Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

thedailybeast.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 474 posts

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#191

Post by intrasight »

flukus wrote: post #23
imron wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have no use for drones, or bipedal robots, or some kind of other walking robot at all Bipedal is the hard half of the fold clothes and put them away

Why? Personally I'm hoping for some kind of telescopic arm in the ceiling, bipedal robots still take up storage space and get in the way, ceiling arms could work around me, are probably easier to deliver and are probably better to interact with "hey arm, can you give me a reading light and put my book away when I fall asleep".

When I was a young robotics engineer, I designed a house with a hidden ceiling that hid the mechanical parts for such a robot. There were 4'x4' panels with releases and actuators to open up a hole for the arm to descend through. A 28'x28' space would only need 10 actuators (edge panels can't open). But alas 30 years later I've still not built it.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#192

Post by shostack »

lobster_johnson wrote: post #116
brownbat wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the sky's the limit, I'd like kiva for my home. Maybe a dumb waiter would open in the wall with a little standard sized basket. I'd name what I'm storing, like tennis racket or snow shoes, and it would whisk it away to a storage space under the house or in the walls somewhere. I ask for it by name, the house brings it back to the portal. An uncluttered house where I can have anything I use once a year within secon…

Not an appliance, but there are a bunch of "valet storage" services like this. In NYC there's MakeSpace, which takes photos of your stuff that you can use to request delivery, should you need a particular item. They photograph and deliver the whole box, though, as far as I remember, not individual items.

Any suggestions for ones that cover the Peninsula? I'd love something smaller than PODs where I could have a lockable box delivered, load it or unload it, and have it taken back, all at the push of the button.

When autonomous cars fully arrive, I'll bet something like this takes off, particularly in areas with small homes like the Bay Area.

You could charge a subscription fee that allowed up to X monthly trips.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#193

Post by QAPereo »

jamesvandyne wrote: post #161
yorwba wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know? There needs to be some kind of connection for remote programmability. The default choice is likely something connected to the (W)LAN. From there, it's only one misconfigured firewall and a default password away from being hacked over the internet.

They're not. They've been around longer than WiFi. It's a simple wired connection to the control panel in the tub that's installed as a single unit. It let's you control things like temp, intercom to the kitchen and so forth. Automatic Bath one of my favorite things about living in Japan, even more so than the heated toilet seat.

Oooh... I stand corrected then. It would certainly make a ton of sense for a bathing culture like Japan, but for showers... eh. Heated seat with bidet and air though? Oh hell yes please.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#194

Post by ballenarosada »

SubiculumCode wrote: post #131
sixdimensional wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I'm not a product designer or engineer, but I feel like I have an idea for #1, and I'm interested in doing it, even for myself. Maybe it's something like "dishwasher v2.0", I 'm not sure. I basically want a standard set of plates, bowls, cups and silverware, which is designed to work with an automated washing box that has slots (or maybe holders) for each to be deposited inside. The idea is, you use the ite…

Standardized plates. Add DRM so no one can feed it knockoffs. That is how the coffee pots do it. But seriously, standardized is the only way such a system could work unless you have a robot at the sink. That said, a left and right washer is the easier approach. One is dirty,the other is clean. This obviates the need for putting dishes away. This also obviates the need for dishes to sit in the sink (ie because you had…

I don't want a dishwasher that can't wash tupperware

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#195

Post by omgtehlion »

cdoxsey wrote: post #137

The next 20 years will be a constant stream of half broken robots and ai systems. At least until we either get them to actually work or we figure out how bad they are and go back to using people again. It will be like setting up video conferencing, except for everything. Your car will go to the wrong place because it failed to account for a leap second, thus breaking gps. Your fridge will put itself in eco mode becau…

It is already here. Two days ago our HVAC controller apparently lost contact with one of the sensors (as technician told me) and we nearly froze at night (-10 C outside) only to came back later to a desert (+35 C in most rooms).

I just yanked the thing out and adjusted all valves by hand. Fixing was $200. Now i'm thinking about replacing it with Arduino and simple PID controllers...

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#196

Post by BigJono »

bigiain wrote: post #180
dingaling wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main dust-trap in our house is the carpeted stairs. Since I have to drag a vacuum out to do those I might as well do the rest of the house whilst I'm at it. I suppose I could have a Roomba that I moved up and down the storeys on alternating days, plus a manual vacuum cleaner solely for the stairs, but that seems to be defeating the point of robotics.

I move my vacuum robot up and down stairs as needed. I'm not _quite_ lazy enough to buy a second one for upstairs (but I _have_ considered it, I use an inexpensive Chinese knockoff, not a brand-name-priced Roomba...)

Are the Chinese knock-offs any good? I just looked up the price of a Roomba. $600 AUD to start for the shittiest model :(

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#197

Post by BigJono »

dsnuh wrote: post #190
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

I feel like the solution to these problems might be to use something like rapid 3D printing technology to create and recycle the dishes or clothing. The dish machine would print using a biodegradable material that could either be recycled back into the machine for reprinting or composted if it is unable to be cleaned. For clothing I imagine a knitting machine that prints 3D garments on demand using fibers and can als…

We could always just move the goalposts a bit. I don't need my clothes folded, I'd be over the moon with a robot that can wash and dry my clothes, then spread them loosely and haphazardly over a "clothes shelf" or something, just spread out enough that I can pick what I need out of the pile without rummaging.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#198

Post by lobster_johnson »

shostack wrote: post #192
lobster_johnson wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an appliance, but there are a bunch of "valet storage" services like this. In NYC there's MakeSpace, which takes photos of your stuff that you can use to request delivery, should you need a particular item. They photograph and deliver the whole box, though, as far as I remember, not individual items.

Any suggestions for ones that cover the Peninsula? I'd love something smaller than PODs where I could have a lockable box delivered, load it or unload it, and have it taken back, all at the push of the button. When autonomous cars fully arrive, I'll bet something like this takes off, particularly in areas with small homes like the Bay Area. You could charge a subscription fee that allowed up to X monthly trips.

No idea, but googling "valet storage" should get you some hits.

Some time ago, in a different country, I used a storage service where they unloaded the box -- a big unit about 2m tall and deep, with enough space for a couch, several chairs, etc. -- on the street and then picked it up again when you wanted, all scheduled via their web app. Very nice system.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#199

Post by hindsightbias »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

> 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically.

Add ironing, and that robot could replace most human manual labor.

So never going to happen. At least not before a washer-sized 2D printer that makes clothes. At $250/sqft, an average never-needed-again closet would save you ~$15K.

Hey Elon - I don't need a car or rocket!

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#200

Post by jl6 »

> A giant banner in the main hallway read “A better life. A better world.” But all I could think of is how much I wanted to be back home in the real world where, even if it’s primitive, most technology just works.

To be fair, most real world tech doesn’t just work either.

Post reply on HN