September 18, 2012Baxter industrial robot aims at bringing automation to smaller manufacturers

Baxter is a relatively inexpensive new industrial robot, that can reportedly be trained to perform tasks by regular people

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Ordinarily, when we think of places where industrial robots are used, we picture the factory floors of deep-pocketed corporations such as Ford or Honda. That could soon change, however, with today’s announcement of the Baxter robot. Made by Boston-based Rethink Robotics, it costs about half as much as most of the least expensive industrial robots currently on the market. Also, it is reportedly very user-friendly – no robotics experts or custom software are required when teaching it new tasks.

According to the company, the two-armed robot “can be trained just as you would teach a?person.” This means that a regular factory worker could teach Baxter to perform a new task by physically guiding it through the required motions, within less than half an hour – no code-writing required. Once it has learned a task, it is said to be able to apply common sense to what it’s doing. If it should drop an item, for instance, it will realize that it needs to get another one in order to complete its task.

That claimed common sense, along with various integrated sensors, allows Baxter to be aware of and to “understand” its surroundings. It is therefore able to safely work alongside humans, slowing down its actions when they enter its workspace, and ceasing its movements when unexpectedly making contact with them.

Along with its price, one of the attractions for smaller manufacturers is the fact that the robot can reportedly be on the factory floor and ready for training in less than one hour after delivery – no additional hardware or software is needed. Because it can be trained new tasks relatively quickly (and can be mounted on an optional wheeled pedestal), it is conducive to performing several functions in several locations, even within the same day.

Owners will be able to expand the capabilities of their robots with regular software updates. Some of these updates will come courtesy of a development kit, which will allow people in the robotics community to develop new software.

Baxter is available now for pre-order at a price of US$22,000, with shipments scheduled to begin next month. The robot can be seen in action in the video below.

Source: Rethink Robotics via New Scientist

百特工业机器人的目标旨在使小型制造商实现自动化

9月18日，2012Baxter工业机器人的目标是使自动化程度较小manufacturers

巴克斯特是一个相对廉价的新的工业机器人，可据说被训练用普通的人

图片廊执行任务（5图像）

通常，当我们想到这里的工业机器人的应用场所，我们想象财大气粗的公司，如福特和本田的工厂车间。这可能会很快改变，但是，今天的百特机器人的公告。由总部位于波士顿的反思机器人，它的成本一半左右，因为大多数最便宜的工业机器人目前市场上。此外，据报道，非常人性化 - 不机器人专家和定制软件教学时，新任务的要求

据该公司介绍，这两个武装机器人“可以训练就像你教。 ？人“这意味着，一个普通工厂工人可以??教巴克斯特通过物理引导其通过所需的运动，不到半小时内执行新的任务 - 无需代码编写。一旦它学会了一个任务，它被认为是能够常理适用于它在做什么。如果应该放置项目，例如，它会认识到，它需要得到以另一个来完成它的任务。

也就是说权利常识，连同各种集成传感器，允许巴克斯特需要注意的和“理解“它的周围。因此，能够安全地一起工作的人，放慢自己的行动，当他们进入工作区，并停止它的运动意外时，与他们做联系。

随着它的价格，景点为更小的制造商之一，是事实上，该机器人可据说是在工厂车间和准备训练在不到一小时分娩后 - 不需要额外的硬件或软件是必要的。因为它可以被相对快速地训练的新任务（和可以安装在一个可选的轮式基座），它有利于执行多种功能中的几个位置，即使是在同一天。

业主将能够扩展的能力及其机器人定期的软件更新。有些更新会礼貌开发工具包，这将让人们在机器人社区开发新的软件。

巴克斯特现已开始提供预购在US $ 22,000的价格，并计划于下月开始出货。机器人可以看出，在在下面的视频动作

来源：经由新科学家反思机器人