New technology allows robots to move in changing environment-by MIT researchers .

Up until now,one of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of having robots in the home is the constantly changing environment.A book dropped on a table or someone pushing back a chair to stretch their legs make it possible for robots to move around in such an environment without either getting lost or avoiding running into,and perhaps wrecking things.Now researches at MIT appear to have found a way around this problem.In a paper they have published on the MIT NEWS site,the team describes how they have build a system that allows a robot to create a virtual map of the environment in which they are living that can be updated on the fly,freeing them to wander about without fear of getting lost or creating other problems due to encountering unfamiliar surroundings.The researches say the system could also be used by blind people.

In traditional robotic systems,programmers create a map of the environment in which a robot is to exist ,the robot uses the map to find it's way around.The problem comes of course when something in the environment changes.Up till now,only multi-million dollar robots being developed by companies with grant money from the government have been built that can adjust to virtually any terrain.This is why a new inexpensive way to accomplish a same thing for the fraction of the cost is so exciting.

The new technology is based on something called Simultaneous Localization and mapping (SLAM),which is based on artificial intelligence technology.In such system,new elements are added to a tree of knowledge as they are encountered in a real world.That way,the robot is able to make a real sense of the environment each time it moves around.

What perhaps interesting is that rather than use an expensive laser system to allow that robots to notice change in the environment,the engineers used a Microsoft Kinect instead.because of that the new technology behind it could actually wind up in real robots  sold to consumers in next year or so.The Kinect actually allows the robot to built a continuous changing 3D map of it's own little view of the world.

In practice ,the robot simply uses the Kinect to view a room it has entered,then compares what it's found with what it saw the last time it was there.Any changes are duly noted and added to the 3D Map.The the robot can proceed with whatever it has been asked to do.