4 ms·

This seems like such an obvious use for robots, and given the explosion of robots in delivery and other fields now, I'm curious if anyone has tried it ? Why ca

This seems like such an obvious use for robots, and given the explosion of robots in delivery and other fields now, I'm curious if anyone has tried it ? Why can't battery powered robots, with sleds, controlled from base camp, clean up the mountain - picking up the dead and perhaps some trash too ?

nradov 9y ago
Have you ever actually been on a mountain? The robotics industry is decades away from having anything that can operate reliability and do heavy work in that environment. If anyone tried it now we would end up with a mountain littered with broken robots.
duskwuff 9y ago
1) You are underestimating how difficult the terrain is. The only types of robot that'd have a chance would be some of the legged ones from Boston Dynamics, and even they probably wouldn't be up to the challenge. 2) Lithium-ion batteries perform poorly at low temperatures. And there's very little electricity available on the mountain at all, let alone near the summit where a lot of the bodies are.
- rdl 9y ago
  We can make robots that work in space. We can surely make things which work in this environment. Either heat them, or use thermal batteries for power when needed. Also might be an interesting application for compressed air.
  - JadeNB 9y ago
    > We can make robots that work in space. We can surely make things which work in this environment. Space is a way less challenging environment than mountains for robots, which are well equipped to handle, say, lack of air and gravity, but poorly equipped to handle rough and rocky terrain and lots of gravity.
rdl 9y ago
It would be a great "x-prize" type thing, indeed. Beyond current capabilities, but not that far beyond them, and thus interesting. Being able to take oxygen bottles, cameras, etc. around would make climbing a lot easier, too.

4 ms·

This seems like such an obvious use for robots, and given the explosion of robots in delivery and other fields now, I'm curious if anyone has tried it ? Why ca

by aorloff 9y ago

nradov 9y ago
Have you ever actually been on a mountain? The robotics industry is decades away from having anything that can operate reliability and do heavy work in that environment. If anyone tried it now we would end up with a mountain littered with broken robots.
duskwuff 9y ago
1) You are underestimating how difficult the terrain is. The only types of robot that'd have a chance would be some of the legged ones from Boston Dynamics, and even they probably wouldn't be up to the challenge. 2) Lithium-ion batteries perform poorly at low temperatures. And there's very little electricity available on the mountain at all, let alone near the summit where a lot of the bodies are.
- rdl 9y ago
  We can make robots that work in space. We can surely make things which work in this environment. Either heat them, or use thermal batteries for power when needed. Also might be an interesting application for compressed air.
  - JadeNB 9y ago
    > We can make robots that work in space. We can surely make things which work in this environment. Space is a way less challenging environment than mountains for robots, which are well equipped to handle, say, lack of air and gravity, but poorly equipped to handle rough and rocky terrain and lots of gravity.
rdl 9y ago
It would be a great "x-prize" type thing, indeed. Beyond current capabilities, but not that far beyond them, and thus interesting. Being able to take oxygen bottles, cameras, etc. around would make climbing a lot easier, too.