While humanoid robots are neat, if not uncanny, I would love to see robots with forms optimized for their work. A large octopus with legs would be ideal for this sort of parts handling job.
I think the exact point they’re trying to make is that a humanoid robot can pick up one shift exactly where a human left off. No custom robotics, no workplace changes, etc.
This is huge for the industry. Smarter Every Day visited a frisbee factory and they had automated a bunch of things. However, every automation point was extremely protected (fenced off) so that a bumbling human couldn’t walk somewhere and get a limb ripped off. If I remember correctly they joked that it was OSHA or something, which it turned out to be.
Imagine you're working your 35-hour shift at the Fulfillment™ Center and all around you there's robotic eldritch horrors scurrying through the two-storey high shelves
Factory robots that move in general are kind of gimmicks, except for those roomba things for Amazon warehouses.
An assembly line with robotic arms has been standard for a long time now. And having many such arms working at the same time is normal. And each robotic arm will be doing one extremely narrowly defined task.
Anything involving autonomous judgment and mobility introduces uncertainty.
Neuralink-equipped wageslaves mind-projecting into robo-octopuses, traversing the storehouse-grid with the aid of their many-suckered appendages. Navigating via implicitly interfacing with the warehouse's AI overseer.
The legs do seem like a huge overcomplication. I can't think of many situations where they would be worth the added cost/complexity (compared to simple wheels). Sure they can walk stairs, but a place that employs freaking robots could easily make it robot accessible too, it would seem.
Optimization isn't efficient on the grand scale of things. Think of these robots more as exchangeable worker units. Lets say the warehouse isn't accepting many packages that day. So you don't need as many robots at the loading dock. But we have a lot of product that needs to be inventoried or shelved. Send a couple over and have them start doing it right away.
You actually end up running a warehouse with less robots because they can easily be repurposed for other duties.
Yes they definitely do, see very similar numbered organizers in the background of this video [1]. In auto mfg they need to reliably build dozens of configurations on one line while maintaining impeccable part tracking for auditing and triage purposes. Each shelf on the left could be a different version of the engine cover for a different trim and the shelf on the right will be brought to a station where workers will pick from it based on the number the computer tells them for the exact vehicle in front of them.
This helps make sure the customer gets what they purchased and helps for QC and recalls. If one batch is bad then this system allows them to pinpoint down to the exact VINs that were affected.
Compare this to the human controlled puppets Tesla demonstrated. Tesla made a big show of something Disney could do years ago. While Boston Dynamics is quietly building the real thing and showing us footage of it actually working.
See, this is a real video. Compare it with the obvious cgi fake that was put out a few months ago by Figure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq1QZB5baNw I still can't believe how noone has called them out on that one.
While humanoid robots are neat, if not uncanny, I would love to see robots with forms optimized for their work. A large octopus with legs would be ideal for this sort of parts handling job.
I think the exact point they’re trying to make is that a humanoid robot can pick up one shift exactly where a human left off. No custom robotics, no workplace changes, etc.
This is huge for the industry. Smarter Every Day visited a frisbee factory and they had automated a bunch of things. However, every automation point was extremely protected (fenced off) so that a bumbling human couldn’t walk somewhere and get a limb ripped off. If I remember correctly they joked that it was OSHA or something, which it turned out to be.
Imagine you're working your 35-hour shift at the Fulfillment™ Center and all around you there's robotic eldritch horrors scurrying through the two-storey high shelves
Factory robots that move in general are kind of gimmicks, except for those roomba things for Amazon warehouses.
An assembly line with robotic arms has been standard for a long time now. And having many such arms working at the same time is normal. And each robotic arm will be doing one extremely narrowly defined task.
Anything involving autonomous judgment and mobility introduces uncertainty.
Neuralink-equipped wageslaves mind-projecting into robo-octopuses, traversing the storehouse-grid with the aid of their many-suckered appendages. Navigating via implicitly interfacing with the warehouse's AI overseer.
sudo Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
The legs do seem like a huge overcomplication. I can't think of many situations where they would be worth the added cost/complexity (compared to simple wheels). Sure they can walk stairs, but a place that employs freaking robots could easily make it robot accessible too, it would seem.
Optimization isn't efficient on the grand scale of things. Think of these robots more as exchangeable worker units. Lets say the warehouse isn't accepting many packages that day. So you don't need as many robots at the loading dock. But we have a lot of product that needs to be inventoried or shelved. Send a couple over and have them start doing it right away.
You actually end up running a warehouse with less robots because they can easily be repurposed for other duties.
do they really have this kind of jobs of moving parts from one shelf to another in a real factory?
I think a more impressive demo would be last-mile package delivery, since it can climb stairs and operate elevators.
Yes they definitely do, see very similar numbered organizers in the background of this video [1]. In auto mfg they need to reliably build dozens of configurations on one line while maintaining impeccable part tracking for auditing and triage purposes. Each shelf on the left could be a different version of the engine cover for a different trim and the shelf on the right will be brought to a station where workers will pick from it based on the number the computer tells them for the exact vehicle in front of them.
This helps make sure the customer gets what they purchased and helps for QC and recalls. If one batch is bad then this system allows them to pinpoint down to the exact VINs that were affected.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Jlod53BCU&t=60s
Cool but this is kind of uncanny
Compare this to the human controlled puppets Tesla demonstrated. Tesla made a big show of something Disney could do years ago. While Boston Dynamics is quietly building the real thing and showing us footage of it actually working.
See, this is a real video. Compare it with the obvious cgi fake that was put out a few months ago by Figure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq1QZB5baNw I still can't believe how noone has called them out on that one.
Awesome and terrifying
But can it do a backflip?