Although
movies have robots doing lots of amazing things, in reality many tasks are much
more complex than they seem at first. Let's try getting a robot to do a
simple task that you do each day - tying your shoes.Although
movies have robots doing lots of amazing things, in reality many tasks are much
more complex than they seem at first. Let's try getting a robot to do a
simple task that you do each day - tying your shoes.
Write a set of instructions that you would give a robot to tell it how to tie your shoes.
Now ask a friend to pretend to be a robot and follow the instructions EXACTLY blindfolded - robots can't see like people, don't know anything about shoe tying, nor can they make decisions for themselves.
Robots don't have dexterous fingers like people. Usually their 'hands' more closely resemble pliers.
Try to use two pairs of pliers to tie your shoes - start with a pair in each hand. Next try using two people - each with one pair of pliers. A robot would need to have separate instructions for each of its 'hands' to work together.
Adapted from
http://www.thetech.org/robotics/activities/page05.html