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Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

theguardian.com

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Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#51

Post by bobthepanda »

maxglute wrote: post #16
core_dumped wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, the classic Gundam is around 18 m tall. This comes close at 12 m. The upper body and arms certainly invoke mobile suit aesthetics though

It reaches 12m on a telescoped crane, the actual scale of the robot body looks pretty small, smaller than the cab of the truck. Pretty human scale all things considered, makes one wonder if it's goign to be mounted on treads or legs one day for indoor use. It does look very cool indeed.

in the context of a train line, you may not want it any taller, since there are things like overhead wires to deal with if it gets any taller.

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#54

Post by Ancapistani »

exclipy wrote: post #50

Why does it have a swivelling head? I would have just mounted a 360 camera there. Then the operator can turn their head in any direction as fast as they want without the latency of waiting for a mechanical head to catch up.

This is likely safer - an onlooker can easily tell where the operator is looking, and therefore know if they are likely to be seen.

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#55

Post by SoftTalker »

unrealhoang wrote: post #48
yial wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FPV headsets can have head tracking. I don’t know cost now, but it was possible even in 2012/2013/2014 when I worked in that industry.

What's the advantages of head tracking though? I don't see it's in anyway better than just joystick to control robot head movement.

It's a completely natural movement for the operator, that will require almost no practice or training, and also leaves the operator's hands free to operate other controls.

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#56

Post by SoftTalker »

langsoul-com wrote: post #53

Surely it'd be better to make specialised tools instead of a humanoid robot? Human robots are super complex, and not fully utilised if the object was trimming trees.

It's very general purpose. Now it's used for trimming trees, but could potentially do a lot of other jobs.

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#57

Post by SoftTalker »

Tade0 wrote: post #14
crooked-v wrote: post #7

This seems like a decent force multiplier, though I have to wonder how efficient the results are compared to just having a small crew of workers with a boom lift and a good toolbox. There are also the attention-splitting issues you can't cover with just one person in a cab, like marking off areas and directing traffic/pedestrians.

Their problem appears to be that they don't have that small crew to work with. Median age in Japan is already 48+ and creeping up.

Sounds like they need immigrants.

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#58

Post by fragmede »

Ancapistani wrote: post #54
exclipy wrote: post #50

Why does it have a swivelling head? I would have just mounted a 360 camera there. Then the operator can turn their head in any direction as fast as they want without the latency of waiting for a mechanical head to catch up.

This is likely safer - an onlooker can easily tell where the operator is looking, and therefore know if they are likely to be seen.

if the operator gets sick from the latency, even if they see someone they're more likely to have issues though

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#59

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

core_dumped wrote: post #15
maxglute wrote: post #13

It's still user controlled like a surgical robot but for construction. I'm guessing it's eventually going to be run remotely by a bunch of japanese operators too old to work in the field. Also disappointingly small for "enormous", was hoping for a gundam.

Eh, the classic Gundam is around 18 m tall. This comes close at 12 m. The upper body and arms certainly invoke mobile suit aesthetics though

The AV-98 Ingram from the Patlabor anime is 8 m tall, so I wouldn't count this robot out.

Re: Japan introduces enormous humanoid robot to maintain train lines

#60

Post by pixl97 »

PoignardAzur wrote: post #30
roughly wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That looks incredibly cool, and also instantly nausea inducing - I can’t imagine the video feed and the head gyros are fast enough to avoid that little bit of lag and judder that turn VR into a vomit machine. The feedback on the arm is very cool, though.

I wonder if it wouldn't be easier / more comfortable for the worker to just get a low-poly reconstructed 3D rendering of the environment. That way at least they could move their head as much as they want and still get a read-time feed in their goggle without the usual VR tricks.

Because said low res rendering will remove very important cues that workers repairing stuff need to see, like potential things cracks in materials.
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