Robot Gift Guide 2022

Post by alsodumb » Sun, Dec 04, 2022, 11:53 AM UTC

good_boy wrote: post #20

alsodumb wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, but I'd call the smartest robot available to consumers that is relatively affordable. Their tech blows my mind. They do all the navigation and motion planning based on just RGB cameras, running multiple neural networks in parallel on board the drone. All the depth estimation, including small obstacles likes leaves and power cables, they are doing it all onboard. I don't think anyone in industry come clos…

> I don't think anyone in industry come close to that. Check NVidia. I believe Jetson Nano can do stereo matching from multiple camera pairs in real time. From here one step to 3d points cloud. New Orin will have like 10x performance. Coming in January. So, it's within the reach. I'm thinking, have big stupid drones collecting the dust...

Post by crubier » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 8:48 AM UTC

good_boy wrote: post #23

alsodumb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skydio is too small to design their own chipset - they use Nvidia GPU onboard. My comment was about people using neural network models for everything needed to fly a drone. I've seen models fail badly in ground based robots. They are flying a drone that's running so many models to be able to track, detect, localize, plan and fly. It's insane. Jetson Nano can do stereo matching, and perhaps one can manage to even run…

It's getting easier and easier to make such a drone. I mean it's within the reach of a single developer with $1000 budget. When Skydio came out it was some sort of break through (if we forget DJI and Autel), but now it's not that impressive, sort of normal. There are many models and libraries. NVidia has the whole zoo of them optimized for small devices. For free. I'm pretty sure even my level is enough to make a fly…

Post by crubier » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 5:56 PM UTC

WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #13

I'm very much surprised to see Skydio 2 on this list. Although it's a robot, there's not much you can do with your code right now since the Skills SDK access has been heavily restricted.

Post by good_boy » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 7:29 AM UTC

alsodumb wrote: post #25

good_boy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's getting easier and easier to make such a drone. I mean it's within the reach of a single developer with $1000 budget. When Skydio came out it was some sort of break through (if we forget DJI and Autel), but now it's not that impressive, sort of normal. There are many models and libraries. NVidia has the whole zoo of them optimized for small devices. For free. I'm pretty sure even my level is enough to make a fly…

We don't have to forger DJI and Autel - Skydio beat them in autonomy. Period. You seem to lack the understanding of fundamental difference between how a DJI drone flies around and how a Skydio flies around. I work on drones for research. I do RL. No one in academia can build something so robust. You seem to think that flying drones autonomously in the real world is same as running an RL simulation. Good luck trying t…

Post by crubier » Mon, Dec 19, 2022, 8:42 AM UTC

good_boy wrote: post #27

crubier wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you have a good startup opportunity here. For $1000 you could single-handedly replicate a multi billion dollar business. Why don’t you get started already?

It's not a replication. Only part of the software. Flying obstacles avoiding drone have been in labs for years. As for hardware nobody can beat China where almost all components are made. I can put them together in custom drone, many do it. You can even by a kit on ebay. It will have controller which takes care of balance. It can handle many physical configurations and hover drone in place. All that is needed is exte…