Toward the Next Generation of Robotic Waiters

The gap between human waiters and state-of-the-art robot systems that try to serve something to drink is often embarrassing, with the former able to manipulate glasses and trays or glasses on trays with incredible dexterity and the latter moving incredibly slow.

Lorenzo Moriello, Davide Chiaravalli, Luigi Biagiotti, and Claudio Melchiorri from the University of Bologna and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia show how robots can do it better by moving a bottle or a tankard full of beer.