Not all projects have to be taken on with the goal of commercialization. The beachhead functionality would be manual remote control - operate two machines from

Not all projects have to be taken on with the goal of commercialization. The beachhead functionality would be manual remote control - operate two machines from one seat. Then maybe some cameras to be able to work in the dark/cold/hot/etc from the comfort of inside. Even that is getting into the safety issue (any control system can go sideways), but seems straightforward to solve (some kind of redundant remote-control e-stop). Any type of automation would be a huge pile of unknown unknowns, safety being one of them, how to even define goals for it to solve being another. Which is what keeps this idea in the realm of a dog chasing a car - if you gave me an excavator I could remote-control from my computer today, I'd not have the first clue what to actually do with it (beyond manually-controlled digging from my chair). I do get that in the era of "AI" and vibe-coding why I may have set off your engineering sensibilities wtfometer though. (Automating a lawnmower though...)