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Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

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Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#151

Post by chongli »

bartonfink wrote: post #129
chongli wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you're feeding once a day. You often want to feed 2 or even 3 times a day with a smaller amount at each feeding time. This tends to lead to less wasted food.

You've made a stunning point. There's no analog way to make things happen more than once a day. The logic is clear and irrefutable. Well done.

You feed fish during the day when the light is on. If you feed them 3 times a day and the light is on for a 12 hour period, that’s once every 4 hours 3 times followed by 12 hours of rest. What analog timer can do that?

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#152

Post by swat535 »

duped wrote: post #125
PopePompus wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to pay someone to clean up my messes. That is not the kind of relationship I want to have with another human. But I'd happily pay for a machine that did it.

I understand that this is coming from a place of privilege, but I was raised with regular maid service cleaning our home as a child and it's just something you learn to live with. You pick up after yourself for the easy things like throwing out garbage and picking up your clothes on the floor so the maids can do the heavy work like deep cleaning everything that's not in the way. And it's not necessarily unaffordable…

You would literally be making the same argument for any other breakthrough tech:

Why invent a dishwasher? You can have someone do it! Why have automated elevators? You can have someone do it! Why have automated farming systems? You can hire cheap Mexicans to do it!

We like to invent technologies to help make people's lives easier.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#153

Post by bartonfink »

chongli wrote: post #151
bartonfink wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've made a stunning point. There's no analog way to make things happen more than once a day. The logic is clear and irrefutable. Well done.

You feed fish during the day when the light is on. If you feed them 3 times a day and the light is on for a 12 hour period, that’s once every 4 hours 3 times followed by 12 hours of rest. What analog timer can do that?

A 12 hour one with stops every four hours. Reset the timer when you fill the feeder in the morning.

If this was an interview question I would reject the job. You don't seem worth working with.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#154

Post by chongli »

bartonfink wrote: post #153
chongli wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You feed fish during the day when the light is on. If you feed them 3 times a day and the light is on for a 12 hour period, that’s once every 4 hours 3 times followed by 12 hours of rest. What analog timer can do that?

A 12 hour one with stops every four hours. Reset the timer when you fill the feeder in the morning. If this was an interview question I would reject the job. You don't seem worth working with.

That’s not going to work if you’re going on a vacation for a week. You want to fill the feeder with a week’s worth of food at a time and have it feed every day according to the schedule. Control the power to the feeder with a smart plug and set the feeder’s internal timer to 4 hours.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#155

Post by another2another »

tkgally wrote: post #88
judah wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company that builds a robot that can do household chores will be very, very rich. I want a bot that can do laundry (load washer, load dryer, fold, put away), do the dishes (rinse, put in dishwasher, put clean dishes away, wash pots & pans), vacuum floors, dust, clean up messes, empty garbage bins, take out the trash, mow my lawn, trim bushes, clean tables, mop floors, make meals, cleans toilets and sinks and bath…

Exactly. And add one more thing: Help with the care of the elderly and invalids. As it happens, I turned sixty-seven today. While I am in good shape now, it's reasonable to assume that I might need personal care at some point in the not too distant future. A humanoid robot assistant that could handle many of those tasks would be great. I have no idea when or whether that will become possible, though.

If there was a smallish vehicle (thing? I'm thinking johnny #5) that could:

hold and carry things you give it (without spilling), and carry then set them down where you ask.

or pick things up from the ground for you.

Then that would probably be a great help for lots of older people.

I'm not that old myself, but I've seen lots of older people who are otherwise self-sufficient struggle with some of these things as mobility starts to suffer.

If it could also talk to you and give sass back, then that would also be a bonus.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#156

Post by racl101 »

doubled112 wrote: post #4
zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

I think the issue is that smart home devices didn't do anything I couldn't already do, but a physical switch is faster than arguing with the computer. Hey Google, can you turn off the baby bedroom light? I'm sorry, I don't know that device.

> I think the issue is that smart home devices didn't do anything I couldn't already do, but a physical switch is faster than arguing with the computer.

Exactly this.

I've had so many "aw fuck it I'll do it myself" moments with tech.

I no longer use any smart home devices. It was a passing fad as far as my experience goes.

Seemed cool, didn't really change my life.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#157

Post by racl101 »

ramenmeal wrote: post #12
zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

From what I hear, it's a nightmare to get Siri to know what light you want to turn on. Unfortunately it seems like apple is trailing the pack in the smart home area.

In terms of mental development Siri, is at best, a 5 year kid. It has never been useful to me.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#158

Post by Izkata »

ENGNR wrote: post #79

For me the "transformative" aspect of personal robotics is... maintenance Why does every store have self opening doors, but no houses do? I think it's because paying ~$500/year to get it running again when it breaks feels like a waste to almost any home owner. The same with other random innovations, like a car stacker to push your car into the garage roof when not in use so you can use the garage (the hydraulics woul…

> fans and pumps to move heat in or out of the house or water around the garden, they're a pain because they break, it's only worth it if you're running a commercial operation.

Um, what? AC and sprinklers? Those are common in homes.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#159

Post by Izkata »

vineyardmike wrote: post #18
zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

As another commenter alluded to, good Smarthome tech becomes an appliance, which isn’t a desirable high margin business, and bad tech becomes a nuisance which is also not a desirable business. That’s why Google is slowly getting out of it and shifting their focus from Nest. That’s why Apple never did much beyond a few speakers, and it’s why Amazon is right at home in that business (but even they’re getting out of the…

> Robotics… seem like a miss to me. Very few tasks at home are as simple as vacuuming, but maybe I just lack the creativity and vision.

SwitchBot is working on something I haven't seen elsewhere yet: Making robot vacuums double as mops is becoming common, and and a few have modifications to hook into the water/waste lines so you don't have to refill it, but SwitchBot made that as part of its primary design because they got the idea to use the robot to ferry water around other places: it can automatically refill their humidifier and empty their dehumidifier.

I could imagine further enhancements for watering plants, or maybe if it's a success a future one that cleans rugs may become feasible.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#160

Post by jdlshore »

kccqzy wrote: post #126
jdlshore wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High end robot vacuums have been innovating (including Roomba), with self-emptying bins and ML-based obstacle avoidance for things like cords and pet waste. This requires a camera, so any high end robot vacuum is going to have one. For me, those features are worth it. The other big area of innovation is combo-vacuum+mop, including automatic water replacement and cleaning, but those features don’t seem to be fully rea…

ML-based obstacle avoidance does not require a camera. The latest products consciously avoid cameras to assuage fears that the images captured could be sent to the cloud. https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/19/1065306/roomba-i...

It may not require a camera, but in practice I think most or all units use them. It’s definitely not a Roomba-specific issue.

I’m familiar with the “woman on a toilet” story and I think it’s overblown. It was a prototype unit used for training the ML model, not a consumer unit.

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