I know, I know, IKEA furniture is supposed to be so easy to assemble, and in the long run, it also helps you lower the total cost of ownership especially when you want to refurbish your home with an entire set of furniture. For those of us who feel that DIY is not our cup of tea, then paying IKEA a small fee to have their staff assemble your newly purchase flat packed furniture is a good idea, but for other folks who simply cannot afford such an expenditure and are forced to assemble the furniture yourself, you might run into issues from time to time as you try to figure out just which screw goes in where.
Fret not, other than having a teenager around (who is infinitely useful when it comes to assembly instructions, thanks to their quick minds), there is also an alternative to help you out – in the form of a robot, of course. Italian researchers have demonstrated how their robot managed to assist them in building an IKEA table, thanks to the help of a force sensor and a vision tracking system in the robot itself. Still no substitute for a human though.