The virtual worlds where robots are trained
Training systems that allow robots to negotiate the real world are getting more sophisticated.
Given that a robot recently beat Usain Bolt's 100m sprint record, it's not the most startling achievement.
But the speed by which Freddo has been trained to walk, recognise the bottle and grasp it is impressive. It took just a few minutes to develop those skills and upload them to Freddo. His developers say rival systems could take days to attain such skills.
I'm at Vsim, a British start-up based in Cambridge. Founders Michelle Lu and Kier Storey hope one day their software will control robots that can navigate and do useful tasks in the home and workplace.
It does not build robots, instead it has a suite of software designed to let organisations train and control robots.