This robot learns how not to stab you with a knife

Let’s face it. If a robot got hold of your kitchen knives and wanted to cook you dinner, how safe would you feel? (Can you picture knives flying, pots breaking things, and things catching on fire?)

Researchers from Cornell University are working on a new training technique that will allow humans to teach robots to carry out dangerous tasks, like holding knives, without hurting anyone around them.

Cornell team teaches a robot how to safely check out items as a cashier.

The Cornell University team, led by Ashutosh Saxen, an associate professor of computer science, taught a robot how to be a cashier, like one at a grocery store, without harming people around it while ringing up a knife.

Remember, just because we think a task is easy doesn’t mean the task is easy for a robot. In addition, robots are pretty clumsy.

The robot can get dangerous with that knife.

Current robots are usually programmed with code or taught to memorize actions of humans so training them to do assembly line jobs is easy. However, when it comes to using robots at home, your robot needs to be able to pick up sharp knives while keeping the blade away from a human, or know how to handle fresh fruits and vegetables more carefully than those in a can.

In order to train a robot for tasks like these, the team has been working with a previously constructed robot named Baxter.

Saxen and his team programmed the robot to plan its own motions and then stepped in and corrected the robot when necessary.

In tests, most users were able to successfully train the robot on a particular task after only five corrections. The robots were even able to apply what they learned to other objects or environments.

Watch some of the training in the video below.