Friday, March 15, 2013
How Do You Separate An Oreo? With a Sophisticated Robot
Geekosystem: Meet HERB, Carnegie Mellon’s sophisticated butler robot. He was built to help mankind by performing household tasks, so of course when Oreo put the call out for machines to separate cookie from creme, the roboticists at Carnegie Mellon University reprogrammed HERB for the job. They also — for reasons — programmed HERB to prefer the creme to the cookie, even though he’s a robot and can’t actually consume either. Watch HERB take some Oreos to task in the latest Oreo Separator video.
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7 comments:
Quick funny story:
At the robotics company I worked at for the last few years, we had an unofficial slogan, which was "Harvest Automation: turning Oreos into robots since 2007". The reason for that was when I first started, the 15 of us would blow through a box of oreos every day (blame lunch meetings). But more to the point, robotics like this (especially coming from someone whos main goal in life is to combine theatre and robots) are extremely important to the world. I think that because I don't like th cream inside oreos, but everyone else thinks that, and I guess I do too, because robots that are that sophisticated and polite show that robots are capable of so much and further development make make fine-tuned robots a very viable option on and off stage of theatre.
This seems very interesting and amazing how the roboticists at Carnegie Mellon University could achieve to this level. Looking at the video, I can feel the passion and effort that they put in to make this single robot. Also, it is amazing to see how elaborate, complex, and flexible movement that it can make while processing its duty. Nowadays, it is fascinating how much work that a robot can replace people and now it can even split OREO cookie from cream. Although I don't think that this kind of robot is not that necessary, I am sure that people can later apply this work to other similar movement task, which will then definitely benefit people. I hope that CMU roboticists can be a leading group that will lead the world of robotics some day that can make robots, replacing complex works that can be dangerous, time-consuming.
I walk by the lab that this projects takes place in once a week on my way to class, and the students and faculty who are working on HERB always seem so involved in and passionate about what they are doing. I have always been fascinated by robots, I was obsessed with my LEGO Mindstorm kit as a kid, and it is wonderful to hear about the success of this up-and-coming robot butler. It reminds me of a few projects I have seen in the works at MIT, and it never ceases to amaze me that students can produce such extraordinary machines with abilities that we value. I mean, who doesn't want their Oreo separated with someone (or something) to get rid of all that unnecessary cream for you?
PEOPLE: are we too lazy to separate our own Oreos? Something to think about. Why would Oreo call for a robot for such a thing? (publicity, but whatever).
So on a different note I have actually heard a lo about this robot around campus and on the news in fact when I got home. I love that this polite intelligent robot carries a massive kitchen knife to separate the little Oreos. I really want to go past the lab with Emma to see this one!
This video was amazing! i love the since of humor that is seen here. This robot is truely fasiniating. we as humans dont often think about how hard it actually is to do such mundane tasks such as seporate an oreo and some of us still struggle with it. to get the robot to grab the cookie enough to where it doesnt drop it or squish it is such a fine point. the robot cant feel the cookie and tell weather or not its too hard, so the algorithem allowing this robot to do so is truely brilliant! also seeing how the robot saw just like us was also interesting. we have a brain to translate what we see into what it is, this is doing the same thind but it dosent have a brain that does all the work for it, the brain has to be created and built! i jsut think that this is so great and extremely interesting, id love to see it do something more challenging ike tie shoes!
Besides this being a marketing ploy it gives people the excuse to make a robot capable of careful and accurate tasks which require complex maneuvering. Its no surprise that CMU has joined Oreo's band of cookie separators. I was the head of the robotics team at my high school and we made robots that had to play basketball but that was about as complex as we could manage so I have the utmost respect for the robotics department here at CMU
Like others have commented before, this has become an amazing marketing ploy and advertizing strategy for Nabisco. I feel like the next logical step for the company should be to release packets of just the cookie and squeeze tubes of just the cream. I am sure that they would fly from the shelves of grocery stores as soon as they announced it. Probably would double their sales nationally too.
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