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This reminds me of images from the 1900s depicting the future when there were humanoid robots with lots of arms cleaning lots of dishes at once. Of course, it t

This reminds me of images from the 1900s depicting the future when there were humanoid robots with lots of arms cleaning lots of dishes at once. Of course, it turns out, we did invent a machine to wash dishes but its just called a dish washing machine and is way better at it than humans with arms. I can't imagine many tasks where a humanoid will be useful. I'm sure you could say that something like house construction could be done by humanoids since there are lots of steps involved but I'm still skeptical that a bunch of specialized tools won't be better at this.

greenknight 5y ago
The thing is, that this can work alongside humans. say you have 5 people bricklaying and one of those is this humanoid robot. its not a dramatic change from whats currently possible. They are a drop-in replacement. Think of it as a stepping stone. Like automated cars, Fully automated highways are a ways off where traffic lights are no longer needed, however automated cars that work alongside the rest of the roads are feasible in the near future. Yes there are better tools, its just a stepping stone to allow change. to force change.
- handmodel 5y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s17IAj-XpU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s17IAj-XpU There are bricklaying robots now I don't think they are used en masse but I think if we do get to the point of some type of brick laying robots being used it will surely be something like this that doesn't have the physical constraints of two arms with limited mobility + nowhere to store bricks
askonomm 5y ago
I wouldn't say that dishwasher is _better_ at washing dishes than a human. More quantity? Sure. More quality? Not based on my experience. Lots of stains just don't come out in a dishwasher.
- handmodel 5y ago
  The quantity is the quality. If you can take a restaurant that used to have to have 10 dishwashers and fire 9 of them because a machine works fast - you can keep one guy around to do the tricky stains. Sure is a lot cheaper than buying 5 humanoid dishwashers.
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  Dishwashers were invented because the maids kept chipping the China.
- kalleboo 5y ago
  While there are a couple stains a dishwasher has trouble with (typically things that need a presoak, like dough or parmesan cheese), I find that the average quality of a dishwasher wash is way better than doing it by hand, where it's easy to miss a spot, etc. I've also broken several glasses/dishes washing by hand, whereas my dishwasher has never broken anything.
- olau 5y ago
  Not even quantity. I can do dishes faster than my dishwasher if you compare end-to-end times. Now, some industrial machines are much faster, but for home use, if I had a humanoid robot that could do dishes, why would I waste space on a dish washing machine?
Geee 5y ago
I see it like computers. First there were special-purpose machines, which evolved into programmable general purpose computers. Probably many people said that there can't be so many computing tasks that programmability is needed. I think we'll find out how these will be used.
- handmodel 5y ago
  I suppose I see the computer as different as it doesn't try to copy anything in nature or existing in tech. ie Google isn't setup like a library, YouTube isn't setup like TV was, etc. I could see a multi-use robot being used in some instances but I cannot fathom why it would be shaped like a human.
  - Geee 5y ago
    Like I said, there are thousands of tools designed for humans. There are vehicles, ladders, protective suits etc. designed for humans. There are lots of spaces designed for humans in which it needs to move. It makes sense to design the robot so that it is compatible with all these. And there's nothing wrong with human shape, it would be hard to design a better one.
    - handmodel 5y ago
      The vehicle thing is exactly what boggles me about this. Are you saying that the humanoid will be driving cars/forklifts/bullsozers? What exactly do you mean that its important that a robot interacting with a vehicle is humanoid?
      - Geee 5y ago
        Yes, in addition to everything else, it could drive vehicles.
        handmodel 5y ago
        Ok. I am wrong in my predictions a lot but this seems way more complicated than just having a computer interface on a bulldozer or whatever - especially given a lot of the cost to operate them is already one of liability
stickfigure 5y ago
How much would you be willing to pay for a machine that folds laundry? At least as much as the machine that washes them, I imagine. So far the only machines that have come even remotely close to being able to fold laundry (and they aren't very good) have humanoid arms.
- handmodel 5y ago
  I could be wrong but I dont think it is reasonable that a humanoid would ever track in price with a washing machine. A washing machine only has a few moving parts while a humanoid is going to be more similar to a car in terms of complexity (though less on parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76osXtpLeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76osXtpLeM There are some machines that fold laundry. They don't seem that impressive now. But I imagine if they haven't already - laundry pick-up/delivery services will roll these out.
mlyle 5y ago
Something like putting dishes away --- lots of carrying things short distances, changing heights, changing angles, reaching around. I don't think machines are very close, but bipedal locomotion with human arm like articulation and grasping softish fingers is a reasonable way to get there.

