5 ms·

Boston Dynamics starts selling its Spot robot – for $74,500

23 points by aspenmayer 6y ago

aspenmayer 6y ago
Launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmPruFdp3WA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmPruFdp3WA Spot on Boston Dynamics Store ($1000 fully-refundable deposit required at checkout, shipping 6-8 weeks): https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot
montroser 6y ago
I am both excited and also terrified that this future is upon us. The progress Boston Dynamics have made here over the last couple of years has been incredible to see. But also, armies of these things could do quite some damage in the wrong hands. And more realistically in the near term, this can only accelerate automation and the inevitable trend of robots replacing humans at work.
aspenmayer 6y ago
I see a future where aerial drones pair with quadroped and wheeled variants to do many of the jobs people now do; mostly repetitive jobs involving moving objects from A to B and stacking them. If a drone can do that, it should. That being said, with the right financing, you might not need to hire (as many) employees now that general purpose products like this are on the market. People should be freed up to do tasks that require decision making which is not yet automated. Tasks that can be automated should be. Human time should be worth more than money.
m463 6y ago
oh there is another thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540941 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540941
redis_mlc 6y ago
I was at SVLUG for the Willow Garage talk back in the day. Their robot could fold clothes, pickup a pizza, fetch a beer, etc. Everybody was so excited about getting their own personal robot, until the price was announced at $440,000 each. So many jaws dropped. :) (Their robot was intended for school classes where they were in use several hours per day.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Garage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Garage
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Not unusual to pay such prices for industrial automation. But is Spot ruggedized? Will it operate long-term in a factory or warehouse environment (humidity, heat, spills, particulates, electrical discharges, fumes) with a good MTBF? Imagine a milling machine that leaks small metal chips over a radius of 3m. Can spot walk thru this area without harm?

23 points by aspenmayer 6y ago

Launch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmPruFdp3WA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmPruFdp3WA Spot on Boston Dynamics Store ($1000 fully-refundable deposit required at checkout, shipping 6-8 weeks): https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot https://shop.bostondynamics.com/spot

montroser 6y ago

I am both excited and also terrified that this future is upon us. The progress Boston Dynamics have made here over the last couple of years has been incredible to see. But also, armies of these things could do quite some damage in the wrong hands. And more realistically in the near term, this can only accelerate automation and the inevitable trend of robots replacing humans at work.

aspenmayer 6y ago

I see a future where aerial drones pair with quadroped and wheeled variants to do many of the jobs people now do; mostly repetitive jobs involving moving objects from A to B and stacking them. If a drone can do that, it should. That being said, with the right financing, you might not need to hire (as many) employees now that general purpose products like this are on the market. People should be freed up to do tasks that require decision making which is not yet automated. Tasks that can be automated should be. Human time should be worth more than money.

m463 6y ago

oh there is another thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540941 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23540941

redis_mlc 6y ago

I was at SVLUG for the Willow Garage talk back in the day. Their robot could fold clothes, pickup a pizza, fetch a beer, etc. Everybody was so excited about getting their own personal robot, until the price was announced at $440,000 each. So many jaws dropped. :) (Their robot was intended for school classes where they were in use several hours per day.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Garage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Garage

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Not unusual to pay such prices for industrial automation. But is Spot ruggedized? Will it operate long-term in a factory or warehouse environment (humidity, heat, spills, particulates, electrical discharges, fumes) with a good MTBF? Imagine a milling machine that leaks small metal chips over a radius of 3m. Can spot walk thru this area without harm?