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I was more impressed by this over the Boston Dynamics stuff. The BD robots looked like they had some size and noise problems to overcome.

by msie 11y ago

PhasmaFelis 11y ago
If the SCHAFT robot is quieter and less bulky than the BD models, it's because it's running off of batteries instead of a piston engine, which means it will have a regrettably short range before needing a recharge. (The BD bots are much quieter when attached to a power cable in a lab.) Nobody's gonna get around that limitation until there's a major breakthrough in battery tech.
- elsewhen 11y ago
  an autonomous robot can go swap out it's own batteries, or go charge itself. if it can operate for 24 hours a day, losing ~5% of that time for battery swapping is not that significant.
  - onetimePete 11y ago
    Every "autonomous" robot gets a swarm of battery bringers? They day we defeat skynet, we shall have our Flyswatter ready..
    - elsewhen 11y ago
      i think you are overcomplicating my point. when cordless drills came out, people who were used to corded drills, laughed that you would get stuck mid-job without power. nowadays, most cordless drills come with two removable batteries. you charge one while you are using one. when the battery runs out, you just swap them. it takes a few seconds, you get the advantage of cordlessness, and effectively they function all day long under heavy usage. sure, for military applications, boston dynamics approach is likely more suitable. but for factory, office and home usage, swapping out batteries shouldn't be a significant problem at all.
  - PhasmaFelis 11y ago
    Depends on what you're using it for. The Boston Dynamics jobbies were intended for search and rescue, or accompanying soldiers on foot; they'd need to go for hours or days without access to resupply. My point was just that this thing isn't quiet because of better engineering, it's quiet because it's made for a different job.
    - elsewhen 11y ago
      agreed that it is designed for a different job. but those different jobs are likely to represent a huge percentage of the market (home, office and factory environments). i dont think that in these settings a relatively short battery life will be "regrettable" at all. as i mentioned above, swapping batteries is an easy solution to the problem.
2muchcoffeeman 11y ago
How is this more impressive than the Boston Dynamics stuff? BD have demonstrated actively balancing robot that can traverse various terrain under loads. Perhaps this might have more immediate usages, but more impressive?

I was more impressed by this over the Boston Dynamics stuff. The BD robots looked like they had some size and noise problems to overcome.

by msie 11y ago

I was more impressed by this over the Boston Dynamics stuff. The BD robots looked like they had some size and noise problems to overcome.

PhasmaFelis 11y ago

If the SCHAFT robot is quieter and less bulky than the BD models, it's because it's running off of batteries instead of a piston engine, which means it will have a regrettably short range before needing a recharge. (The BD bots are much quieter when attached to a power cable in a lab.) Nobody's gonna get around that limitation until there's a major breakthrough in battery tech.

elsewhen 11y ago
an autonomous robot can go swap out it's own batteries, or go charge itself. if it can operate for 24 hours a day, losing ~5% of that time for battery swapping is not that significant.
- onetimePete 11y ago
  Every "autonomous" robot gets a swarm of battery bringers? They day we defeat skynet, we shall have our Flyswatter ready..
  - elsewhen 11y ago
    i think you are overcomplicating my point. when cordless drills came out, people who were used to corded drills, laughed that you would get stuck mid-job without power. nowadays, most cordless drills come with two removable batteries. you charge one while you are using one. when the battery runs out, you just swap them. it takes a few seconds, you get the advantage of cordlessness, and effectively they function all day long under heavy usage. sure, for military applications, boston dynamics approach is likely more suitable. but for factory, office and home usage, swapping out batteries shouldn't be a significant problem at all.
- PhasmaFelis 11y ago
  Depends on what you're using it for. The Boston Dynamics jobbies were intended for search and rescue, or accompanying soldiers on foot; they'd need to go for hours or days without access to resupply. My point was just that this thing isn't quiet because of better engineering, it's quiet because it's made for a different job.
  - elsewhen 11y ago
    agreed that it is designed for a different job. but those different jobs are likely to represent a huge percentage of the market (home, office and factory environments). i dont think that in these settings a relatively short battery life will be "regrettable" at all. as i mentioned above, swapping batteries is an easy solution to the problem.

2muchcoffeeman 11y ago

How is this more impressive than the Boston Dynamics stuff? BD have demonstrated actively balancing robot that can traverse various terrain under loads. Perhaps this might have more immediate usages, but more impressive?