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To: kumar who wrote (73)	10/13/2002 3:20:10 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1417

British scientists work on some of the worlds toughest problems.. ananova.com British scientists develop robotic ironing machine British researchers are working to develop the world's first automatic ironing machine. A team of robotics, mechanical engineering and textile experts hope to produce a working ironing robot by the end of 2006. The machine, small enough to be stored under the stairs, would fold as well as iron the clothes. The scientists from King's College London and the University of Newcastle are being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Team leader Dr Jian Dai admits the complex nature of ironing makes the project "hugely challenging". He said: "This would certainly not be an adaptation of an existing robot. It would be a robot built specifically to deal with this task." But he is confident of success, pointing out that in industry, robotic systems had already been successfully developed to carry out complex tasks. As well as manipulating its ironing tools and the clothes themselves, the machine would have to avoid the common pitfall of burning a hole in the material. "The robot needs to know what type of garment it is ironing, so it will have to include some kind of sensor that allows it to recognise what it is dealing with and how to treat it," said Dr Dai. Coded tags similar to the washing instructions already sewn into clothes could be attached to garments by manufacturers. Pressing would be done by a combination of robot grippers and a specialist ironing attachment. These would unfold, iron and re-fold the clothes.