(50X) Autonomously folding a pile of 5 previously-unseen towels

What people said

smokel · 2024-12 · Reference

We are certainly getting close! In 2010, watching PR2 fold some unseen towels is similar to watching paint dry [1], but we can now enjoy robots attain lazy student-level laundry folding in real-time, as demonstrated by π₀[2]. [1] [VIDEO] [2] [LINK]

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robotresearcher · 2020-05 · Reference

Doing these cute demos is a double-edged sword. A fun and charming demo attracts attention by non-experts who can't see the wood for the trees. In my field we make robots do a thing, say folding laundry, as an example of dextrous manipulation[1], and the popular conversation is about whether your laundry robot makes commercial sense and not about your novel grasping strategy and nifty motion planner that makes this sorta-possible for the first time. But everyone sees your video. Pros and cons. [1] laundry folding at Berkeley (not me) [VIDEO]

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ahaferburg · 2019-12 · Reference

Ever since I came across this video [VIDEO] of a robot taking 1,5 hours to fold five towels, with mixed results, I think about how much of our brain might be devoted to handling fabric every time I have a towel in my hands. Probably the same with handling fluids, like predicting how milk is going to behave in an opaque carton.

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