A German engineering company has potentially had a breakthrough in robotics technology, in that they have programmed a robot arm to have the ability to learn how to move and grasp objects, and it does so in the same way a baby does.

The robotic arm was designed to be as dexterous as an elephant’s trunk, can learn how to reproduce certain positions via a method known as “goal grabbing”, in which the robot arm remembers the small changes in pressure that occur in its pneumatic “muscles” as it grasps objects.

This process of trial and error is not unlike the way babies learn how to interact with the world, according to New Scientist.

The robot was built back in 2010, but couldn’t preform the delicate movements without very specific programming, a fact that has changed in the last years. The arm can now be taught by pretty much anybody, and can quickly be trained how to pick up a range of objects, “anything from light bulbs to hazelnuts”

Source: The Verge