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Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

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Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#241

Post by bananamerica »

mistrial9 wrote: post #223

Contrarian point of view -- (edit) this clever device overall takes too much capital and solves no real problem, meanwhile pressing and urgent problems needing tech, remain unaddressed, year after year. For centuries, real, physical actions in home life were improved with (mainly mechanical) devices subject to patent. The industrial revolution provides vast flows of consumer goods. Finance prospered (mainly) with loa…

It is possible that you are doing this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_fallacy#Perfect_soluti...

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#242

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

Qu3tzal wrote: post #39

In the demo video, for every basic task it needs some setup by a human (see how they fixed stuff on the stretchable arm for every action other than picking-up something) and all the interesting tasks were teleoperated. I don't care about teleoperation, for a home robot I want automation.

That reminds me of a book I read as a kid: "My Trip to Alpha I" by Alfred Slote [0].

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3201020-my-trip-to-alpha...

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#243

Post by driverdan »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #155
biolurker1 wrote: post #154

I wonder why ex-faang company needs to be mentioned as a description of the founder.

Why not? Most normal people would take that as a sign that the founder has already had a sucessful career in tech, because "FAANG" don't hire mediocre workers. The journalists knowing this trend, use this information to communicate this to people, speaking in their language. (Also this language makes some sense as well.) I don't see a problem.

> because "FAANG" don't hire mediocre workers

Their propaganda is working well I see. Having a Stanford degree and being able to answer CS questions (two things FAANG companies love) does not guarantee you'll be a good worker.

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#244

Post by monkeynotes »

koheripbal wrote: post #188
wiradikusuma wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my country, the robot is called M.A.I.D, Mobile Autonomous Interactive Dude(tte), and it's like $5/hour.

It's hard for robots to compete with below minimum wage illegal immigrant labor. I pay $100 for two people to spend 4 hours cleaning a 3000 square foot home - including laundry.

$12.50 an hour, how does someone make a living from that?

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#245

Post by piinbinary »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #196
gexla wrote: post #106

Kids' chores 2000: Take out the trash, 2 minutes. Kid's chores 2020: Up until 3AM programming the robot to take out the trash. Purchased the robot two weeks ago. Kid only moves to go to sleep. Trash is building up. No other chores are getting done. Chores dashboard is flashing red. Take out trash sprint way overdue.

Calvin and Hobbes already did this plotline https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2014/09/01

"It's only work if someone makes you do it"

how true

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#246

Post by greeniron »

bananamerica wrote: post #238
espadrine wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd gladly pay 5k for a robot that can auto-organize my stuff around the house The main equation for general-use household robots is: can it beat human fares? A good weekly cleaner (4 hours) is about €22/h in Paris, or €4.5k/year. Let’s say your robot lives 4 years, similar to your computer (which seems fair, since it is one, and an abused one at that). Since you amortize its price over 4 years, its initial cost mu…

That’s obviously not just about cost. Human beings have schedules and lives of their own. They must eat, drink, shit, fuck, and watch Netflix. I cannot keep a human being in my closet to serve me anytime I want. I’d be willing to pay a premium for a mindless servant that’s available nearly 100% of time.

move to Singapore then. they have full-time, live-in maids from indonesia or phillipines that can cost as low as USD 300-400 a month. i grew up in Singapore, where I had 3 maids on staff at all times, and they took care of everything, 24/7.

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#247

Post by greeniron »

jdironman wrote: post #230
caseysoftware wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And humans can't come over during a pandemic. For high risk people, this might be a good alternative for normally-simple tasks they can't do by themselves.

Now I just picture someone passing away quietly only to be found weeks or even months later in a still immaculately clean house.

or in a more Black Mirror-esque reality, maybe after the human dies the robot no longer detects a heart rate or pulse and considers the corpse as trash and just disposes of it automatically.

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#248

Post by rightbyte »

leetcrew wrote: post #214
espadrine wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd gladly pay 5k for a robot that can auto-organize my stuff around the house The main equation for general-use household robots is: can it beat human fares? A good weekly cleaner (4 hours) is about €22/h in Paris, or €4.5k/year. Let’s say your robot lives 4 years, similar to your computer (which seems fair, since it is one, and an abused one at that). Since you amortize its price over 4 years, its initial cost mu…

a human cleaner isn't really a perfect substitute for a robot. people might feel uncomfortable with having a human worker in their house for a variety of reasons. most people I know actually clean their whole house before the cleaning service shows up. you don't have to feel guilt/embarrassment at the state of your house when the robot starts working. I could imagine a lot of people might be willing to pay a premium…

At least a human cleaner wouldn't spy on you by default.

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#249

Post by espadrine »

aptwebapps wrote: post #151
espadrine wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd gladly pay 5k for a robot that can auto-organize my stuff around the house The main equation for general-use household robots is: can it beat human fares? A good weekly cleaner (4 hours) is about €22/h in Paris, or €4.5k/year. Let’s say your robot lives 4 years, similar to your computer (which seems fair, since it is one, and an abused one at that). Since you amortize its price over 4 years, its initial cost mu…

Another possible angle is integrations, i.e. robot-friendly appliances. Maybe the washing machine has a powered door and an API that the robot (or some other software) uses to control it. No need to push buttons. Obviously, this won't cover all scenarios, but as someone upthread said, to be useful it doesn't have to do everything. The bigger issue, IMO, is avoiding distasters like Roombas trying to vacuum dog poop.

> robot-friendly appliances

I agree, although I saw it as implied!

Robots are like AI: once they become widely used, they are no longer called robots. :)

To me, dish washers, mixers, vacuum cleaners are all robots that can be part of the household fleet.

Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design

#250

Post by gsoto »

spyckie2 wrote: post #26

Things it can't do: - go up stairs - get up after a fall / reset itself - pick up heavy objects - precise motion (so no cooking) - interact with buttons or touch screens (so laundry might be hard) The one use case I think it might be worth it is if the robot can take a room full of toys and return everything back to where it belongs. Kind of like a one click, reset this room. If it can help me keep organized and clea…

I'd buy this if it could setup my boardgames.
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