Robots Are Rubbish At Making Ikea Furniture

Look at them. Silly robots.

They can put cars together on factory assembly lines, run around forests pretending to be people and even drive cars, but flat pack furniture baffles them.

It's like stairs for Daleks.

We laughed as well. But then we learnt that these robots haven't been programmed to build Ikea furniture - they're learning how to do it.

The creation of the Control Robotics Intelligence group at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, this robot is using optical motion capture, motion/grasp planning and force control to learn how to insert dowel joints. 

It's no longer silly - it's darn impressive.

We've got a Billy Bookcase that needs putting up if they've got a spare hour?