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Boston Dynamics will start selling its dog-like SpotMini robot in 2019
- sschueller 8y agoThis is most likely also due to competition that is showing up like ANYmal [1]. [1] https://www.anybotics.com/anymal/ https://www.anybotics.com/anymal/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RQDp0Q2vSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RQDp0Q2vSo
- tintor 8y agoI like how it uses its leg to press the elevator button.
- mbrumlow 8y agoWhile yeah, those things are super had to make I just could not help to think of how pathetic it looked compared to Boston Dynamic's Spot Mini.
- dvfjsdhgfv 8y agoNow. They'll get there, eventually. I give them 3-5 years max.
- lajhsdfkl 8y ago> I give them 3-5 years max. why?
- krtkush 8y agoHate to downplay anyone's efforts but these look like Boston dynamic's retirement home; they look painfully slow.
- airstrike 8y agoIf by "dog" you mean killer alien AI, sure
- erikb 8y agoWhat's the price, tho?
- richmarr 8y agoNo idea, but I'd expect they'll initially price it for companies until they get the price per unit down... maybe make the business case that it can replace a night watchman type position so replaces one or more salaries. I'd guess $40k based on a 2-year lifespan (I reckon it'll get longer but the initial versions will have glitches) Any more guesses? Or... actual information?
- erikb 8y agoThis is already interesting. I thought for production readiness the price would need to be 5-10% of that.
- agotterer 8y agoThe article doesn’t mention what it’s purpose is? Anyone know?
- anonymfus 8y agoIt's supposed to be a platform users can mount their own hardware to and write software for. Its back is flat and contains mount points for custom hardware.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago> Its back is flat and contains mount points for custom hardware. Well considering the specs... >The device weighs around 66 pounds and can operate for about 90 minutes on a charge. Per physics and current battery technology that run time probably falls off really quickly if you make it lug around any appreciable amount of weight. A general laborer costs the employer maybe $20/hr (all inclusive) in most settings. Except maybe in situations where the cost of an employee is artificially high (e.g a role that requires a bunch of certification/training in a union workplace working on a government contract where the actual job duties are fairly menial) I can't see a use case where this makes sense. I honestly have no idea what the use case for this is. Where can a $20k-ish robot that can carry around 30lb replace/supplement a person well enough to break even over its lifetime?
- wastedhours 8y agoA couple of thoughts: - sell it to large businesses that have "innovation labs" based on "coolness", see their use cases and needs, and then double down on developing custom solutions for that. The whole issue with BD in a civilian sense has been as a solution looking for a problem. It might help find their problem with some in the wild. - battery life might not be a massive issue if they walk themselves back to the charging station and can auto-rotate as a pack. - I can't see the use case either, but perhaps attach a monitoring camera to the arm and have it perform remote inspections of aircraft? Guessing some kind of in-person work that could be done by a central operator, but needs a bit more autonomy/environment sensing than a glorified remote control car?
- notheguyouthink 8y agoDamn, seems like this isn't intended for home use. I had my wallet out. No idea why, but I'd love a little robotic "pet" that was able to navigate the world. Bonus points if it had an API to easily "train" it. Endless fun
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoWouldn't an Aibo be more appropriate?
- anoncoward111 8y agoGive it time. Shortly after someone is able to afford one and walk around town with it, there will be laws "regulating their use".
- PostOnce 8y agothe Nao robot was over $20,000 -- how much do you think this will cost? Pepper is $7,000 and it has no legs. One arm and no navigation skills is $8000, two arms is $25000 from rethink, right? I'm guessing it'll be over $100K
- mrarjen 8y agoMy guess as well, the R&D that has gone into this would certainly allow it to be that much. But once it's out in the open I'm sure some people will take it apart and hopefully we will see easier (cheaper) ways of recreating it DIY style.
- anoncoward111 8y agoThe hardware on these things is pretty beefy too tbh. Like it's not just motors and servos from the electronics hobby shop. it's like legitimate hydraulic suspension and batteries and power supplies and obviously, LIDAR + it's accompanying software I would love to DIY this thing but it's a lot more advanced than DIYing even a Powerwall or a Model S
- 8y ago
- binarymax 8y agoThese things just look terrifying. The reversed knee joints, the square bodies, the vulture beak head, the color, all send a message of hostility. You want to put one of these things in my office or my home? Forget it.
