complex movements.
• Rheaume draws s circle with a pen equipped with a tiny coiled wire "receiver."
• As Rheaume moves the pen, the wire coil induces an electrical current that enables researchers to track the movements.
• The ultimate goal is to create software that enables robots to combine several of the most "primitive" skills to perform more complex movements, much as people are able to combine a series of basic movements to perform specific tasks.