6 ms·

> Really makes you think about today's videos, and whether it's just hype all over again. That's my gut reaction when I see these announcements. That, and that

by thunky 2y ago

> Really makes you think about today's videos, and whether it's just hype all over again. That's my gut reaction when I see these announcements. That, and that I don't want a robot that can do cartwheels, because cartwheels don't wash dishes or mow the lawn. I don't see why they aren't focusing on demonstrating practical tasks.

JKCalhoun 2y ago
I suspect because we're way past robots doing practical tasks. Your comment is kind of funny in a way — like telling someone in the demo-scene to just write a spreadsheet already.
- matsemann 2y ago
  Or it's the opposite? Mundane tasks we want automated requires a dexterity most robots don't have (at least without being painfully slow).
  - Symmetry 2y ago
    When a robot is moving itself it has a very good idea of what each part of itself weighs, how big it is, and has sensors to tell it what angle all its joints are at. These are all much more difficult with an object the robot is holding in its hand. But you can still find videos of Atlas doing practical tasks, just not as impressively as it jumps around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7IPm7f1vI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7IPm7f1vI A mentor of mine in robotics talks about how the people at his research group would watch a video from an old Julia Childs TV show of her chopping vegetables and doing other cooking tasks and they would try to figure out how long until a robot could do those things.
    - thunky 2y ago
      This spasm would have ruined my dishes: https://youtu.be/F_7IPm7f1vI?t=80 https://youtu.be/F_7IPm7f1vI?t=80
  - JKCalhoun 2y ago
    That's something I had not thought about — manual dexterity. Like, where is the robot shuffling, dealing cards? Regardless, I'm impressed with the human-like agility their robots are showing.
- mentalgear 2y ago
  No, not at all. All the dancing, kungfu and flip videos could as well be animated. The only real metric and practical value is if they can perform tasks in the real, messy world efficient and safely. All else is PR.
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  I don’t see any robots changing bedpans, fixing plumbing/electrical, picking fruit and vegetables, cleaning bathrooms, making beds, folding laundry, etc.
  - ArekDymalski 2y ago
    For fruits and veggies actually there are already more or less automated harvesters. They are just not humanoid. Also I guess that their cost might slow down adoption.
  - freeopinion 2y ago
    Do you spend any time in care centers, trade shops, commercial orchards, commercial uniform vendors? Here's just one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwE-LPS01lk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwE-LPS01lk 20 seconds of effort will find you 100 more.
- dymk 2y ago
  Then where are all the demos of a BD robot washing dishes or mowing lawns?
  - tialaramex 2y ago
    Huh? You know dishwashers and lawnmowers already exist right? I was at a friend's house (I don't have a lawn) a couple of weekends back and the plates and cutlery and so on we used is just "magically" clean in the morning so long as we remember to put them in the right place, you hear cutting, and outside there's a machine wandering about cutting the lawn periodically. We don't need a humanoid robot to wash dishes, that's a waste of resources, like when people thought we should have crews of people typing documents rather than just... not.
    - mapt 2y ago
      Nobody is buying a $20k home robot to replace a home dishwasher. But they might to replace a commercial manual dish washing position. Which begs the question - why don't restaurants use actual dish washers? They have a "Commercial dish washer machine", but that's actually just a final sterilizing step, and restaurant dishes are instead washed by hand.
      - Fraterkes 2y ago
        Because a home dishwasher takes an hour and a half
      - echoangle 2y ago
        > why don't restaurants use actual dish washers? They have a "Commercial dish washer machine", but that's actually just a final sterilizing step, and restaurant dishes are instead washed by hand. Not the ones I've seen, dishwashers are pretty common. Are you seriously saying that the dishes are handwashed in the Restaurants you know?
        mapt 2y ago
        A commercial dishwasher does not wash "3D debris" like a home dishwasher does, it's a reserve of boiling water and fairly caustic chemical cleaners that removes lipid films and sterilizes the surfaces, and it does this in a matter of minutes. From what I can tell basically every restaurant employs people to wash/rinse dishes prior to this final step, using a high pressure nozzle, bleach or quat rags, and a series of sinks. The people who end up employed in this role and who actually show up every day are frequently given a lot of leeway as far as eccentricities, history, and interpersonal problems (Nazi facial tattoos and a felony history? Can you start Tuesday?), because nobody else wants to do it.
mapt 2y ago
Meet Stretch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUuWWnfRsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUuWWnfRsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WZoVJIV9V0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WZoVJIV9V0 and Handle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iV_hB08Uns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iV_hB08Uns
jjkaczor 2y ago
Agility and flexibility are practical tasks... on the battlefield... who else is going to pay for these...

