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we are built and optimized for our respective uses cases. eventually after we figure enough things out, it wont make sense to use any animal as a template. we

we are built and optimized for our respective uses cases. eventually after we figure enough things out, it wont make sense to use any animal as a template. we wont need to take in any of the drawbacks the animal design has because our robot doesnt have to worry about the things animals have to worry about

Retric 5y ago
Birds had a lot longer to optimize for bipedal walking than humans did. If we had stayed bipedal without developing advanced technology it’s likely we would have gotten a lot more efficient at it over 10’s of millions of years.
ncmncm 5y ago
We really are not optimal in any particular way. We started out as monkeys, and have done the best we could from a bad starting point. Turning the spine vertical really did not work out well at all, and knees are unfortunate at best. Probably worse than all that is how we go all to hell when we don't get exercise. Cats can sleep 18 hours a day without ever getting out of shape. Bears can can get super fat and then sleep for months, and be fine. A lot of birds can go a week without drinking or eating, working out the whole time with no sleep or even rest breaks.
- gherkinnn 5y ago
  You just watch cats get fat once they hit their post-industrialisation phase.
- lloeki 5y ago
  > We really are not optimal in any particular way. Human running sounds pretty close to optimal to me, only not on the usually expected dimension: https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o
marcosdumay 5y ago
Hum... We are a bit optimized for flexibility, and a lot the way we are by accident. As many people already said in other threads, we are probably the least optimized walking animal of all, because our body is recent and walking efficiency was never as relevant as other characteristics (like flexibility). The birds body, by their turn, appeared in a time closer to the first animals than to today, took over the lands of the world in large part because of their ability to run, and kept them for more time than any other kind of animal. There are some freedom in robot bodies that animals don't have. So it's not immediately obvious that an animal inspired body is perfect. But birds have had hundreds of millions of years to perfect their shape, it's not clear that we can do any better either.

Retric 5y ago

Birds had a lot longer to optimize for bipedal walking than humans did. If we had stayed bipedal without developing advanced technology it’s likely we would have gotten a lot more efficient at it over 10’s of millions of years.

ncmncm 5y ago

We really are not optimal in any particular way. We started out as monkeys, and have done the best we could from a bad starting point. Turning the spine vertical really did not work out well at all, and knees are unfortunate at best. Probably worse than all that is how we go all to hell when we don't get exercise. Cats can sleep 18 hours a day without ever getting out of shape. Bears can can get super fat and then sleep for months, and be fine. A lot of birds can go a week without drinking or eating, working out the whole time with no sleep or even rest breaks.

gherkinnn 5y ago
You just watch cats get fat once they hit their post-industrialisation phase.
lloeki 5y ago
> We really are not optimal in any particular way. Human running sounds pretty close to optimal to me, only not on the usually expected dimension: https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o

marcosdumay 5y ago

Hum... We are a bit optimized for flexibility, and a lot the way we are by accident. As many people already said in other threads, we are probably the least optimized walking animal of all, because our body is recent and walking efficiency was never as relevant as other characteristics (like flexibility). The birds body, by their turn, appeared in a time closer to the first animals than to today, took over the lands of the world in large part because of their ability to run, and kept them for more time than any other kind of animal. There are some freedom in robot bodies that animals don't have. So it's not immediately obvious that an animal inspired body is perfect. But birds have had hundreds of millions of years to perfect their shape, it's not clear that we can do any better either.