Throwing and catching are human skills that we not only use in sports, but also as a shortcut - saving time compared to walking a few steps. What if robots could do the same? Bosch Research engineer Timm Linder helps explore this in an EU-funded project called DARKO. In collaboration with research labs across Europe, he and his team are developing a robot that will toss items into bins at a warehouse, while aiming to make the robot behave more intelligently among humans and equipping it with a better 3D perception and semantic scene understanding of the environment it is deployed in. Perhaps the robot can learn some lessons from Ceola McGowan: The world champion in double-bit axe throwing has some advice on how to precisely throw oddly shaped objects and shares her technique with Shuko and Geoff. Our hosts are already dreaming of robots that can toss the laundry into the washer…

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