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Matt Mason

@mattmasonrobo

Roboticist Chief Scientist, Berkshire Grey Professor Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University Blogging at https://mtmason.com

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24.11.2024
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Latest posts by Matt Mason @mattmasonrobo

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New blog post: The Hairball of Human Knowledge

What does the universe of human knowledge look like? A neat disk with the frontier at the edge? Nope, it's a porous hairball with the frontier sprinkled throughout. A mess, but a beautiful mess.

Under 6 minutes to read.

mtmason.com/the-hairball...

03.03.2026 14:59 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A dilettante’s philosophy of mind - Matthew T. Mason For 50 years I have tried to hide from the philosophy of mind. I failed. Time for a brain dump. Computationalism and the mind-body problem.

New blog post: A Dilettante's Philosophy of Mind. For fifty years I have tried and failed to ignore philosophers, especially the philosophers telling us that AI is destined for failure. Maybe a brain dump will alleviate the pressure.

Under 6 minutes to read.

mtmason.com/a-dilettante...

03.02.2026 12:16 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
AI and Robotics: Scientific Revolution #3 - Matthew T. Mason AI and robotics constitute a third scientific revolution, after the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. And nobody has noticed!

Time for another blog post! AI and Robotics: Scientific Revolution #3. We are living through a third scientific revolution, after the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. And almost nobody has noticed!

Under five minutes to read.

mtmason.com/ai-and-robot...

06.01.2026 11:22 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Don't trust smart people! - Matthew T. Mason Some ideas about refining your ideas, starting with a chat with Jeff Schneider. Don't trust smart people's ideas, especially your own ideas!

I just added a new post: Don't trust smart people! Some ideas about refining your ideas, starting with a chat with Jeff Schneider, and featuring cameos by Marvin Minsky and Allen Newell. A seven-minute read. Hope you find it fun and/or enlightening!

mtmason.com/dont-trust-s...

05.11.2025 12:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Robotic manipulation in clutter - Matthew T. Mason (Adapted from Winograd 1971) What are we learning in the warehouse? Clutter matters. What is clutter, and why does it matter? Of course you already know what clutter is. If you live with a lazy roomma...

New blog post! What did I learn in warehouse automation? Clutter is essential, in the warehouse and also at home. A seven-minute read.

mtmason.com/robotic-mani...

08.09.2025 20:36 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Robo Exodus - Matthew T. Mason A possible future, when we can build robots with true minds, consciousness, pain, joy, etc., and compare our work with evolution's work.

Time for blog post number nine -- "Robo Exodus." The question: What happens when we produce robots with true minds? Fifty years in the future, Professor Moses faces this challenge in a discussion with Evolution Personified.

An eight-minute read. Hope you like it.

mtmason.com/robo-exodus/

07.08.2025 10:12 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Vacuum grippers versus robot hands - Matthew T. Mason Will robot hands one day replace vacuum grippers in the warehouse? No chance.

Blog post number eight -- "Vacuum grippers versus robot hands." Here's the question: when humanoids can do everything a human can, will they take over the warehouse? No! Vacuum is awesome! Vacuum grippers are the wheels of manipulation!

It is only an five-minute read. Hope you like it.

02.07.2025 13:57 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Robots are Inside Out - Matthew T. Mason The human body has an infrastructure to build / maintain that body. Robots have a similar structure, but outside the body β€” an β€œexostructure.”

New blog post!
mtmason.com/robots-are-i...

02.06.2025 17:40 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Heart of Robotic Manipulation - Matthew T. Mason Contact is the heart of robotic manipulation. To understand manipulation, you must understand contact.

I pushed out another blog post! How to close a drawer, how to do just about any manipulation, based on techniques described by Dan Whitney in a talk I attended about 50 years ago.

It is only an eight-minute read. Hope you like it.
mtmason.com/the-heart-of...

06.05.2025 14:59 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Unstable Queen - Matthew T. Mason Getting started in robotics. And, why is manipulation hard? Manipulation means interacting with the real world, but the real world is tricky.

Time for another blog post!

Just a six-minute read.
staging2.mtmason.com/the-unstable...

09.04.2025 17:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Inner Robot - Matthew T. Mason How our subconscious processes mislead us on the nature of human manipulation, by managing it brilliantly and quietly.

Time for another blog post -- "The Inner Robot" -- on how our subconscious processes mislead us on the nature of human manipulation, by managing it brilliantly and quietly. Hope you find it rewarding. It is a seven-minute read.

mtmason.com/the-inner-ro...

06.03.2025 14:27 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

New blog post: Robo Genesis.

I was trying to think about robot design, from an evolutionary perspective, and it occurred to me I could have a character, Evolution Personified (EP) conversing with a roboticist. Moses, burning bush, ten commandments... sacrilegious? Not offensive I hope.

04.02.2025 11:23 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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The forebot and the buttlebot - Matthew T. Mason What happens when humanoids arrive to modernize a warehouse, or a home? What instructions do you give them? How much freedom do you give them?

I added a post to my blog:
The Forebot and the Buttlebot​
mtmason.com/forebot-and-...
Here's the question. What happens when you deploy robots in a warehouse, or in a home? What instructions do you give them?

It is only a four-minute read. Hope you like it.

02.01.2025 16:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Watching this interview with Rodney Brooks. Great perspective from a deep thinker.

bsky.app/profile/rodn...

06.12.2024 18:26 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Beetle Roboticists: A Parable - Matthew T. Mason How do we assess ideas about humanoids, without our anthropocentric bias? Maybe if the ideas were being pushed by another species. Beetles?

I just posted my 2nd blog post.
Here's the idea: How do we assess ideas about humanoids, without our anthropocentric bias? Maybe if the ideas were being pushed by another species. Beetles?
It's only a four-minute read.

mtmason.com/the-beetle-r...

24.11.2024 22:14 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0