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CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

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Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#21

Post by jessriedel »

ambrosite wrote: post #13
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

A general purpose housekeeping robot would be revolutionary and would sell extremely well, but we are probably decades away from having one that would even function correctly, much less be commercially viable.

But we don't need a general purpose robot, just a degree of automation that goes beyond what was achieved in the 1960s (washer/dryer/dishwasher).

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#22

Post by lev99 »

beaconstudios wrote: post #6
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

for 1, a dishwasher covers (wash) and in some cases (dry) - the putting away is the least time-consuming step so I'm not convinced a robot would be a massive innovation over dishwashers unless it also collected not-in-use washables but that's robot butler levels of complexity. for 2, I don't know about the US but in the UK you can get small local companies that will wash and iron a sack of laundry for you, and return…

2. In the US it would cost at least $400/yr per person for a pickup/drop off laundry service. Foldimate sells for $850, and can presumably service an entire household. If it was more capable (just put clean clothes in a hopper, or connects directly to a dryer) it would be significantly more economic then human labor.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#23

Post by flukus »

imron wrote: post #12
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

> I have no use for drones, or bipedal robots, or some kind of other walking robot at all Bipedal is the hard half of the fold clothes and put them away

Why? Personally I'm hoping for some kind of telescopic arm in the ceiling, bipedal robots still take up storage space and get in the way, ceiling arms could work around me, are probably easier to deliver and are probably better to interact with "hey arm, can you give me a reading light and put my book away when I fall asleep".

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#24

Post by not_kurt_godel »

beaconstudios wrote: post #6
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

for 1, a dishwasher covers (wash) and in some cases (dry) - the putting away is the least time-consuming step so I'm not convinced a robot would be a massive innovation over dishwashers unless it also collected not-in-use washables but that's robot butler levels of complexity. for 2, I don't know about the US but in the UK you can get small local companies that will wash and iron a sack of laundry for you, and return…

> the putting away is the least time-consuming step

I would imagine that for most people, putting away is the annoying and effortful step of the cleaning process. I wouldn't really count gathering dirty dishes as a step that's specific to having a machine since without a machine since they'd need to be gathered to be cleaned anyway. Once dishes are gathered, loading the dishwasher is easy because the dishes are already as close to the dishwasher as physically possible in most kitchen layouts, the specific organization of the dishes in the washer is generally more flexible than how they are organized in the cabinets, and gravity assists you while loading while it works against you while putting away.

> I don't know what benefit you would see by having that automated instead of done by a human.

The same benefit as anything else that's automated - not having to deal with humans. A machine where you could dump dirty laundry in any time and have it pop out neat and folded would be far superior than having to work with a third-party schedule and live human beings, just like an ATM is far superior to a bank teller 99% of the time if you need cash at a specific time and location.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#25

Post by usaphp »

beaconstudios wrote: post #6
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

for 1, a dishwasher covers (wash) and in some cases (dry) - the putting away is the least time-consuming step so I'm not convinced a robot would be a massive innovation over dishwashers unless it also collected not-in-use washables but that's robot butler levels of complexity. for 2, I don't know about the US but in the UK you can get small local companies that will wash and iron a sack of laundry for you, and return…

1. The thing that preventing me to put a dirty set of dishes in a dishwasher is a clean set of dishes from the last wash. Most of the time I just end up watching them by hand.

2. You still have to arrange time to meet them or drive there, putting your clothes together and then taking them back

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#26

Post by Pxtl »

beaconstudios wrote: post #6
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

for 1, a dishwasher covers (wash) and in some cases (dry) - the putting away is the least time-consuming step so I'm not convinced a robot would be a massive innovation over dishwashers unless it also collected not-in-use washables but that's robot butler levels of complexity. for 2, I don't know about the US but in the UK you can get small local companies that will wash and iron a sack of laundry for you, and return…

For dishwasher, for me the big missing piece is Tupper I can use in my kids' lunches. I'm always suspicious of breaking things down in the Tupper with the scalding dishwasher treatment, and glassware is too dangerous, so I still do that stuff by hand.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#27

Post by brownbat »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

If the sky's the limit, I'd like kiva for my home.

Maybe a dumb waiter would open in the wall with a little standard sized basket. I'd name what I'm storing, like tennis racket or snow shoes, and it would whisk it away to a storage space under the house or in the walls somewhere. I ask for it by name, the house brings it back to the portal.

An uncluttered house where I can have anything I use once a year within seconds. Hoarding by way of Marie Kondo. Possibly a gross dystopian consumer fantasy, but still.

If the house could just post anything you haven't used in two years on Craigslist, then we'd really be in the future.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#28

Post by gonational »

flukus wrote: post #23
imron wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have no use for drones, or bipedal robots, or some kind of other walking robot at all Bipedal is the hard half of the fold clothes and put them away

Why? Personally I'm hoping for some kind of telescopic arm in the ceiling, bipedal robots still take up storage space and get in the way, ceiling arms could work around me, are probably easier to deliver and are probably better to interact with "hey arm, can you give me a reading light and put my book away when I fall asleep".

Wow, that’s a brilliant idea… applying the wisdom and thinking we currently use leads us to inventions that are similar to a dishwasher, or inventions that are similar to a human, but really all you need is a simple robotic arm in the ceiling, some sensors, and a computer which can be constantly updated.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#29

Post by hughes »

mikeash wrote: post #19
blhack wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>foldimate: Here is a video of it working: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uay9hzwusk This looks like it would take quite a lot longer than just folding the clothes yourself.

I was going to comment that it doesn’t matter how slow it is as long as it finishes overnight or whatever. Good thing I decided to actually watch the video first. What’s the point if a person has to be so involved!?

Now we just need another robot that can take the clothes out of the dryer and lay them out flat for the folding machine.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#30

Post by Pxtl »

flukus wrote: post #23
imron wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have no use for drones, or bipedal robots, or some kind of other walking robot at all Bipedal is the hard half of the fold clothes and put them away

Why? Personally I'm hoping for some kind of telescopic arm in the ceiling, bipedal robots still take up storage space and get in the way, ceiling arms could work around me, are probably easier to deliver and are probably better to interact with "hey arm, can you give me a reading light and put my book away when I fall asleep".

Why ceiling? Is your floor not flat enough for wheels? A Roomba with arms would suit me.
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