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Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

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Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like we're entering the era of general and inefficient solutions to problems. Like LLMs being used to pick values out of JSON objects when jq would do the job 1000x more efficiently. This is what this whole field feels like right now. Let's spend lots of time and energy to create a humanoid robot to do the things humans already decided humans were inefficient at and solved with specialised tools. Like people s…

have you ever googled a simple maths question? I often come back to that and realise we've been in this era for quite a while. Calculator would probably be 1000x more efficient!

Sure, but I have to launch the calculator, instead of just typing it into the ever present search bar of my persistent open browser.

If I could just type it into my shell, that would be nice. I’m sure there’s some command (or one could be trivially made) to evaluate an equation, but then you get to play game with shell expansions and quotes.

In emacs I have to convolute the equation into prefix.

All minor stuff but it adds up.

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#272
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about it, I am sure it is only a matter of time until a self driving car or a robot will be used to kill a human. Or on a lower level for a DDoS attack - all cars/robots going to the white house.

> self driving car or a robot will be used to kill a human They already have. We just don't hold the perpetrators accountable.

I think "has been used to kill" is a more serious accusation than "accidentally killed" (even if due to recklessness).

What case(s) are you thinking of?

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#273
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really sorting? All I see is the humanoid robot moving similarly shaped / sized packages from one conveyor belt to a platform to another conveyor belt. A little industrial automation design would be much more effective, cheaper, and faster compared to the task it is performing.

The actual sorting is typically automated with scanners reading the labels and shunting packages from one conveyor belt onto another, basically a physical sorting network. Tasks left for human "sorters" to do are: - put packages on conveyor belt so the scanner can read the label (as done by the robot in the video) - deal with damaged or unreadable packages that can't be processed automatically - when a package gets j…

Which is why robots that can also absorb variability in the same way humans do would be so valuable.

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not sure that task needs a humanoid robot An industrial robot arm with air powered suction cups would do the trick... https://bostondynamics.com/products/stretch/ ... ... So the task they work best at is the task there is already cheaper better robots specialized for.

I feel like we're entering the era of general and inefficient solutions to problems. Like LLMs being used to pick values out of JSON objects when jq would do the job 1000x more efficiently. This is what this whole field feels like right now. Let's spend lots of time and energy to create a humanoid robot to do the things humans already decided humans were inefficient at and solved with specialised tools. Like people s…

Human form robots are a case of Jake of all trades and master of none. Sure I have a dishwasher thats more efficient at doing the job than me but I still end up doing dishes because the cast iron frying pan can't going in there without ruining the polymerised layer of oils that have been baked into it and i would have to repeatedly oil and reheat it and stink up the house with smoke reseasoning it afterwards, and I have hand wash the thermos and travel mugs, and dishwasher arent good for the sharp knives and etcetera etc etc... sure the rumba can vacume very efficiently but it suck at gating around furniture leg or gaps to small for a 14'' diameter circle to fit through so I have to vacume all of the bits it can't get to. Sure the a robot lawn mower can do my yard very efficiently but it cant move the childrens toys out of the grass or open the gate to the front yard or close the gate to keep the dogs from running out the gate once its open. Specialized tools suck at edge cases. Human form robots if they ever works (big if) can do all of the edge cases and take advantage of all the tools made for humans I already have to do all of the those other jobs.

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#275

Crazy to me how negative the comments are here. None of this was even remotely possible less than 5 years ago. Now, we're demoing consumer-facing robotics that will soon, within a couple iterations, be able to perform most of your household tasks without issue. The frog boils quickly.

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Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#277
post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think a humanoid robot will be cheaper than a robot arm?

If humanoid robots can perform ok on a broader set of tasks then they could reach economies of scale that a robot arm might not.

To add to that, a good friend of mine is a welder and machinist (and still using Linux on the desktop years after I set him up). A robot 'helper' that just moves things around and maybe does basic machine work (cutting pipe and threading the ends, for example) would put his productivity through the roof. Same story with a guy who specializes in kitchen remodeling.

It's hard to find decent general purpose help these days and they would pay good money for a halfway useful helper.

Once it's able to weld... That's going to be a massive game changer, and I can see that coming 'round the corner right quickly.

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#278
Humanoids are Silicon Valley's horseless carriage. The purpose of robotics, and tools in general, is to do things better than we can given our human form and cognition. Tools take on forms that are optimized for their intended purpose. A humanoid has no market fit because it's necessarily bounded by most of the same limits we have.

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#279

Humanoids are Silicon Valley's horseless carriage. The purpose of robotics, and tools in general, is to do things better than we can given our human form and cognition. Tools take on forms that are optimized for their intended purpose. A humanoid has no market fit because it's necessarily bounded by most of the same limits we have.

Better than or more cheaply.

Re: Figure 03, our 3rd generation humanoid robot

#280

Humanoids are Silicon Valley's horseless carriage. The purpose of robotics, and tools in general, is to do things better than we can given our human form and cognition. Tools take on forms that are optimized for their intended purpose. A humanoid has no market fit because it's necessarily bounded by most of the same limits we have.

The point of a humaniod is compatibility with systems that have been built for humans, which is...nearly all systems that have been built. Environments and tools that exist in the world are ones that have been built for humans, so for a single robot to be able to interact with almost all of those, that robot needs to be shaped like a human.
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