4 ms·

It is not really that much! 1.1 B in 6 years on a moonshot project.

ChuckMcM 9y ago
Seriously, I'm mean what else are you going to do with a bit more than a billion dollars? Develop a full line of Google rockets and disrupt the space industry or something? :-) But you raise an interesting point, what should we expect from 6 years of effort and 1.1B$ ? [1] https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/586023main_8-3-11_NAFCOM.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/586023main_8-3-11_NAFCOM.pdf [2] http://www.businessinsider.com/17-billion-dollar-companies-created-in-less-than-five-years-2016-5/ http://www.businessinsider.com/17-billion-dollar-companies-c...
robotresearcher 9y ago
It's a lot if it doesn't pay off eventually.
- visarga 9y ago
  The same tech that is being used in self driving cars could be repurposed for autonomous robots, and end up with a market much bigger than that of transportation. SDCs are just the easiest form of autonomous robots.
  - robotresearcher 9y ago
    > SDCs are just the easiest form of autonomous robots. That's a claim I have never heard before and I don't agree with. You have some kind of argument to support that drive-by claim? Since there are no fully autonomous SDCs yet you'd have to explain away any existing autonomous robots.
    - the8472 9y ago
      Roads are a fairly structured and rule-based environment already designed with machines operating on them in mind. And those aspects that are not designed for the physical properties of cars are still designed to be easily perceptible by the human operators, e.g. signs, lane markings. That can't be said for many other environments in which autonomous robots would have to operate.
      - robotresearcher 9y ago
        There are literally millions of Roomba cleaner robots sold. They are autonomous. Simple, but autonomous.
    - visarga 9y ago
      I was thinking that wheeled locomotion is still much easier than legged locomotion, artificial arms, grasping and fine motor manipulation. Robots still can't compare to a dexterous human, but a SDC is arguably a good driver.
rhizome 9y ago
And aren't there tax advantages too?

Seriously, I'm mean what else are you going to do with a bit more than a billion dollars? Develop a full line of Google rockets and disrupt the space industry or something? :-) But you raise an interesting point, what should we expect from 6 years of effort and 1.1B$ ? [1] https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/586023main_8-3-11_NAFCOM.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/586023main_8-3-11_NAFCOM.pdf [2] http://www.businessinsider.com/17-billion-dollar-companies-created-in-less-than-five-years-2016-5/ http://www.businessinsider.com/17-billion-dollar-companies-c...

robotresearcher 9y ago

It's a lot if it doesn't pay off eventually.

visarga 9y ago
The same tech that is being used in self driving cars could be repurposed for autonomous robots, and end up with a market much bigger than that of transportation. SDCs are just the easiest form of autonomous robots.
- robotresearcher 9y ago
  > SDCs are just the easiest form of autonomous robots. That's a claim I have never heard before and I don't agree with. You have some kind of argument to support that drive-by claim? Since there are no fully autonomous SDCs yet you'd have to explain away any existing autonomous robots.
  - the8472 9y ago
    Roads are a fairly structured and rule-based environment already designed with machines operating on them in mind. And those aspects that are not designed for the physical properties of cars are still designed to be easily perceptible by the human operators, e.g. signs, lane markings. That can't be said for many other environments in which autonomous robots would have to operate.
    - robotresearcher 9y ago
      There are literally millions of Roomba cleaner robots sold. They are autonomous. Simple, but autonomous.
  - visarga 9y ago
    I was thinking that wheeled locomotion is still much easier than legged locomotion, artificial arms, grasping and fine motor manipulation. Robots still can't compare to a dexterous human, but a SDC is arguably a good driver.

rhizome 9y ago

And aren't there tax advantages too?