IF you have ever wrestled with uncooperative flat-pack furniture you will be pleased to hear scientists are working to make them fool-proof.
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (www.vision.ethz.ch/projects/) in Zurich are putting computer chips into the various components of furniture to ensure you put them together correctly.
They fitted sensors to an IKEA wardrobe which worked out where all the pieces go in relation to one another.
The research is described as "proactive furniture assembly" and the chips and other sensors react to what you do and can tell you what to do next. At the moment the sensors are wirelessly connected to a PC but researchers hope eventually to build LED-displays into the parts themselves.
It could even be incorporated into screwdrivers to let DIY enthusiasts know if they have over-tightened screws.
The work found that there were 44 different ways to put together an Ikea PAX wardrobe, although only eight methods would produce a safe piece of furniture.
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