Can you beat these robots in IKEA furniture assembly?

Not quite Terminator level but robots have made progress. An autonomous robot, designed by the Control Robotics Intelligence (CRI) group at NTU in Singapore, can now assemble an IKEA chair from scratch in less than 21 minutes. And like many of us, it does so without the manual.

Robots assembling IKEA furniture is not new (like these guys with the LACK side table), but those machines required custom-made mechanical hands to hold and twist furniture parts into place. The NTU team accomplished the task with off-the-shelf hardware and software available on open-access libraries on the internet.

The trio acquired a couple of industrial robot arms with gripper claws (like the ones in arcade games), a camera with 3-D vision and force sensors.

Related: See more robot hacks

Granted the assembly is not without human intervention. Three years of engineering to be exact. First, the team needed to teach the robots to insert pins to connect the parts, as well as manipulate IKEA parts around, before they let them have a go at the STEFAN chair.

Smooth operators. Assembled without tantrums. Or break-ups. (The bloopers below is definitely closer to real life.)

Watching this does make me realise how we take for granted our hand-eye coordination, dexterity and ability to plan and execute the quickest assembly.

Of course, there is the rest who can’t tell a left-handed from a right-handed Allen key. If that’s you, sadly, these robots won’t be at your service anytime soon. In the meantime, get a Rabbit instead of a robot.

Source: PBS, TechCrunch

The post Can you beat these robots in IKEA furniture assembly? appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

Comments

Hackers Help: How to attach headboard to ESPEVÄR mattress base?

I’m trying to figure out if a headboard can be attached to an Espevar Mattress Base , and how to accomplish that. I’m looking at a standard metal headboard (because I just prefer the look of curved metal to what IKEA offers) and am not interested in a slat base with just a mattress on top, and a wall mounted headboard is not an option due to renting. Thanks for any help! ~ Amy *** Hi Amy I’ve not seen the ESPEVÄR in person but I believe it is possible to attach a headboard to it. From the website, the ESPEVÄR looks like a regular wooden slatted mattress base under a bed base slipover. As to how to attach it, that will depend on the fittings on the metal headboard. So you will just need to get the right hardware to secure the metal headboard to the wooden frame. And make some small openings on the slipcover to let the fixtures to go through. Jules Photo: IKEA.com Try these free-standing headboards for size A lime green and white headboard that takes centerstage in the r

Kitchen renovation reveal: Rhombus wall steals the show

It’s been a while since I did a home tour. If you’ve missed the previous reveals, you can catch up with my Master Bathroom remodel and Guest Bathroom reveal . Today, let’s focus on my kitchen renovation. Hands down, this is the most used room in my home. I spend crazy amounts of time in here, even when I’m not cooking. Just off to the side of the kitchen I converted an awkward space into a reading nook . In the mornings, I sit and read or pray and meditate, before it gets too warm. And on the other side, there’s a work-in-progress plant wall / indoor garden which also takes up a lot of my time. So, all in all, lots of traffic in here, and that’s not even counting cooking and eating time. The kitchen is definitely my favourite room, because the transformation is huge and I love how it turned out. Kitchen renovation: The before House 17 when I first got it, actually had 2 kitchens, which is a very common “Asian” home concept. First, the “dry kitchen”, which is where you make simp

IKEA sofa with genius armrest storage

Bet you never knew your sofa armrests were prime storage space. Ok, so the guys at IKEA are the masters of hidden / secret storage everywhere. In fact, one of the things I most loved about the ESKILSTUNA sofa series was the undercover storage on the chaise lounge, but… what? More than 80 liters of storage space wasted on the armrests? NO WAY! I really don’t understand how they didn’t take that opportunity with several different armrest modules. Mobile chargers, cup / can holders, foldable tables, refrigerators… there’s SO MUCH space in there. I can’t stop thinking on different options! For myself, I went for two designs. First, a “full space” design on the (right) side of the chaise lounge. (The cavity fits two foldable chairs). Second, on the left armrest — a flip open section for “mobile charger / remote control storage / etc.”. Below that, a full-depth pull-out drawer, tall enough to store A4 sized magazines. This is the final result: Full space design, right of cha

Martin Cooper

Search This Blog