New-Tech Europe Magazine | Q2 2023

Researchers unveil first Chat-GPT-designed robot

Celia Luterbacher, EPFL

Potential and pitfalls of AI as ‘inventor’ In a first phase, the researchers and LLM engaged in an ‘ideation’ discussion to define their robot’s purpose, design parameters, and specifications. A second phase was devoted to realizing the robot in the real world, which involved refining the LLM-generated code, fabricating the device, and troubleshooting its functioning. For the first phase, the researchers started at a high conceptual level, conversing with the LLM on future challenges to humanity, and identifying robotic crop harvesting as a solution to the challenge of global food supply. They then drew upon the LLM’s access to global data from academic publications, technical manuals, books, and media to

EPFL researchers have used Chat-GPT-3 to develop a robotic gripper for harvesting tomatoes, in a first demonstration of the artificial intelligence tool’s potential for collaborating with humans on robot design. With their ability to process vast amounts of text data, and to use this information to answer prompts, neural networks known as large language models (LLMs) like Chat GPT have been making headlines for their potential to change the way we write, learn, and even make art. Now, EPFL researchers have applied the technology to a new sphere: robotic design. In a case study published in Nature Machine Intelligence, Josie Hughes, head of the Computational Robot

Design & Fabrication Lab in the School of Engineering, EPFL PhD student Francesco Stella, and Cosimo Della Santina of TU Delft used Chat-GPT to design a working robotic tomato harvester. The study provides a framework for humans and LLMs to design such devices collaboratively. Based on their experience, the researchers describe opportunities and risks of applying artificial intelligence (AI) tools to robotics, which they argue “could change the way we design robots, while enriching and simplifying the process.” “Even though Chat-GPT is a language model and its code generation is text based, it provided significant insights and intuition for physical design, and showed great potential as a sounding board to stimulate human creativity,” says Hughes.

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