My collaborator Sonia Chernova, gesturing to our prototype.

By Matthew Loper, Ph.D. Student

As a roboticist, the most frequently asked question I hear is, “where is my robot?” People are fascinated by the humanoid mechanical golems that roam across their TV screens, and to them, it’s my duty to provide one.

I could answer their question in three ways. I could tell them to buy a robotic vacuum, which cleans floors and has no human interaction. I could suggest a hobbyist kit that burdens them with implementing (or inventing!) vision and localization algorithms. Or, if pressed, I could ...