Robots build Ikea chair in under ten minutes

It is the task that tests many of the most skilled, patient humans. But the robots appear to be catching up. A new robot has been taught to successfully put together a piece of Ikea furniture. It could one day leave the tough job of finding the right screws and putting them in the right place to the past – leaving humans never to have to struggle to put together their new chair again. Doing so takes even longer than the time required to put together flat-pack furniture: the scientists spent three years programming the robot to make sure that its arms, grippers, sensors and 3D cameras could put together the chair.