Web-Enabled Robots

As robots are starting to perform everyday manipulation tasks, such as cleaning up, setting a table, or preparing simple meals, their control programs must become much more knowledgeable than they are today. Typically, everyday manipulation tasks are vaguely specified, and the robot must therefore infer by itself how to do the appropriate actions on objects in an appropriate manner to accomplish these tasks. These inferences can only be done if the robot has access to the necessary knowledge, including knowledge about how the objects look, what their properties are, where they can be found, and what might happen if particular actions are performed on them. © 2011 IEEE.