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I have been secretly hoping Tesla to buy Boston Dynamics and revolutionize autonomous manufacturing. One day, a Starship fleet will send an army of robots to Ma

I have been secretly hoping Tesla to buy Boston Dynamics and revolutionize autonomous manufacturing. One day, a Starship fleet will send an army of robots to Mars and build out a city.

mxskelly 6y ago
What makes you think that Tesla would be able to do that, given their reputation of not being able to manufacture cars that don't fall apart immediately upon rolling off the factory line? They kinda have to be able to build cars in the first place in order to build them faster with more robots.
- dang 6y ago
  Please don't take HN threads into flamewar. The GP comment may have been lightweight but this is basically trolling. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: you've already been breaking the site guidelines quite a bit with this account. Can you please not? Comments like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25333233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25333233 are particularly not ok here.
  - mxskelly 6y ago
    I frankly can't see how this is inciting a flamewar. Tesla has a pretty good record of being terrible at manufacturing. I've seen innumerable comments on this site where people make similar "what makes you think that..." comments that are inciting argument. I don't see why mine is special. Furthermore, in the linked comment, the person I was replying to did, in fact, completely miss the point of my comment and make an entirely non sequitur resposne. Will they be getting warned too?
    - dang 6y ago
      Tesla is a divisive topic with passionate feelings on both sides, and a swipe like "they [can't] build cars in the first place" is tossing a Molotov cocktail into the thread. Would you mind taking the spirit of the site more to heart? We'd appreciate it greatly. Note this, from https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html: "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." Re the other person: I'd don't know which specific comment you're referring to, but generally it's not against the site guidelines to miss someone's point, or to be wrong, or to make a non sequitur. Such rules would be impossible to impose and would wipe out half the discussion anyhow (I'm being generous with "half"). If they broke the guidelines then we probably should have moderated it too, but that runs up against a different issue—we can't see everything that gets posted here, or even come close. We often don't read the threads in linear (depth-first?) order either, so a comment that appears adjacent to a normal reader might escape our attention. If you see a post that ought to have been moderated but hasn't been, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it. You can help by flagging it or emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=likeliest%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
- tick_tock_tick 6y ago
  Any kind of company that can inspire these kind of comments is worth investing in I tally how many comments I run into randomly over the week and use that to determine how many more shares I should buy. Anything disruptive attracts this kind of attention and even if you don't think they will succeed it's hard to argue they are not disruptive.
  - Daho0n 6y ago
    You better buy Huawei stock then.
  - mxskelly 6y ago
    So the more empty promises a CEO makes, the more valuable a company? And they say capitalism isn't broken. Have fun holding those bags I guess. I swear this is the logic of a small child. Dangle some candy in front of them and they'll follow you anywhere.
snemvalts 6y ago
Robots are the goal for Tesla - no labor laws needed for them (probably not for people that build them as well)! All jokes aside, Hyundai can probably do much more with Boston Dynamics than Tesla. Tesla has already failed to automate, using the exact same method as Ford in the 80s. Doubt that throwing more advanced tech at it solves a fundamental logistics problem.
- jamestimmins 6y ago
  Do you know if Tesla's challenges have been written up anywhere? I'm very curious what they tried and failed to automate.
  - T-A 6y ago
    The reference to Ford is reminiscent of this: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/04/experts-say-tesla-has-repeated-car-industry-mistakes-from-the-1980s/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/04/experts-say-tesla-has-r... It's quoted, along with a bunch of other articles from 2018, here: https://www.iqsdirectory.com/resources/teslas-big-problem-excessive-automation/ https://www.iqsdirectory.com/resources/teslas-big-problem-ex...
    - Cactus2018 6y ago
      > [Ars quoting Musk in 2017] "We are pushing robots to the limit in terms of the speed that they can operate at, and asking our suppliers to make robots go way faster, and they are shocked because nobody has ever asked them that question," Musk said on a conference call last November. I saw a video, years ago, when Tesla was installing/setting up/showing off the robots. The demonstrated method and tool to 'program' the robot arm was terrible, and the resulting arm motion was excessive. My takeaway was Tesla needed experienced staff to optimize the arm path. >[1980s GM quote] As Hamtramck's assembly line tried to gain speed, the computer-guided dolly wandered off course. The spray-painting robots began spraying each other instead of the cars.... When a massive computer-controlled 'robogate' welding machine smashed a car body, or a welding machine stopped dead, the entire Hamtramck line would stop. Workers could do nothing but stand around and wait while managers called in the robot contractor's technicians. This seems like a solvable problem.
forgotmysn 6y ago
ive been hoping tesla buys BD as well. i think tesla is the only company that will have the necessary battery tech to untether BD's products from a hard line for power
freeflight 6y ago
> revolutionize autonomous manufacturing Hyundai Robotics is a much bigger chance for this, particularly considering they've rather concrete plans for it already trough their HGZN partnership [0]. Makes much more sense than with Tesla, all Tesla can offer on that front is battery tech, which is kinda useless for autonomous manufacturing as everything there can be easily powered trough a line. [0] https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2020/04/21/hgzn-and-hyundai-robotics-to-build-smart-factory-to-manufacture-robots-in-china/31852/ https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2020/04/21/hgzn-and-hy...
vernie 6y ago
You love corporate consolidation that much?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
gorgoiler 6y ago
What is the moral case for implementing autonomous manufacturing? If you eliminate one kind of job, then another, then another, and then implement general purpose job elimination, where does it end? Is it not an axiom of the world that there simply isn’t enough knowledge work to go around all seven billion of us? By taking away jobs what do those of us who aren’t programmers, architects, novelists or day spa wait staff have left to do? (Thank you for your comment, it really made me think.)
- gwicks56 6y ago
  Surely the whole point of tech is to make life involve less work? The problem becomes an economic one, how to you distribute the wealth automation enables.
  - mrguyorama 6y ago
    Solving the tech part of the issue while ignoring the societal aspect is somewhat condemning millions to misery though. Here in the US, it's expected you work, the economy and society are built around it, and millions of people would scream at you for trying to make a system that some people "don't have to" work in
    - joshspankit 6y ago
      No offence, but the economy and society in the US is long-overdue for an oil-change.
- harperlee 6y ago
  I don’t think “work” will ever end. Normally we dread this coming from the supply side, “will we end all possible work through automation?” But if you think it from the demand side, people will always need something like “work”: structured schedule, socialization, ways to differentiate yourself from others through “achievements” that not everyone can do, etc. Even in an utopian society where all material needs are covered and wealth redistributed, people would create and consume art, “fight” for relevance, create petty politics... and gladly “pay” for part of that. So we will end up inventing new jobs in any case, so we can keep on using the same old concepts and social structure, just not for food acquisition. If you think about it, this sophistication has been happening for some centuries already.

