By Hamish Johnston
If you are like me and you struggle with the basics of quantum computing you might want to stop reading now because this blog entry is about “quantum robotics”.
According to Daoyi Dong and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China, “A quantum robot is essentially a complex quantum system which generally consists of three fundamental components: multi-quantum computing units (MQCU), quantum controller/actuator, and information acquisition units”.
And they should know, because they have just published a preprint that “proposes a brand-new paradigm of robots”.
So why would you want a quantum robot?
According to Dong and Co, they are better at learning than classical robots because they would use “quantum reinforcement learning algorithms”.
Of course, physicists are still struggling to make a just one practical quantum computing device, let alone a MQCU. So I’m guessing that you might have to wait a while for a robot that uses quantum mechanics to learn how to iron your shirts.
UPDATE 27 October: This preprint has been withdrawn by the authors.
