Programming a robot takes--how long?

Well, if we're talking about a simple task--and this robot--a couple of minutes.

This is Baxter, a robot created by Rethink Robotics.  Baxter's original purpose was to take over repetitive industrial tasks.

But--he's proving to be much more average-person-friendly than that.

At the recent Automation Technology Expo West, in Anaheim, Rethink Robotics' Manager of Product Marketing and Marketing Communications Eric Foellmer talked about Baxter's origins, the ways in which teachers and students are programming the open-source version, and the ways Baxter could be helpful in everyday life in the future.