Three Examples of Learning Robots

Future robots, especially service and personal robots, will need much more intelligence, robustness and user-friendliness. The ability to learn contributes to these characteristics and is, therefore, becoming more and more important. Three of the numerous varieties of learning are discussed together with results of real-world experiments with three autonomous robots: (1) the acquisition of map knowledge by a mobile robot, allowing it to navigate in a network of corridors, (2) the acquisition of motion control knowledge by a calibration-free manipulator, allowing it to gain task-related experience and improve its manipulation skills while it is working, and (3) the ability to learn how to perform service tasks ...