It is the cause of countless marital rows over mislaid allen keys and baffling instructions. But while trying to build Ikea furniture can ruin a weekend for many couples, the robots at least have got it sussed. Robots can build an Ikea chair in under nine minutes, mechanical engineers have discovered, after being programmed to fit the parts together perfectly. People, according to Ikea, take 10 to 15 minutes on average to build the same item of furniture. Robots can build an Ikea chair in under nine minutes, mechanical engineers have discovered, after being programmed to fit the parts together perfectly.

Apparently, one of the standards by which we should be measuring the progress of useful robotic manipulation is through the assembly of Ikea furniture. With its minimalistic and affordable Baltoscandian design coupled with questionably creditable promises of effortless assembly, Ikea has managed to convince generations of inexperienced and desperate young adults (myself included) that we can pretend to be grownups by buying and putting together our own furniture. It's never as easy as that infuritatingly calm little Ikea manual dude makes it look, though, and in terms of things we wish robots would solve, Ikea furniture assembly has ended up way higher on the priority list than maybe it should be. We've seen a variety of robotic systems tackle Ikea in the past, but today in Science Robotics is (perhaps for the first time) a mostly off-the-shelf system of a few arms and basic sensors that can put together the frame of a Stefan chair kit autonomously(ish) and from scratch. This research comes from the Control Robotics Intelligence (CRI) group at NTU in Singapore, and they've been working on the whole Ikea chair assembly thing for a while.

This is a great book, and I'd say it is even great for those that are not familiar with python (you just obviously won't be able to run the code). For anyone with some basic understanding of linear algebra/statistics, the authors are able to present to you all the important (and sometimes subtle but significant) details, without the usage of equations, and more importantly, how they all relate to one another. All the concepts mentioned here are heavily backed with well thought of and well presented figures, in such a way that again I'd suggest you don't even need python to understand. If you do know python, loading the data sets and reproducing the figures is just a few lines of easy to understand code away (with the exception of the mglearn library includes which does some "plotting magic" for you. However, I believe each of them were appropriate.

Putting together flat-pack furniture can be arduous and frustrating. So why not let robots do it instead? A pair of robot arms can now assemble an IKEA chair in just a few minutes, and without arguing too. The setup consists of two industrial robot arms with grippers and force sensors, all watched over by a 3D camera. To start things off, parts of an IKEA STEFAN chair are jumbled up and dumped in front of the arms.

Scientists have demonstrated two robots using human-like dexterity to construct an Ikea chair.

And just like that, humanity draws one step closer to the singularity, the moment when the machines grow so advanced that humans become obsolete: A robot has learned to autonomously assemble an Ikea chair without throwing anything or cursing the family dog. Researchers report today in Science Robotics that they've used entirely off-the-shelf parts--two industrial robot arms with force sensors and a 3-D camera--to piece together one of those Stefan Ikea chairs we all had in college before it collapsed after two months of use. From planning to execution, it only took 20 minutes, compared to the human average of a lifetime of misery. It may all seem trivial, but this is in fact a big deal for robots, which struggle mightily to manipulate objects in a world built for human hands. To start, the researchers give the pair of robot arms some basic instructions--like those cartoony illustrations, but in code.

The two companies say they have been partners for years, and Amazon products such as Kindle e-readers have long been sold in Best Buy stores. But the new partnership brings potential benefits for both companies as sales of so-called smart TVs continue to climb. It provides Best Buy with access to Amazon's online customers for the first time, while broadening Amazon's potential audience for products that feature its Alexa voice assistant. Amazon, which has been expanding its physical footprint through its own stores, has deepened its reach into consumers' homes in recent years, starting with Kindles and more recently with its line of Echo home speakers, which star Alexa. "What's new in this partnership is the depths of the physical integration between the software and the hardware," Mr. Joly said.

There could be so much more to a cashier-less checkout experience -- and for so much less than what Amazon is spending to do it at its bespoke Amazon Go convenience and grocery stores. That's not to say Amazon Go is a bad system; it just won't work for every merchant. As Amazon Go has demonstrated, walking out the door to pay may be the ultimate in terms of a seamless checkout experience. Customers at the eCommerce giant's brick-and-mortar mini-mart simply go around the store adding the items they need to their shopping cart, then leave the store -- triggering an invisible payment to initiate using their Amazon account. One of the main problems with Amazon's technology, however, is that creating the experience requires heavy investments in hardware that not every retailer can afford to make.

Amazon Prime is considered one of the most successful loyalty programs in retail history. While many believe the success of Amazon Prime revolves around free shipping, it is really the removal of friction and focus on experience that sets it apart. Banking can learn from Amazon Prime. There is no denying the explosive growth and competitive impact of Amazon to the retail industry. For their retail business, the foundation of this success is named Amazon Prime.

Matthew is PCMag's UK-based editor and news reporter. Prior to joining the team, he spent 14 years writing and editing content on our sister site Geek.com and has covered most areas of technology, but is especially passionate about games tech. Matthew holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from... See Full Bio