- taf2 8y agoOr hellz yeah - they’re amazing! Bring it on
- OzzyB 8y agoI have absolutely no idea what you mean: http://ew.com/tv/2017/12/29/black-mirror-metalhead-interview/ http://ew.com/tv/2017/12/29/black-mirror-metalhead-interview...
- fixermark 8y agoThat's art-imitating-life though. The look of Metalhead was inspired by the original Boston Dynamics videos of the balance tests.
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- dkoubsky 8y agoThese traits would make it a pretty good guard dog though.
- zitterbewegung 8y agoI agree that they look terrifying. I still would buy one. Maybe that is their angle to look terrifying? Or do you mean the uncanny valley?
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- protoster 8y agoSeems like a solvable problem, stick some googly eyes and bunny ears on it. Maybe add speakers to make squeaking noises when it walks.
- ape4 8y agoI enjoyed its Black Mirror episode
- some_random 8y agoYeah, it was a nice break from the really terrifying episodes. Just a bit of casual murder.
- glenneroo 8y ago<Black Mirror Spoiler> If you consider using a knife as a weaponized appendage and launching exploding balls with mesh-networked long-distance tracking-capable shrapnel pieces which embed easily in skin "casual" then I'm almost afraid to ask what you consider less mundane.
- bhouston 8y agoWhat is the price point?
- allengeorge 8y agoLooks like what I’d imagine the mechanical hounds in Fahrenheit 451.
- announcerman 8y agoWill it jump into my bed and sleep on top of me though
- bitwize 8y agoRemember that wolfbot that acted as a companion to Raiden in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance?
- nabla9 8y ago>“The SpotMini robot is one that was motivated by thinking about what could go in an office — in a space more accessible for business applications — and then, the home eventually,” Both in the home and in the office settings, wheel-leg robot (like Handle) would be more energy efficient, silent, faster and require much less maintenance. 99% of the time it would just wheel around. I'm sure they can sell several thousands of these based on coolness factor alone, but I don't think it's the future.
- monkeynotes 8y agoHow this isn't exclusively military tech is beyond me. If this sort of thing is available to anyone with a chequebook then what does the military have? It is begging for a weapon to be mounted to it and sent to patrol the streets of dystopia. The Police will for sure be buying stuff like this with the argument that it will save cop's lives in hostile situations. From there we'll have to get used to seeing automated enforcement. Oh poop, I am getting into the obvious slippery slope arguments, it's just so hard to not be cynical about tech like this. The world is rapidly changing again </luddite>.
- phowat 8y agoThose things remind me of the Rat Things from Snow Crash.
- aje403 8y agoI don't want to derail the conversation either, but they're owned by softbank which is a glorified holding company of Alibaba (slight exaggeration, granted), so there is a valid tinfoil hat national security argument to be made if there's a million of them running around the street in 10 years.
- rattray 8y agoSoftBank is Japanese and has significant stakes in the US (eg Uber) as well, fwiw. I'm sympathetic to the underlying sentiment, however. China is starting to look scary and our IP might be worth watching out for.
- aje403 8y agoSoftbank has $150 billion in Alibaba - drew them back from the brink way back iirc. Any foreign ownership in Alibaba relies on the goodwill of the Chinese government. Who knows what relationship they can or will have - don't actually think it's too much of a stretch to question. Completely agree on the IP
- tzahola 8y agoAFAIK the DoD lost interest in Boston Dynamics BigDog, because their petrol engine was too noisy on the field and the electric version was too weak.
- Dowwie 8y agoAnd then one day SpotMini gets a firmware update to attack me in my sleep..
