While the idea of automated servants tending to our every collective whim sounds like a pretty nice way to live, there are some key points that need to be considered before this actually comes to pass. A robot has to be programmed, and while the idea of us fetching our own beverages seems pretty well ingrained in our minds, for a robot, it's not that easy. To that end, researchers across a collective of universities are developing Robo Brain, a kind of centralized clearinghouse of information in behavior and basic tasks to use to train the robots of the future.

Currently, robotics researchers need to train robots in individual tasks, one thing at a time, until the behavior is correctly executed. Simple things like putting away dishes or finding keys are a big step, but then, robots also need to learn some critical points like not interrupting a user's conversation with someone else, or something similar. With Robo Brain, meanwhile, a variety of behaviors can be taught and passed on to other models right out of the gate, acting like a kind of elementary primer for robot behaviors. The lessons in question are reportedly stored in a robot-friendly format, which can subsequently be used in initial programming or for future reference. Reports suggest that, should the robot encounter a situation it's never encountered previously, it can just stage a query to Robo Brain and get the information it needs to take on the situation in question.

Robo Brain's current repertoire is comprised of nearly a billion images, as well as 120,000 YouTube (News - Alert) videos and 100 million how-to documents, as well as appliance manuals, to augment the training that's already taken place for robots. With Robo Brain's operations, a robot might be able to, for example, distinguish that a coffee mug exists, what its purpose is, and how it is used. It can be filled from the top, or seized by the handle and taken to a dishwasher for cleaning. Robo Brain itself, meanwhile, is set for regular expansion thanks to eager human volunteers and crowdsourcing tools to allow for additions and corrections to the Robo Brain system.

While something like this often feels like the start of a science fiction movie—this was the part where we taught the robots exactly how to kill us all—it makes a lot more sense than might be expected. It's a common base from which robots can operate, and when there's a common base to operate from, there's a lot less duplication of effort. Less duplication of effort means more efficient operations, and from there, more development overall. There's a lot of room in the market for developments like this, and making robots better able to handle standard tasks right out of the gate means there is more room for robots to learn more complex tasks. Then, as robots learn more complex tasks, these can be added to Robo Brain's capabilities, and the base level gets lifted that much higher as a result.

Robo Brain represents a major advance in robotics and engineering, and might well get us closer to that magical time in humanity where we no longer have to fetch our own beverages and the like, and can instead delegate such tasks to robots. Of course, that represents a few potential problems—as robots get more complex, will robots take over formerly paying positions?—but most new technology comes with certain societal adjustments, and robotics will likely prove no exception.