ROBOTS ARE HARD!

Why Don't I Have a Robot Helper Yet?

Hi! I'm Jerome Skinly and I like robots! Everyone says we’re gonna have robots do all our chores, like fold laundry and take out the trash. But…we don’t. Not really.

I asked my mom and she said a smart man named Ken Goldberg said it’s REALLY hard to make robots that can do stuff. Not just move around, but actually do things with their hands! Like, picking up a sock is easy for me, but super hard for a robot. It needs to know how hard to grab, and not rip it!

Someone on the computer – my dad showed me – said giant robots are kinda silly. They said most jobs a giant robot could do, like, building stuff, already have little robots or even tanks doing them! Tanks are like REALLY big trucks that help people, sometimes.

But giant robots could be good at knocking down old buildings! Or maybe switching around a factory really fast. Like, imagine if you could build something, then quickly make something else!

The computer person said the big problem is just…it’s REALLY hard to make robots do things good. It’s not just about making them big or strong. It's about making them smart with their hands.

So, I guess we won’t have robot helpers folding our laundry right now. But maybe someday! They just gotta figure out the hand part first. It’s tricky!