Alto - a little teachable object
Alto is designed to demonstrate the most basic aspects of machine learning. The open source Alto Project is available on github .
Whilst this project appears simple, its designed in such a way, that anyone can build it from scratch.
It teaches how to collect data, train a model and then use that model to give a physical indication of recognition. In this case it will lift one of its arm
You can use whatever two classes of objects that you wish to train it. In the example given with the Alto repository, they using an Apple and a Banana
Why is this interesting?
Robots need to interact with the world. They are in their simplest form an intelligent agent, interacting with their environment. This little Alto project shows how a robot can be trained to perceive that environment and respond. Its not using really expensive parts, but what is now commodity devices. Its also doing it all at the edge.
The robot is trained and then responds all within the same self contained unit. An example of where this might come into play, is in a building where you might use something like this to control the opening or closing doors to allow for better airflow and to reduce costs associated with heating and cooling.
