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Where are the robotic bricklayers?

constructionphysics.substack.com

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Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#231
post #28

The great contempt that computer people have for the skills that every human brings to the jobs that the do is always on display here. We haven't automated driving; we haven't automated picking tomatoes; we haven't automated bricklaying; we can't automate cooking a fucking hamburger. But they are completely convinced that it's just around the corner, because they are full of contempt for the skill and intelligence of…

[deleted]

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#232
Printing brick roads actually sounds like a pretty interesting step forward even though it isn't the most obvious use of bricks. The drainage is much better than asphalt and that could make a difference in many cities that are dealing with increased flooding. Not so great for snow-plows, though. Before I saw that machine I never would have thought it would be a scalable solution to the problem, though.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#233
post #196
post #28

The great contempt that computer people have for the skills that every human brings to the jobs that the do is always on display here. We haven't automated driving; we haven't automated picking tomatoes; we haven't automated bricklaying; we can't automate cooking a fucking hamburger. But they are completely convinced that it's just around the corner, because they are full of contempt for the skill and intelligence of…

'Most' and 'never' are strong words. I'd imagine many people thought that in the past about modern automation (and it's well documented). Things will become automated. That is the natural human progression. We are creative, and their are 7+ billion minds with new giants to stand on the shoulder of every day. AI, soft/compliant robotics, and globalization are strong unrelenting factors/motivators.

Yes. For example, see this video of a Continuous Tamping Machine in operating, tamping railway ballast:

https://fb.watch/79KwlAt2Fz/

You probably wouldn't have to go too far back to find people sceptical about the possibility of automating that.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#234

The value of work is not in the work done; it's in the decisions being made. It's the ability to handle edge cases, to work your way through ambiguity, to "unstuck" a stuck situation, and to resolve tricky unforeseen issues. If you build a robot that only handles the main workflow and can't handle any of the exceptions, you're not automating anything; you're building a convenience tool. Basically, you're removing som…

I'm planning to build a house, and it has surprised me that standardised house plans are not readily available online - particularly for European weather conditions - the emphasis is instead on custom floorplans. Creating new designs millions of times over seems like an obvious inefficiency.

People who want a house built want to build their house. Cookie cutter is for subdivisions and apartments, which those folks are often trying to escape.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These jobs are usually slow torture for humans to do. Do them long enough, and your body will break under the sun or you will look like a prune, get back pain or a hump and possibly skin cancer. Let the robots do them as soon as possible.

And sitting in an office chair in front of a computer all day doesn't bring its own health problems? Weight gain due to limited daily movement, forward posture due to sitting and looking forward all day, RSI due to typing and mouse movement.

Some Suggestions if I was having this problem:

1. Get a standing desk, so you can alternate between sitting and standing.

2. Learn to use a mouse with both left and right hand. And/or ball wheel mouse.

3. Try Speech to text software

4. Try an Ergo keyboard. Logitech makes an ergonomic keyboard (Ergo k860)

5. Get up and Stretch every hour

6. Go the the bathroom as much as you're allowed to

7. Go for a Walk during your lunch break

8. Go for a walk after work

9. Do some yoga. It's totally free.

   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWN2FPlvg9r-LnUyepH9IaQ

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#236
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We haven't automated driving Yeah, we pretty much have... it just hasn't been widely adopted yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjztvddhZmI And honestly, from a business perspective, most people really don't care about the skills ordinary people have. Look at the wine industry for example. Top shelf wine is hand-picked, for exactly the reasons you outline, and some people are willing to pay top dollar for that en…

> We absolutely can automate cooking a fucking hamburger, and as soon as it's cheaper than the cheapest labour, McDonald's, Burger King, etc, WILL automate cooking a fucking hamburger. Curiously, McDonald's is probably as close as you can get to automating burgers and fries without crossing that final step of removing human labor entirely. It's not really cooking anymore, it's process chemistry[0], with some final as…

I would expect to see it done at places like stadiums or other events where you have a crowd of 100k who all want to eat at the same time and the expected quality if near zero.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#237

The value of work is not in the work done; it's in the decisions being made. It's the ability to handle edge cases, to work your way through ambiguity, to "unstuck" a stuck situation, and to resolve tricky unforeseen issues. If you build a robot that only handles the main workflow and can't handle any of the exceptions, you're not automating anything; you're building a convenience tool. Basically, you're removing som…

> This is why partial robotic systems don't really exist; either it's a nifty tool that speeds up a small repeatable process of your work, or it's building the entire house.

I think I understand your overall point, but what you said isn't exactly true. Isn't "speed up a repeatable process" essentially a partial robotic system?

Just look at a modern car manufacturing plant - it's essentially one big chain of robotics with human overseers. There aren't that many exceptions to car manufacturing once the set car variants are establish (LX, CX, blah blah model variants). I would consider that whole system a "partial robotic system".

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Code has been getting automated since basically day one of programming. The funny thing about automation in programming - it has always opened up more doors - and led to more employment in programming. We are so far from anything that resembles real automated coding - that coding automation should continue to be celebrated by engineers for a long time. GitHub Co-Pilot and VS Code aren't going to replace you - they're…

Automated tools will lower the difficulty of coding to the point where it'll be easy to pick up and be massively productive. Developers will be replaced by domain experts becoming productive developers easily with automated tools.

Didn't happen with Visual Basic, has not happened with JavaScript.

Domain experts are all using Excel, not any other automated tool.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#239
post #28

The great contempt that computer people have for the skills that every human brings to the jobs that the do is always on display here. We haven't automated driving; we haven't automated picking tomatoes; we haven't automated bricklaying; we can't automate cooking a fucking hamburger. But they are completely convinced that it's just around the corner, because they are full of contempt for the skill and intelligence of…

I think this is a rather harsh take. Most of the people working on automating it understand how hard it is and are striving through it. You need some of these irrational believers for progress!

It looks like he has contempt for the people trying to automate something. He doesn't realize how hard they are actually working, nor they insight they have into the problem. From his perspective he thinks they are wrong for thinking they are taking on an easy job.

Re: Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#240
It seems to me many software engineering types vastly under kL estimate the difficulty of automation in a lot of different fields. Why do you think this is? I suppose I could come up with some hypotheses but I am interested in what other people think. "Edge conditions" are actually core conditions for automation. If your automated process can't self-regulate it often negates the point of automation. If your process costs more than human labor then it may not be price competitive.
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