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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

#281

Post by jamesrcole »

Noos wrote: post #233
leetcrew wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There's something darkly funny about people so embarrassed to have a cleaning person in their house, that they create a solution that would put most cleaning people out of a job. The knowledge workers automate jobs away, leading pundits to say the future for low-skilled workers is to provide boutique services for the upper class. The end being that the upper class is too ashamed to actually consume those services if…

I have never hired a cleaner, but I imagine there are also people who are uncomfortable having strangers in their house and handling their things.

I have also heard about people getting cleaners who initially do a good job, but whose work quality degrades over time. You wouldn't have that problem with a robot.

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

#282

Post by thisisbrians »

I admire the hard work that surely went into this, but I have to say: as a former robotics hobbyist, I'm extremely unimpressed with the weight, cost, and limited capabilities of this thing. And that impression is based on the technology we had over a decade ago. With access to a few machine tools and a 3d printer, I'd bet an equally capable prototype would cost no more than a few hundred dollars. No wonder almost no one has a robot in their home.

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

#283

Post by covercash »

espadrine wrote: post #131
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 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…

> Personally, though, I would bet on dedicated, single-purpose robots, working together through wireless communication.

This reminds me of the little swarm of robots that come out of the walls to clean up spills in The Fifth Element.

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

#284

Post by tmpz22 »

thisisbrians wrote: post #282

I admire the hard work that surely went into this, but I have to say: as a former robotics hobbyist, I'm extremely unimpressed with the weight, cost, and limited capabilities of this thing. And that impression is based on the technology we had over a decade ago. With access to a few machine tools and a 3d printer, I'd bet an equally capable prototype would cost no more than a few hundred dollars. No wonder almost no…

Ya but did you know the founder used to work at google?

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

#286

Post by Apofis »

whymauri wrote: post #175
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.

Chores and trash sprint tasks moved to Jira backlog. The toast your robot put in the microwave for 4.nannannan minutes is now on fire. In the distance: sirens.

Ah, the future.

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

#287

Post by jamesrcole »

greeniron wrote: post #246
bananamerica wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think a lot of people would prefer a non-conscious entity to do their cleaning, who has no ability to judge them in any way.

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

#288

Post by bArray »

koliber wrote: post #109
bArray wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things it can't do (extended): - operate in your particular setting (it's likely over-trained for that specific environment) - run for long periods of time as a fully autonomous robot - be anywhere near small humans or animals - do any of the tasks in the video with any kind of speed or precision - learn new tasks - handle multiple objectives, or even process the request of a single objective reliably This is nowhere…

You're right about this expanded list of things it can't do. However, the conclusion is a bit on the negative side. The Roomba or any of the autonomous grass mowing robots can't do any of the things you mention either, and yet they are commercially successful in the consumer world. The article mentions that this robot is still a research platform, so as you say, it is not currently ready for consumers. However, there…

> the conclusion is a bit on the negative side.

It was to highlight that this really isn't the "do everything" robot that it's being advertised as that some are assuming it will be.

> The Roomba or any of the autonomous grass mowing robots

> can't do any of the things you mention either, and yet

> they are commercially successful in the consumer world.

No, but they are significantly cheaper single purpose robots that do their intended tasks well. This is aiming to be a more generic robot that does everything badly, at a much higher cost.

> there is a lot of potential here despite of the

> limitations

Well, the problem for researchers beforehand wasn't a lack of nice robot platforms to use. Some robotic arm controlled by a laptop on some wheels will already get you quite a lot of this functionality.

Really what a lot of researchers want is a nice framework that already offers a bunch of functionality they don't want to program themselves, so they can work on the more exciting cutting edge stuff. It needs to be robust enough to allow them to hack on random research hardware.

The Pepper robot falls slightly short on this for example, as many places have purchased one hoping it could be a robotic PoS/mobile FAQ - in reality it was just a mostly buggy experience for consumers.

I had a look at the code, it seems to run ROS, offer some possibilities, but I couldn't see at a quick glance some high level functionality they could hack on top of (although I could have missed it).

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

#289

Post by jamesrcole »

mosselman wrote: post #31
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…

Or you could teach your kids to clean up their toys themselves. Make it a fun game for example. Set an example by putting away your own groceries as soon as you put them in the kitchen. Boom 5k saved. Maybe they will grow up to not be the type of person who leaves all of their crap on the table of the university table after they are done studying. To be clear: I am not shifting on you as a parent. I am making fun of…

> Or you could teach your kids to clean up their toys themselves. [...] To be clear: I am not shifting on you as a parent. I am making fun of owning robots to do the specific things you mentioned.

Most of the specific things they mentioned have nothing to do with being a parent, and also apply to people who do not have children.

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

#290

Post by hindsightbias »

onion2k wrote: post #28
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…

This is what a 10 year old would want a robot for.

For a lot less than $21K you could make a pretty nice outfit for a 10 year old and have them play the robot.

You would probably want some bleach-safe clothing though.

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