I have been secretly hoping Tesla to buy Boston Dynamics and revolutionize autonomous manufacturing. One day, a Starship fleet will send an army of robots to Mars and build out a city.

mxskelly 6y ago

What makes you think that Tesla would be able to do that, given their reputation of not being able to manufacture cars that don't fall apart immediately upon rolling off the factory line? They kinda have to be able to build cars in the first place in order to build them faster with more robots.

dang 6y ago
Please don't take HN threads into flamewar. The GP comment may have been lightweight but this is basically trolling. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: you've already been breaking the site guidelines quite a bit with this account. Can you please not? Comments like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25333233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25333233 are particularly not ok here.
- mxskelly 6y ago
  I frankly can't see how this is inciting a flamewar. Tesla has a pretty good record of being terrible at manufacturing. I've seen innumerable comments on this site where people make similar "what makes you think that..." comments that are inciting argument. I don't see why mine is special. Furthermore, in the linked comment, the person I was replying to did, in fact, completely miss the point of my comment and make an entirely non sequitur resposne. Will they be getting warned too?
  - dang 6y ago
    Tesla is a divisive topic with passionate feelings on both sides, and a swipe like "they [can't] build cars in the first place" is tossing a Molotov cocktail into the thread. Would you mind taking the spirit of the site more to heart? We'd appreciate it greatly. Note this, from https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html: "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." Re the other person: I'd don't know which specific comment you're referring to, but generally it's not against the site guidelines to miss someone's point, or to be wrong, or to make a non sequitur. Such rules would be impossible to impose and would wipe out half the discussion anyhow (I'm being generous with "half"). If they broke the guidelines then we probably should have moderated it too, but that runs up against a different issue—we can't see everything that gets posted here, or even come close. We often don't read the threads in linear (depth-first?) order either, so a comment that appears adjacent to a normal reader might escape our attention. If you see a post that ought to have been moderated but hasn't been, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it. You can help by flagging it or emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=likeliest%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
tick_tock_tick 6y ago
Any kind of company that can inspire these kind of comments is worth investing in I tally how many comments I run into randomly over the week and use that to determine how many more shares I should buy. Anything disruptive attracts this kind of attention and even if you don't think they will succeed it's hard to argue they are not disruptive.
- Daho0n 6y ago
  You better buy Huawei stock then.
- mxskelly 6y ago
  So the more empty promises a CEO makes, the more valuable a company? And they say capitalism isn't broken. Have fun holding those bags I guess. I swear this is the logic of a small child. Dangle some candy in front of them and they'll follow you anywhere.

