Aerospace engineering professor Ou Ma at the University of Cincinnati (UC) said opening a door is a tricky task for a robot, describing it as their kryptonite. “Robots can do many things, but if you want one to open a door by itself and go through the doorway, that’s a tremendous challenge,” he explained.
To tackle this, students in UC’s Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory have solved this complex problem in three-dimensional (3D) digital simulations and are building an autonomous robot to demonstrate this.
According to its developers, this simple advance in independence represents a huge leap forward for helper robots that vacuum and disinfect office buildings, airports, and hospitals. Helper robots are part of a $27bn (£20bn) robotics industry, which includes manufacturing and automation.
UC College of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral student Yufeng Sun said some researchers have addressed the problem by scanning an entire...