Proposition HN:

There's an opportunity in robotics that I don't currently see as being followed through widely enough. Last year the predator algorithm for real-time object tracking was invented (there are youtube videos and a google tech talk on it.). The code is open source and on the inventor website I think. The hacker news community is full of highly skilled people. For each of the following tasks there is very likely someone who can do it in few hours. - port the predator algorithm from matlab to numpy (or c etc.) - creating a mechanical turk website/api for allowing turk workers to do initial labels (watch the videos and you'll get how it works). This might not be necessary as not much labeling needs to be done, but it would be a nice to have anyway. - creating website/api for experts to do labeling when that is necessary - somebody probably already has robot arms lying around at their work or in the lab. If not, some people can chip in to buy it and house it someone's work/home (1000 people - 5 dollars each - 5000 used industrial robot) - creating a website that allows authorized people to submit data to the robot, or even allow people to rent robot time - creating a website to spread the word about predator algorithm applications A first application I have come up with is to create hamburger making robot. A couple industrial robot arms (or even less accurate lightweight arms would do, such as in animatronics) and a few cameras placed around. There is no reason why all this couldn't be done in few days collaborating over the net. Other ideas - automated laboratory mouse handling/dissection - cooking - cleaning - checking on 3d printing machines (plastic and biological) This would make a big impact so it's a great project for ambitious hackers. There are business opportunities in this, but an open source project might move quicker.