Alphabet's Dream of an 'Everyday Robot' Is Just Out of Reach

During a recent visit to Alphabet's X lab, I drained my coffee and left the compostable cup on a tray marked "Cans & Bottles." The transgression was soon mended. Twenty minutes later, a wheeled, one-armed, chest-high robot whirred along and inspected the cup with the 3D cameras inside its flattened head. Its arm reached out and used two sturdy yellow fingers to move the misplaced cup onto the adjacent green tray labeled "Compostables." The trash-literate robot--part of a project called Everyday Robot--has been in development for years, but X just began discussing it publicly.