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Dog Training methods help researchers Teach Robots to learn New Tricks

Computer Science graduate student Andrew Hundt has developed a means to teach a robot to stack blocks. Photo: Will Kirk/Johns Hopkins University

With a training technique commonly used to teach dogs to sit and stay, Johns Hopkins University computer scientists showed a robot how to teach itself several new tricks, including stacking blocks. With the method, the robot, named Spot, was able to learn in days what typically takes a month.

By using positive reinforcement, an approach familiar to anyone who’s used treats to change a dog’s behavior, the team dramatically improved the robot’s skills and did it quickly enough to make training robots for real-world work a more feasible enterprise. The findings are newly published in a paper called, “Good Robot!”

“The question here was how ...

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