Robot assistants under development by Intel

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008--Intel Research's Personal Robotics project aims to develop useful robotic assistants for indoor, populated environments. To transition robots from structured, assembly line scenarios to more natural, unstructured environments requires advances in perception, reasoning under uncertainty, and human-robot interaction. Currently, Intel's Pittsburgh laboratory is focusing on mid-range perception, planning, and manipulation research, while the company's Seattle lab focuses on short-range sensing and perception, and human-robot interaction. In the coming months, these efforts will be combined to provide a mobile manipulation platform. The current system in Pittsburgh combines a manipulator arm and hand with a mobile Segway for performing recognition, modeling, and manipulation of common indoor objects. For more information, go to http://personalrobotics.intel-research.net.