For mobile robots, one of the most crucial tasks is charging. Forgetting to charge a robot will stop it from working, which could potentially lead to complications. So this leads to the question: how could robots charge themselves instead of having to make humans remember to charge them?
Meet Melvin. He looks normal in most aspects, a compact body and a robotic arm. But perhaps the most intriguing feature is the power cord. By sensing the electrical fields that emanate from a wall outlet, Melvin can find its way to the outlet and plug itself in a single fluid motion. No need to remember to charge it, it’ll do the job itself. Made by Intel Labs, Melvin is special in that he reacts to the electrical field instead of vision systems that many other researchers attempt to employ. No need to remember to charge a robot again; he can feed himself, thank you very much.
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