# 177. Did A Shrimp Fry This Rice? No, A Robot Did

- Show: [The Next Byte Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast)
- Published: 2024-06-04
- Length: 23m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did
- Listen: https://the-next-byte-wevolver.simplecast.com/episodes/177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did-jABn7eit

## Summary

Daniel and Forbode discuss Stanford University's 'Mobile Aloha' platform, a bimanual robot designed to learn household tasks through imitation learning rather than extensive simulation. They highlight the platform's ability to generalize from a static dataset of 825 operations and improve success rates by 90% after roughly 50 human-led demonstrations. The hosts emphasize the significance of reducing the cost of such robotic systems from hundreds of thousands to around $30,000, making general-purpose robotics more accessible for future commercial and domestic use.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=0) Introduction and Sponsor: Mouser Electronics
- [3:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=196) The Problem with Simulation in Robotics
- [4:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=272) Introducing Mobile Aloha and Imitation Learning
- [8:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=506) Mobile Aloha Hardware and Teleoperation
- [11:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=695) Open Source Data, Cost Reduction, and Performance
- [16:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=960) Real-World Applications and Future Impact
- [21:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did#t=1271) Newsletter Promotion and Outro

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Open-source hardware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/open-source-hardware)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Toyota Research Institute (company)
- Stanford University (company)
- Mobile Aloha (product)
- Roomba (product)
- Figure One (product)
- Wevolver (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 130: Robots learning from humans - Chad Jenkins](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-10-24-episode-130-robots-learning-from-humans-chad-jenkins) (Robot Talk)
- [Hands-on Physical AI with Kevin Cloutier](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2026-08-26-hands-on-physical-ai-with-kevin-cloutier) (The Amp Hour)
- [Episode Thirty-Nine: Maria Bauza Villalonga](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2023-03-03-episode-thirty-nine-maria-bauza-villalonga) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode 123: Standardising robot programming - Nick Thompson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-05-30-episode-123-standardising-robot-programming-nick-thompson) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode 74: Teaching robots to grasp - Edward Johns](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-02-23-episode-74-teaching-robots-to-grasp-edward-johns) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

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