- commieneko 8y agoFrom Cordwainer Smith's classic short story "Mark Elf." Carlotta stared at the machine. It had legs like a grasshopper, a body like a ten-foot turtle, and three heads which moved restlessly in the moonlight. From the forward edge of the top shell a hidden arm leapt forth, seeming to strike at her, deadlier than a cobra, quicker than a jaguar, more silent than a bat flitting across the face of the moon. "Don't!" Carlotta screamed in German. The arm slopped suddenly in the moonlight. The stop was so sudden that the metal twanged like the string of a bow. The heads of the machine all turned toward her. Something like surprise seemed to overtake the machine. The whistling dropped down to a soothing purr. The electronic chatter burst up to a crescendo and then stopped. The machine dropped to its knees. Carlotta crawled over to it. Said she in German, "What are you?" "I am the death of all men who oppose the Sixth German Reich," said the machine in fluted singsong German. "If the Reichsangehoriger wishes to identify me, my model and number are written on my carapace." The machine knelt at a height so low that Carlotta could seize one of the heads and look in the moonlight at the edge of the top shell. The head and neck, though made of metal, felt much more weak and brittle than she expected. There was about the machine an air of immense age. "I can't see," wailed Carlotta. "I need a light." There was the ache and grind of long-unused machinery. Another mechanical arm appeared, dropping flakes of near-crystallized dirt as it moved. The tip of the arm exuded light, blue, penetrating, and strange. Brook, forest, small valley, machine, even herself, were all lit up by the soft penetrating blue light which did not hurt her eyes. The light even gave her a sense of well-being. With the light she could read. Traced on the carapace just above the three heads was this inscription: WAFFENAMT DES SECHSTEN DEUTSCHEN REICHES BURG EISENHOWER, A.D. 2495 And then below it in much larger Latin letters: MENSCHENJAGER MARK ELF
- warent 8y agoTo the comments in this thread that are panicking about SpotMini: https://xkcd.com/1955/ https://xkcd.com/1955/
- tetraodonpuffer 8y agowatching the video of the presentation I was saddened by the fact that the CEO said that one of their most requested features is to create some sort of wheelchair replacement based on this tech, but it seems they aren't really working on it (around 16:30 in the video). Given how hard it is for wheelchair users to navigate the world, it would have been amazing if this had been one of the first applications. I know friends of mine on wheelchairs would give a lot to be able to just go for a "walk" on a normal park trail or on the beach without having to worry about it being wheelchair accessible. It is understandable that from several points of view the surveillance industry is a much easier target for this platform, not to mention that of course carrying a person-sized weight might be difficult also from a battery standpoint, however I wish that was more of a priority for the product.
- pdfernhout 8y agoAn alternative maybe of interest to your friends? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT "The iBOT has a number of features distinguishing it from most powered wheelchairs: By rotating its two sets of powered wheels about each other, the iBOT can "walk" up and down stairs, much like a cog railway or a rack and pinion with the two wheels as the "teeth" of the gear. The wheels can roll slightly at each step to compensate for a wide range of stair dimensions. When stair-climbing without assistance, the user requires a sturdy handrail and a strong grip. With an assistant, neither a handrail nor a strong grip is required. The iBOT is capable of tethered remote control operation, useful for loading the wheelchair up ramps into vehicles, or "parking" out of the way when not occupied. Custom software receives data via various sensors and gyroscopes, allowing the iBOT to maintain balance during certain maneuvers. For example, during curb climbing the seat remains level while parts of the chassis tilt to climb the curb. It allows the user to rise from a sitting level to approximately 6' tall, measured from the ground to the top of the head, and depending on the size of the occupant. It does this by raising one pair of wheels above the other to elevate the chassis, while a separate actuator raises the seat slightly more than usual. In this configuration the device is on two wheels, and the 'iBALANCE' software and gyroscope signals control the iBOT to maintain equilibrium, balancing much like the Segway scooter (which was a spin-off from the iBOT development). The user may also travel in this "standing" configuration. It can climb and descend curbs ranging from 0.1 to 5.0 inches, according to the manufacturer's specifications. The limits are determined by the rider's technique and risk tolerance. It is capable of traveling through many types of terrain, including sand, gravel, and water up to 3" deep."
- app4soft 8y agoSpoiler[1] Law I / A robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Law II / A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Law III / A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_%28film%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_%28film%29
- prteja11 8y agoLaw 0 / A robot may not harm humanity, or through inaction allow humanity to come to harm. This precedes the 3 laws. Source: Isaac Asimov in Robots and Empire
- daveloyall 8y agoDon't forget, when Asimov introduced this new law, those (few) robots that were governed by it also had a modified First Law: "...except when such action or inaction would conflict with the Zeroth Law" (paraphrasing). That got interesting, quick!
- unixhero 8y agoI dont say this lightly. But: I hate this company.
- JayDoubleu 8y agoDARPA is already featuring spot mini like robot in one of their new YT videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUCHN2Fyt_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUCHN2Fyt_0 at 1:56
- Animats 8y agoNo price given. That's the big problem with this technology. It's expensive. It took Boston Dynamics about $125 million to get to Atlas, from looking at their DARPA contract data. If they could sell 10,000 units a year, the price might come down to a few thousand. The next big improvement in price/performance will probably come when LIDAR gets cheap. This is about to happen as the various automotive LIDAR companies get their act together. Once that's a standard auto part, it will be cheap. They got rid of the hydraulics. That's progress.
- TYPE_FASTER 8y ago/me starts googling diy emp