snemvalts 6y ago

Robots are the goal for Tesla - no labor laws needed for them (probably not for people that build them as well)! All jokes aside, Hyundai can probably do much more with Boston Dynamics than Tesla. Tesla has already failed to automate, using the exact same method as Ford in the 80s. Doubt that throwing more advanced tech at it solves a fundamental logistics problem.

jamestimmins 6y ago
Do you know if Tesla's challenges have been written up anywhere? I'm very curious what they tried and failed to automate.
- T-A 6y ago
  The reference to Ford is reminiscent of this: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/04/experts-say-tesla-has-repeated-car-industry-mistakes-from-the-1980s/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/04/experts-say-tesla-has-r... It's quoted, along with a bunch of other articles from 2018, here: https://www.iqsdirectory.com/resources/teslas-big-problem-excessive-automation/ https://www.iqsdirectory.com/resources/teslas-big-problem-ex...
  - Cactus2018 6y ago
    > [Ars quoting Musk in 2017] "We are pushing robots to the limit in terms of the speed that they can operate at, and asking our suppliers to make robots go way faster, and they are shocked because nobody has ever asked them that question," Musk said on a conference call last November. I saw a video, years ago, when Tesla was installing/setting up/showing off the robots. The demonstrated method and tool to 'program' the robot arm was terrible, and the resulting arm motion was excessive. My takeaway was Tesla needed experienced staff to optimize the arm path. >[1980s GM quote] As Hamtramck's assembly line tried to gain speed, the computer-guided dolly wandered off course. The spray-painting robots began spraying each other instead of the cars.... When a massive computer-controlled 'robogate' welding machine smashed a car body, or a welding machine stopped dead, the entire Hamtramck line would stop. Workers could do nothing but stand around and wait while managers called in the robot contractor's technicians. This seems like a solvable problem.

forgotmysn 6y ago

ive been hoping tesla buys BD as well. i think tesla is the only company that will have the necessary battery tech to untether BD's products from a hard line for power

freeflight 6y ago

> revolutionize autonomous manufacturing Hyundai Robotics is a much bigger chance for this, particularly considering they've rather concrete plans for it already trough their HGZN partnership [0]. Makes much more sense than with Tesla, all Tesla can offer on that front is battery tech, which is kinda useless for autonomous manufacturing as everything there can be easily powered trough a line. [0] https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2020/04/21/hgzn-and-hyundai-robotics-to-build-smart-factory-to-manufacture-robots-in-china/31852/ https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2020/04/21/hgzn-and-hy...

vernie 6y ago

You love corporate consolidation that much?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

gorgoiler 6y ago

What is the moral case for implementing autonomous manufacturing? If you eliminate one kind of job, then another, then another, and then implement general purpose job elimination, where does it end? Is it not an axiom of the world that there simply isn’t enough knowledge work to go around all seven billion of us? By taking away jobs what do those of us who aren’t programmers, architects, novelists or day spa wait staff have left to do? (Thank you for your comment, it really made me think.)

gwicks56 6y ago
Surely the whole point of tech is to make life involve less work? The problem becomes an economic one, how to you distribute the wealth automation enables.
- mrguyorama 6y ago
  Solving the tech part of the issue while ignoring the societal aspect is somewhat condemning millions to misery though. Here in the US, it's expected you work, the economy and society are built around it, and millions of people would scream at you for trying to make a system that some people "don't have to" work in
  - joshspankit 6y ago
    No offence, but the economy and society in the US is long-overdue for an oil-change.
harperlee 6y ago
I don’t think “work” will ever end. Normally we dread this coming from the supply side, “will we end all possible work through automation?” But if you think it from the demand side, people will always need something like “work”: structured schedule, socialization, ways to differentiate yourself from others through “achievements” that not everyone can do, etc. Even in an utopian society where all material needs are covered and wealth redistributed, people would create and consume art, “fight” for relevance, create petty politics... and gladly “pay” for part of that. So we will end up inventing new jobs in any case, so we can keep on using the same old concepts and social structure, just not for food acquisition. If you think about it, this sophistication has been happening for some centuries already.