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I think Robin Murphy, Texas A&M Professor, has the right suggestion for Google. No idea if Google will actually do it. > If I were a large company with deep po
by sounds 11y ago
I think Robin Murphy, Texas A&M Professor, has the right suggestion for Google. No idea if Google will actually do it.
> If I were a large company with deep pockets, I would accept that robotics is what is called a ‘formative’ market and just like shopping on the web, it will take a decade or so to ramp up. Robots are innovations that do not directly replace people and thus it is hard for people to imagine how to use them—thus the market is formative. The theory of diffusion of innovation indicates that potential end-users, not developers, need to experiment with applications to see what works (and not just physically but human-robot interaction as well).
> However, robots have to be extremely reliable and the software customizable enough to allow the end-users to tinker and adapt the robots, so that the end-user can find the ‘killer app.’ Essentially, you can crowdsource the task of finding the best, most profitable uses of robots, but only if you have good enough robots that can be reconfigure easily and the software is open enough. I would concentrate on creating generic ground, aerial, and marine robots with customizable software and user interfaces in order to enable their regular employees (and customers) to figure out the best uses.
> In order to make sure the development was pushing towards the most reliable, reconfigurable, and open robots possible, I suggest the developers focus on the emergency response domain. Disasters are the most demanding application and come in so many variations that it is a constant test of technology and users. Imagine the wealth of ideas and feedback from fire rescue teams, the Coast Guard, and the American Red Cross, just to name a few! Focusing on emergency management would also have a positive societal benefit.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoIsn't this an example of a Scientist speaking outside their area of expertise? Not substantially different from a Physicist speaking on Literature or History. Personally, I don't see a mission-critical application for robotics any time in the immediate future. Low-risk deployments will yield data, not rescue teams. Firemen have no time to fool with experimental gadgets.
- robotresearcher 11y agoRobin Murphy has been doing reacue robots her whole career. Her team had robots at the WTC site. Very few people know more about this area than her. It's appropriate to be skeptical of course, but don't dismiss the expertise of someone before looking them up.
- throwaway287391 11y agoI really don't understand where GP's comment comes from...you don't even need to look her up; Robin Murphy's byline in the article itself makes it clear that she is a CS professor who directs a center for robotics. How could you possibly compare somebody with that set of credentials commenting on robotics to a "physicist speaking on literature or history"? As someone who's typically a bit skeptical of such allegations, the only explanation for GP's comment I can come up with is sexism... (But I'd be interested to hear any more charitable interpretations or an explanation from the comment's author -- I'm really pretty baffled by the comment.)
- conceit 11y agoBecause econ is usually a different faculty
- throwaway287391 11y ago...what? She is a professor of CS & Engineering according to the byline in the article, and upon Googling her, I find no reference to her teaching economics or any other non-CS/Engineering discipline elsewhere. And unless ctrl+f is failing me, "econ" isn't mentioned anywhere in the article (except "economically" once in someone else's comment) or in this comment thread. So I have no idea what you're talking about.
- conceit 11y agoShe talks about econ and, as you diligently pointed out, that's not her area of expertise, exactly. OTOH I would assume that a professional does have a clue about adjacent topics.
- vonmoltke 11y ago> Firemen have no time to fool with experimental gadgets. TI and Raytheon have used local police and fire departments as test customers for various electro-optical systems for decades. They are amenable, as long as they get the systems and support donated to the department.
- jpm_sd 11y agoXoogler here. There is zero chance that Google would get into this market. All the internal talk lately is about "only creating businesses at Google scale" which means $billions in potential revenue, or GTFO.
- grandalf 11y agoYes. And thus Google treads softly down the path to becoming a defense contractor.
- massemphasis 11y agoThat is the only path not available to the dominating robotics countries of Germany, Japan and Korea who are literally under the gun not to develop such arms and weapons (without approval of the US).
- i_laugh_at_you 11y agoI don't believe you. Virtually maybe but literally? Even if virtual I still do not believe you. Sounds like hyperbole.
- massemphasis 11y agoLiterally the US can dictate what kind arms they can develop. It is required they comply to receive consideration for US military aid and to remain under the US nuclear umbrella (from other nuclear armed countries like China, India, Russia, etc...).
- NotSammyHagar 11y agoThose countries also don't want to spend too much money on their military. So they can't develop nukes, their citizens don't want that. We actually want them to spend more, not less, like Japan. South Korea actually built automatic turret guns that shoot without human control. So I call BS on the evil us wants to stop them from building robots.
- whitegrape 11y agoThe emergency response domain is what you use when you've got nothing better in mind for an application of your hardware. It's a dead-end. (Except I guess for Murphy.)
- robg 11y agoSadly, this market is very limited. iRobot, who had a lot traction here, just sold off these robots for peanuts relative to what they make on vacuums. http://media.irobot.com/2016-02-04-iRobot-Announces-Sale-of-Defense-Security-Business-to-Arlington-Capital-Partners http://media.irobot.com/2016-02-04-iRobot-Announces-Sale-of-...
- cookingrobot 11y agoI agree with the first 2 points, but the last doesn't follow. Disaster response isn't a good domain for end users to play around with different configurations to see what works. Few people are first responders, disasters rarely happen, and when they do it's no time to be experimenting with your homebrew robot. Something that's closer to a consumer / small business task, and is tedious, common, and not critical to get right would be a better problem space to explore.