greenknight 5y ago

The thing is, that this can work alongside humans. say you have 5 people bricklaying and one of those is this humanoid robot. its not a dramatic change from whats currently possible. They are a drop-in replacement. Think of it as a stepping stone. Like automated cars, Fully automated highways are a ways off where traffic lights are no longer needed, however automated cars that work alongside the rest of the roads are feasible in the near future. Yes there are better tools, its just a stepping stone to allow change. to force change.

handmodel 5y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s17IAj-XpU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s17IAj-XpU There are bricklaying robots now I don't think they are used en masse but I think if we do get to the point of some type of brick laying robots being used it will surely be something like this that doesn't have the physical constraints of two arms with limited mobility + nowhere to store bricks

askonomm 5y ago

I wouldn't say that dishwasher is _better_ at washing dishes than a human. More quantity? Sure. More quality? Not based on my experience. Lots of stains just don't come out in a dishwasher.

handmodel 5y ago
The quantity is the quality. If you can take a restaurant that used to have to have 10 dishwashers and fire 9 of them because a machine works fast - you can keep one guy around to do the tricky stains. Sure is a lot cheaper than buying 5 humanoid dishwashers.
jazzyjackson 5y ago
Dishwashers were invented because the maids kept chipping the China.
kalleboo 5y ago
While there are a couple stains a dishwasher has trouble with (typically things that need a presoak, like dough or parmesan cheese), I find that the average quality of a dishwasher wash is way better than doing it by hand, where it's easy to miss a spot, etc. I've also broken several glasses/dishes washing by hand, whereas my dishwasher has never broken anything.
olau 5y ago
Not even quantity. I can do dishes faster than my dishwasher if you compare end-to-end times. Now, some industrial machines are much faster, but for home use, if I had a humanoid robot that could do dishes, why would I waste space on a dish washing machine?

Geee 5y ago

I see it like computers. First there were special-purpose machines, which evolved into programmable general purpose computers. Probably many people said that there can't be so many computing tasks that programmability is needed. I think we'll find out how these will be used.

handmodel 5y ago
I suppose I see the computer as different as it doesn't try to copy anything in nature or existing in tech. ie Google isn't setup like a library, YouTube isn't setup like TV was, etc. I could see a multi-use robot being used in some instances but I cannot fathom why it would be shaped like a human.
- Geee 5y ago
  Like I said, there are thousands of tools designed for humans. There are vehicles, ladders, protective suits etc. designed for humans. There are lots of spaces designed for humans in which it needs to move. It makes sense to design the robot so that it is compatible with all these. And there's nothing wrong with human shape, it would be hard to design a better one.
  - handmodel 5y ago
    The vehicle thing is exactly what boggles me about this. Are you saying that the humanoid will be driving cars/forklifts/bullsozers? What exactly do you mean that its important that a robot interacting with a vehicle is humanoid?
    - Geee 5y ago
      Yes, in addition to everything else, it could drive vehicles.
      - handmodel 5y ago
        Ok. I am wrong in my predictions a lot but this seems way more complicated than just having a computer interface on a bulldozer or whatever - especially given a lot of the cost to operate them is already one of liability

stickfigure 5y ago

How much would you be willing to pay for a machine that folds laundry? At least as much as the machine that washes them, I imagine. So far the only machines that have come even remotely close to being able to fold laundry (and they aren't very good) have humanoid arms.

handmodel 5y ago
I could be wrong but I dont think it is reasonable that a humanoid would ever track in price with a washing machine. A washing machine only has a few moving parts while a humanoid is going to be more similar to a car in terms of complexity (though less on parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76osXtpLeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76osXtpLeM There are some machines that fold laundry. They don't seem that impressive now. But I imagine if they haven't already - laundry pick-up/delivery services will roll these out.

mlyle 5y ago

Something like putting dishes away --- lots of carrying things short distances, changing heights, changing angles, reaching around. I don't think machines are very close, but bipedal locomotion with human arm like articulation and grasping softish fingers is a reasonable way to get there.