Engineers from the Italian Institute of Technology have taught a robot how to flip pancakes.  There’s nothing more rewarding than laughing at a robot’s failings!

After 50 trials, the robot learns that the first part of the task requires a stiff behavior to throw the pancake in the air, while the second part requires the hand to be compliant in order to catch the pancake without having it bounced off the pan.

[Via Engadget]