by thunky 2y ago

JKCalhoun 2y ago

I suspect because we're way past robots doing practical tasks. Your comment is kind of funny in a way — like telling someone in the demo-scene to just write a spreadsheet already.

matsemann 2y ago
Or it's the opposite? Mundane tasks we want automated requires a dexterity most robots don't have (at least without being painfully slow).
- Symmetry 2y ago
  When a robot is moving itself it has a very good idea of what each part of itself weighs, how big it is, and has sensors to tell it what angle all its joints are at. These are all much more difficult with an object the robot is holding in its hand. But you can still find videos of Atlas doing practical tasks, just not as impressively as it jumps around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7IPm7f1vI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7IPm7f1vI A mentor of mine in robotics talks about how the people at his research group would watch a video from an old Julia Childs TV show of her chopping vegetables and doing other cooking tasks and they would try to figure out how long until a robot could do those things.
  - thunky 2y ago
    This spasm would have ruined my dishes: https://youtu.be/F_7IPm7f1vI?t=80 https://youtu.be/F_7IPm7f1vI?t=80
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  That's something I had not thought about — manual dexterity. Like, where is the robot shuffling, dealing cards? Regardless, I'm impressed with the human-like agility their robots are showing.
mentalgear 2y ago
No, not at all. All the dancing, kungfu and flip videos could as well be animated. The only real metric and practical value is if they can perform tasks in the real, messy world efficient and safely. All else is PR.
lotsofpulp 2y ago
I don’t see any robots changing bedpans, fixing plumbing/electrical, picking fruit and vegetables, cleaning bathrooms, making beds, folding laundry, etc.
- ArekDymalski 2y ago
  For fruits and veggies actually there are already more or less automated harvesters. They are just not humanoid. Also I guess that their cost might slow down adoption.
- freeopinion 2y ago
  Do you spend any time in care centers, trade shops, commercial orchards, commercial uniform vendors? Here's just one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwE-LPS01lk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwE-LPS01lk 20 seconds of effort will find you 100 more.
dymk 2y ago
Then where are all the demos of a BD robot washing dishes or mowing lawns?
- tialaramex 2y ago
  Huh? You know dishwashers and lawnmowers already exist right? I was at a friend's house (I don't have a lawn) a couple of weekends back and the plates and cutlery and so on we used is just "magically" clean in the morning so long as we remember to put them in the right place, you hear cutting, and outside there's a machine wandering about cutting the lawn periodically. We don't need a humanoid robot to wash dishes, that's a waste of resources, like when people thought we should have crews of people typing documents rather than just... not.
  - mapt 2y ago
    Nobody is buying a $20k home robot to replace a home dishwasher. But they might to replace a commercial manual dish washing position. Which begs the question - why don't restaurants use actual dish washers? They have a "Commercial dish washer machine", but that's actually just a final sterilizing step, and restaurant dishes are instead washed by hand.
    - Fraterkes 2y ago
      Because a home dishwasher takes an hour and a half
    - echoangle 2y ago
      > why don't restaurants use actual dish washers? They have a "Commercial dish washer machine", but that's actually just a final sterilizing step, and restaurant dishes are instead washed by hand. Not the ones I've seen, dishwashers are pretty common. Are you seriously saying that the dishes are handwashed in the Restaurants you know?
      - mapt 2y ago
        A commercial dishwasher does not wash "3D debris" like a home dishwasher does, it's a reserve of boiling water and fairly caustic chemical cleaners that removes lipid films and sterilizes the surfaces, and it does this in a matter of minutes. From what I can tell basically every restaurant employs people to wash/rinse dishes prior to this final step, using a high pressure nozzle, bleach or quat rags, and a series of sinks. The people who end up employed in this role and who actually show up every day are frequently given a lot of leeway as far as eccentricities, history, and interpersonal problems (Nazi facial tattoos and a felony history? Can you start Tuesday?), because nobody else wants to do it.

mapt 2y ago

Meet Stretch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUuWWnfRsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUuWWnfRsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WZoVJIV9V0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WZoVJIV9V0 and Handle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iV_hB08Uns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iV_hB08Uns

jjkaczor 2y ago

Agility and flexibility are practical tasks... on the battlefield... who else is going to pay for these...