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>It has recently occured to me to ask why we have decided to try solve autonomous driving before solving any other seemingly easier robotics problems. Other tha

>It has recently occured to me to ask why we have decided to try solve autonomous driving before solving any other seemingly easier robotics problems. Other than robo-vacuums, which aren't particularly complex, we have jumped straight to trying to solve one of the hardest unconstrained robotics and AI challenges in automotive environments. I'd say it's because other problems are actually difficult in hidden ways or lack much of a value proposition given existing mechanical aids. Cars are in some ways simple because they have plenty of space for electronics and have an easy to automate set of controls. That's not even getting into industrial robotics which is very popular.

hellllllllooo 7y ago
Industrial robotics are very well constrained and the environment can be adapted to them which is why they're successful. Was thinking more about consumer robotics of which robo vacuum is the only real autonomous product right now. IMO the answer is that it's very hard to build reliable robots + AI even in simple environments and AVs are still very dependant on the driver. The size of the potential market if it pays off is huge but removing the driver completely is going to take a long time.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  Automobiles are some of the most constrained consumer problems in my opinion. There's strong laws on how cars can operate and the environments they operate in. Cars operate in constrained and relatively simple ways. Most other consumer problems are optimized around a human body's abilities which are very complex.
  - hellllllllooo 7y ago
    It's still incredibly complex. Reliably handling an area like downtown SF requires a robot to detect, understand and predict a lot of diverse human behavior. All the edge cases lead me to think there will be a supervisory driver in the car for a long time unless we constrain the environment further.

hellllllllooo 7y ago

Industrial robotics are very well constrained and the environment can be adapted to them which is why they're successful. Was thinking more about consumer robotics of which robo vacuum is the only real autonomous product right now. IMO the answer is that it's very hard to build reliable robots + AI even in simple environments and AVs are still very dependant on the driver. The size of the potential market if it pays off is huge but removing the driver completely is going to take a long time.

marcinzm 7y ago
Automobiles are some of the most constrained consumer problems in my opinion. There's strong laws on how cars can operate and the environments they operate in. Cars operate in constrained and relatively simple ways. Most other consumer problems are optimized around a human body's abilities which are very complex.
- hellllllllooo 7y ago
  It's still incredibly complex. Reliably handling an area like downtown SF requires a robot to detect, understand and predict a lot of diverse human behavior. All the edge cases lead me to think there will be a supervisory driver in the car for a long time unless we constrain the environment further.