February 2025

February was all about refining our robot’s software and testing it in real homes. At the start of the month, we focused on fine-tuning the manipulation software (i.e., getting the robot to move more smoothly, grasp objects more reliably, and generally just not look so awkward while doing simple tasks). By mid-month, we finally got to test it in a real domestic setting (e.g., a condo). It was pretty exciting (and nerve-wracking) to see how it performed outside of our controlled lab space. The robot managed to clean a toilet seat, sort some garbage, and even wipe down a counter. It wasn’t perfect, but it actually got the job done (demo)! By the end of the month, word started spreading in our own condo building, and now we're starting a waitlist of people who want to see if the robot can clean their unit. So, next we will beonboarding our first batch of real-world testers and seeing how well the robot handles different apartments. Stay tuned!

January 2025

January was a big month for both hardware and software. We kicked things off by making our robotic arm stronger and more reliable, tweaking the design to make sure it wouldn’t randomly give up mid-task. Midway through the month, we hit a major milestone, our prototype was finally robust enough to complete tasks autonomously! Naturally, we jumped straight into developing the software for bathroom cleaning. And since some of us are huge chess nerds, we took a weekend to build a quick chess-playing demo with the robot. Why? Because we could (demo). By the end of January, we got the robot to clean a toilet seat and take out the trash on its own (no human intervention needed!) (demo).

December 2024

December was all about the robotic arm. We started the month by motorizing it and getting it to move in 4 degrees of freedom (demo), which felt like a big win. Around the same time, we visited the Toronto Pearson Marriott team to learn more about their housekeeping workflows (photo). Mid-month, we put together a detailed roadmap for our project (technical report), and kept improving the arm’s precision. By the end of December, we cracked inverse kinematics (IK), which basically means the robot could now move its arm with way more precision. We ran a successful pick-and-place test (demo), and everything is starting to come together!

November 2024

November was all about laying the groundwork for this whole project. We built tech demos, designed hardware, and figured out our next steps. Oh, and we also officially finished our PhDs, so that was a nice bonus. Early in the month, we showed off some demos, like using VLMs to find objects in a hotel lobby (demo) and controlling the robot with gestures and natural language (demo). We also spent time talking to housekeepers and hotel staff at a Marriott to understand their workflows. Midway through November, we started working on software for robotic cleaning. Our first big test was getting it to clean a mirror (demo). Meanwhile, we designed our first hardware prototype (demo) and, by the end of the month, we had 3D-printed the first batch of parts and started assembling the robot (demo). Things are moving fast!