Robot tech heads into overdrive

The PR2 robot can shoot pool, bake cookies from scratch, and maybe, most importantly, fetch and open a beer. It's an advanced robot, and the creation of a Silicon Valley company called Willow Garage that is working to spawn a new industry in personal robots.

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

The field of robotics is progressing rapidly and the PR2 is at the center of that progress. "We created this open source software platform that is what Windows is to the PC," Steve Cousins (not pictured), CEO of Willow Garage explained. "Everybody's sharing software and we can make progress to this future where we see robots."

Until Willow Garage created the PR2, each robotics researcher like the one seen here had to build their own robot from scratch before they could even begin experimenting. Pieter Abbeel, professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, said, "You spent so much time building and maintaining that contraption that your research would be really slowed down."

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

Willow Garage gave 11 of their PR2 robots to university researchers who agreed to share their work to speed the evolution of artificial intelligence.

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

CBS News' John Blackstone, right, learns about the PR2 robot from Steve Cousins, chief executive officer of Willow Garage.

Researchers don't have to program everything the machine does -- they have to teach the machine to think by itself. One researcher said, "We want to allow the machine to watch people do things and learn from that. It just kind of fumbles around with things and after a while realizes, 'Oh, this is how this works.' "

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

A PR2 robot learns how to fold laundry.

While those tired of folding laundry may be tempted to buy a PR2, the $400,000 price tag is a bit steep. Still, with robotics advancing quickly, a future free of household chores may, one day, be priceless.

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

A researcher works to program the practical robots.

At the forefront of robotic help, will be aid for senior citizens.

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

A PR2 robot in development.

Asked if we have to worry about robots taking over the world some time, Cousins said, "It has no intention of taking over the world. Unless somebody programs the robot and says, you know, 'What you're supposed to do is kill all humans.' "

Asked about people with evil intentions, Cousins said, "But even if they did, at the end of that, so the robots killed all humans. (The robot) doesn't have anything to do next, right? It doesn't have like, 'Oh, now what I should do? Well, I should, you know, procreate or something, right?' They don't do that."

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech

A robot works to fold a towel.

It's not as mundane a task as you might think. A robot researcher explained, "The big challenge in robotics right now is how to make robots deal with variability. Whenever things change around the robot, it needs to understand what it is that has changed and how to act on it. Any time you present a pile of laundry, it's going to be different. You're manipulating this towels, T-shirts, and so forth. The more variability, the harder the task is going to be."

Robots: Developer attempts to speed up A.I. tech