Am I the only one surprised to see that this kind of research is financed by the Pentagon? What kind of military application does it have?
Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#22Lets hope this comes soon.
Really? I usually love technological progress, but in this case it would mean many (millions?) of desperately poor people losing their jobs.
I'm hoping this comes much later.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#23Am I the only one surprised to see that this kind of research is financed by the Pentagon? What kind of military application does it have?
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Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#24Am I the only one surprised to see that this kind of research is financed by the Pentagon? What kind of military application does it have?
Cheaper military supplies through robotic manufacturing (bullets, garments, bandages, you name it).
Military robots that build other military robots.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#25Am I the only one surprised to see that this kind of research is financed by the Pentagon? What kind of military application does it have?
The military does buy a lot of clothes. So, anything that they could do to reduce the cost of military garments would be worthwhile to them.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#26Has outsourcing manufacturing to developing countries delayed research into robotic manufacturing? Seems like such low-skilled labor is relatively easy to build into robots, but likely the already cheap costs of foreign labor has made it unnecessary to invest in large upfront costs to develop robots.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing, but they have everything to lose from them and the US (and other nations) has everything to gain, because the US has already completely lost the garment industry. China already has a massive supply of human labor, which is primarily why their labor costs are so low. If you were to automate their labor, it would cause substantial unemployment and or reductions in pay. I'd argue their society couldn't withstan…
I wonder how deeply this could transform the transportation industry: if the production of certain goods no longer require cheap labor, wouldn't production centers naturally move closer to demand to reduce transportation overhead?
Yeah, say hello to Nevada or New Mexico based robot manufacturing farms powered by solar. A nice ideal anyway.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#28Has outsourcing manufacturing to developing countries delayed research into robotic manufacturing? Seems like such low-skilled labor is relatively easy to build into robots, but likely the already cheap costs of foreign labor has made it unnecessary to invest in large upfront costs to develop robots.
There are some very interesting companies working on it.
Bezos among others for example are backing Heartland Robotics ($27m or more in VC so far):
http://www.heartlandrobotics.com/
KIVA Systems was / is one of my favorite examples of industrial robot automation that really worked well and demonstrated the ability to significantly improve output. They're obviously not in traditional manufacturing, but they're still a cog in the process.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#29Lets hope this comes soon.
Really? I usually love technological progress, but in this case it would mean many (millions?) of desperately poor people losing their jobs. I'm hoping this comes much later.
Not to mention the potentially scary scenario: China with a couple hundred million desperate people. Large wars have been caused by far less.
Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete
#30> ...robots could return manufacturing of smartphones, computers and TVs to U.S. shores China will rule electronics for the foreseeable future. Even if its advantage in labor costs were eliminated, China's parts ecosystem, lax recycling regulations, and (increasingly exclusive) access to rare earth metals will keep it on top for some time to come. Their manufacturing technology is also arguably the most advanced in t…
"(increasingly exclusive) access to rare earth metals"
Is that after accounting for the reopening of rare-earth mines in California and other locations? E.g: http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/rare-earth-mining-ris...