MIT Robot Bakes Giant Cookies

Mario Bollini, a graduate student at the Professor Daniela Rus' Distributed Robotics Lab, is working to perfect the baking abilities of a PR2 robot. Currently, the robot can bake chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Another MIT research team is programming the robot to wipe down the table and open the oven door so it can accomplish the entire baking process.

According to an MIT press release, “My task is to have the PR2 bake cookies all the way from locating the ingredients in front of it on the table to putting the cookie in the oven,” Mario Bollini said.

The PR2 laser scans the ingredients on a table and uses a stereo camera to locate the cookie sheet and butter. The other ingredients and equipment are identified by color and size. The PR2 then mixes the ingredients, transfers the dough to a cookie sheet and patting it to form a giant cookie.