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Robots have a big problem - price tag. Research robot for $18k, Spot for $75k, single robot arm moving stuff from A to B - $50k+. How many organizations can aff

by lnsru 6y ago

Robots have a big problem - price tag. Research robot for $18k, Spot for $75k, single robot arm moving stuff from A to B - $50k+. How many organizations can afford that? No wonder, that robot adoption is extremely slow.

kelnos 6y ago
If something like this succeeds to the point of mass production, I could easily see the retail price been cut by 75% or more. That might be a big "if", though. I imagine a bit of the current price tag is "we want serious purchasers who will be partners in the development of this device"; they don't want to build them for people who will just dick around with it for a bit and then relegate it to the corner of the room.
- blueblisters 6y ago
  Exactly. At mass production, the marginal cost of building a robot will be similar to that of an automobile. The value it provides (depending on the application) will be similar too, if not greater.
- smolder 6y ago
  Yeah I don't think the world needs household robots that are disposable. I'd expect them to be a similar investment to a high end car in the interest of a lower total cost of ownership over long timeframes. It would ultimately be very expensive to make wave upon wave of "cheap" high tech landfill fodder. What I'd like to see is standardized interchangeable parts and configurable software so we can spec robots to their tasks and benefit from reuse of parts and code as much as possible.
shmageggy 6y ago
At the point when control algorithms get good enough for them to be easily trainable to high performance on varied tasks, that price becomes quite cheap.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
It's because they're specialist gear for generic purposes; if they discover a problem that can be solved by automation, they'll invent and mass produce a machine for a singular task (reading other comments, think of dishwashers and washing machines. They're robots for a specific task, price-optimized down to the $250 - $1000 price range)
petra 6y ago
There are companies renting robot labor by the hour(or per work done). It often comes out cheaper than hiring a person.

by lnsru 6y ago

kelnos 6y ago

If something like this succeeds to the point of mass production, I could easily see the retail price been cut by 75% or more. That might be a big "if", though. I imagine a bit of the current price tag is "we want serious purchasers who will be partners in the development of this device"; they don't want to build them for people who will just dick around with it for a bit and then relegate it to the corner of the room.

blueblisters 6y ago
Exactly. At mass production, the marginal cost of building a robot will be similar to that of an automobile. The value it provides (depending on the application) will be similar too, if not greater.
smolder 6y ago
Yeah I don't think the world needs household robots that are disposable. I'd expect them to be a similar investment to a high end car in the interest of a lower total cost of ownership over long timeframes. It would ultimately be very expensive to make wave upon wave of "cheap" high tech landfill fodder. What I'd like to see is standardized interchangeable parts and configurable software so we can spec robots to their tasks and benefit from reuse of parts and code as much as possible.

shmageggy 6y ago

At the point when control algorithms get good enough for them to be easily trainable to high performance on varied tasks, that price becomes quite cheap.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

It's because they're specialist gear for generic purposes; if they discover a problem that can be solved by automation, they'll invent and mass produce a machine for a singular task (reading other comments, think of dishwashers and washing machines. They're robots for a specific task, price-optimized down to the $250 - $1000 price range)

petra 6y ago

There are companies renting robot labor by the hour(or per work done). It often comes out cheaper than hiring a person.