3 ms·

The User Guide is a fun read too. Lots of things I hadn't thought about: - pinch points and other safe handling concerns - it cannot perceive glass windows or

by jpm_sd 6y ago

The User Guide is a fun read too. Lots of things I hadn't thought about: - pinch points and other safe handling concerns - it cannot perceive glass windows or the edge of a cliff - "entertainment" is mentioned as a possible application, but you should not operate it near pets or children https://www.bostondynamics.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/spot-user-guide-r2.0-va.pdf https://www.bostondynamics.com/sites/default/files/inline-fi...

jonathanstrange 6y ago
"Spot is not certified safe for in-home use or intended for use near children or others who may not appreciate the hazards associated with its operation."
joshvm 6y ago
Recommending there to be no glass in the environment makes sense for liability, but I would have thought a few ultrasound detectors would be sufficient for gross collision avoidance e.g. to avoid walking into a pane. Similarly forward/down-looking sensors should be able to detect ground plane discontinuities. I guess the stereo isn't robust enough to do that reliably.
11thEarlOfMar 6y ago
Wow, cliff detection... Anybots had that same limitation in 2009. Would have thought it'd be solved by now, particularly in a $70k robobt.
- RandallBrown 6y ago
  My Roomba has cliff detection, but it's probably easier to do in a rolling robot that's right next to the ground.
  - xondono 6y ago
    It’s also way easier when your top speed is a few cm/s
  - amiga-workbench 6y ago
    It does, but its tricked by black surfaces that absorb IR. Its why my Roomba refuses to clean my black rug, it thinks its a hole in the ground.
    - lucb1e 6y ago
      Our Bagotta has no trouble with that, if we're comparing brands (not sure if you meant "Roomba: the brand" or "Roomba: any vacuum robot in the USA")
      - amiga-workbench 6y ago
        I've still got a Roomba 650, I don't know if the newer models handle it any better.
  - m463 6y ago
    To a roomba, the stairs are a cliff. To spot, hmmm... it might do stairs and you might need an actual cliff to qualify.
- Animats 6y ago
  Yes, that surprised me, too. Cliff detection isn't that hard. They seem to have cameras in the nose area that are positioned to see whether there's a walkable surface ahead. The basic vision system is cameras with IR projection of a pattern, like the original Kinect. How can they do foot placement on stairs while unable to detect cliffs? There's an optional LIDAR vaguely mentioned in the instructions. No specs on field of view or range, though. "Spot’s joints can pinch fingers and other body parts and entangle loose clothing, long hair, and jewelry. Only handle Spot when the motors are locked out or robot power is off. Fingers may break or get amputated if caught in joints while Spot’s motors are active." Were pinch points not considered during design? Jogging/trotting is only available in "demo mode", and is listed as "less stable". Boston Dynamics can do better than this. I was expecting full Big Dog capability in a smaller package. Maybe this is just the minimum viable product for a market test. If someone finds a use case for this robot, the next model should have those problems fixed.
  - schreiaj 6y ago
    > Were pinch points not considered during design? It's fairly difficult to design a joint with a reasonable amount of motion without pinch points. Though, I'm kinda shocked they don't have detection for current spikes on the controllers so they can limit the damage to anything that is pinched. End of the day though, how often is the plan to cohabitate a space with humans? My understanding is it is more designed to do monitoring and inspection with maybe some light manipulation tasks. If there's a person along with it why not just have the person do the inspection?
    - Animats 6y ago
      The demo videos have people reasonably close to the robot.[1][2] It may be difficult to eliminate pinch points, but they need to protect them somehow in the next version. Pinch detectors, bellows, etc. Shear points, where there's a scissors action, should be eliminated. [1] https://www.facebook.com/howthingsworkgif/videos/3087576991352999/ https://www.facebook.com/howthingsworkgif/videos/30875769913... [2] https://youtu.be/VRm7oRCTkjE https://youtu.be/VRm7oRCTkjE
m463 6y ago
wow, I wonder if Tesla autopilot can detect when the bridge is up?

by jpm_sd 6y ago

jonathanstrange 6y ago

"Spot is not certified safe for in-home use or intended for use near children or others who may not appreciate the hazards associated with its operation."

joshvm 6y ago

Recommending there to be no glass in the environment makes sense for liability, but I would have thought a few ultrasound detectors would be sufficient for gross collision avoidance e.g. to avoid walking into a pane. Similarly forward/down-looking sensors should be able to detect ground plane discontinuities. I guess the stereo isn't robust enough to do that reliably.

11thEarlOfMar 6y ago

Wow, cliff detection... Anybots had that same limitation in 2009. Would have thought it'd be solved by now, particularly in a $70k robobt.

RandallBrown 6y ago
My Roomba has cliff detection, but it's probably easier to do in a rolling robot that's right next to the ground.
- xondono 6y ago
  It’s also way easier when your top speed is a few cm/s
- amiga-workbench 6y ago
  It does, but its tricked by black surfaces that absorb IR. Its why my Roomba refuses to clean my black rug, it thinks its a hole in the ground.
  - lucb1e 6y ago
    Our Bagotta has no trouble with that, if we're comparing brands (not sure if you meant "Roomba: the brand" or "Roomba: any vacuum robot in the USA")
    - amiga-workbench 6y ago
      I've still got a Roomba 650, I don't know if the newer models handle it any better.
- m463 6y ago
  To a roomba, the stairs are a cliff. To spot, hmmm... it might do stairs and you might need an actual cliff to qualify.
Animats 6y ago
Yes, that surprised me, too. Cliff detection isn't that hard. They seem to have cameras in the nose area that are positioned to see whether there's a walkable surface ahead. The basic vision system is cameras with IR projection of a pattern, like the original Kinect. How can they do foot placement on stairs while unable to detect cliffs? There's an optional LIDAR vaguely mentioned in the instructions. No specs on field of view or range, though. "Spot’s joints can pinch fingers and other body parts and entangle loose clothing, long hair, and jewelry. Only handle Spot when the motors are locked out or robot power is off. Fingers may break or get amputated if caught in joints while Spot’s motors are active." Were pinch points not considered during design? Jogging/trotting is only available in "demo mode", and is listed as "less stable". Boston Dynamics can do better than this. I was expecting full Big Dog capability in a smaller package. Maybe this is just the minimum viable product for a market test. If someone finds a use case for this robot, the next model should have those problems fixed.
- schreiaj 6y ago
  > Were pinch points not considered during design? It's fairly difficult to design a joint with a reasonable amount of motion without pinch points. Though, I'm kinda shocked they don't have detection for current spikes on the controllers so they can limit the damage to anything that is pinched. End of the day though, how often is the plan to cohabitate a space with humans? My understanding is it is more designed to do monitoring and inspection with maybe some light manipulation tasks. If there's a person along with it why not just have the person do the inspection?
  - Animats 6y ago
    The demo videos have people reasonably close to the robot.[1][2] It may be difficult to eliminate pinch points, but they need to protect them somehow in the next version. Pinch detectors, bellows, etc. Shear points, where there's a scissors action, should be eliminated. [1] https://www.facebook.com/howthingsworkgif/videos/3087576991352999/ https://www.facebook.com/howthingsworkgif/videos/30875769913... [2] https://youtu.be/VRm7oRCTkjE https://youtu.be/VRm7oRCTkjE

m463 6y ago

wow, I wonder if Tesla autopilot can detect when the bridge is up?