Robohub.org
 

Incredibly soothing robot makes towers of balanced stones | IEEE Spectrum


by
01 June 2017



share this:

Building things with robots is a nice idea, especially if robots are doing what they’re best at: predictable, repetitive tasks like you get with bricklaying. When humans build structures, however, we can be a bit more creative, adapting on the fly to the sizes and shapes of materials available. This is one of those robotic paradoxes—building something that’s easy for robots, like an exactly spaced curvy brick wall, is tricky for humans, while building something that’s easy for humans, like a wall made out of pile of random rocks that doesn’t spontaneously fall over, is tricky for robots.

Click here for more.




Alex Kirkpatrick is a passionate writer and science communicator...
Alex Kirkpatrick is a passionate writer and science communicator...

            AUAI is supported by:



Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

ACM SIGAI Autonomous Agents Award 2027 open for nominations

  20 Oct 2026
Nominations are solicited for the 2027 ACM SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award.

Powered by muscle cells, a paper-thin robot swims through watery maze

  19 Oct 2026
MIT engineers’ new aquabot offers a way to design small, efficient “biohybrid” robots.

Robot Talk Episode 166 – Evolving robot bodies and brains, with Rika Antonova

  16 Oct 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Rika Antonova from the University of Cambridge about using artificial intelligence to develop complimentary robot hardware and algorithms.

Humanoid robots can sprint and box – but the real test is doing the laundry

  12 Oct 2026
No robot system can yet reliably handle the whole laundry process. Even folding remains a challenge.

Robot Talk Episode 165 – Robots behind the research, with Kushant Patel

  09 Oct 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Kushant Patel from Brookhaven National Laboratory about robots that work in scientific facilities, such as particle accelerators.

What three days building a robot taught me

and   07 Oct 2026
The brief sounded simple: build a small autonomous robot, then make it survive increasingly difficult mazes. Simple... right? Until you actually have to build one.

Research could guide the future design of social robots

  05 Oct 2026
Giving robot companions animal-like or anime-style faces and voices could maximise their emotional appeal to users, according to new research which could help guide the growing field of social robotics.


↑


AUAI is supported by:







Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence