New Robot Can be Taught How to Make Affogato by Talking to It (VIDEO)

Robots are getting smarter and smarter as scientists discover new methods to program them. Even so, though, robots need to be given step-by step instructions for tasks they haven't performed before. Now, researchers have found out a way to allow people to give robots instructions in English, teaching them like they would teach a child, rather than having to use code.

The new robot has programming that translates human sentences into "robot language." For example, the robot can understand the simple sentence: Fill a pan with pater, put it on the stove, heat the water. The robot itself is equipped with a 3D camera that can scan its environment and find objects within it. In addition, the robot has been trained to associate objects with their capabilities; for example, a pan can be poured into or poured from, and stoves can have objects set on them and can heat things.

What is truly unique about this new robot is that it employs "machine learning." Researchers essentially train the robot's computer brain to associate entire commands with flexibly defined actions. The computer is fed animated video simulations of the action accompanied by recorded voice commands from several different speakers.

The computer then stores the combination of many similar commands as a flexible pattern that can match manner variations. It can calculate the probability of a match with what it has heard before and if that probability is high enough, it declares a match.

That said, the robot doesn't always perform actions correctly. However, it does perform the correct actions up to 64 percent of the time, even when the commands were varied or the environment was changed. There is still room for improvement, though.

Currently, the scientists are continuing to work on this robot, which will hopefully improve and be able to continue learning commands in the future.

Want to see the robot for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.

Want to learn more? Check out the robot's official website here.