Live data from Hacker News

Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

clonerobotics.com

31–40 of 54 posts

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#31
post #8

It looks fun, but I'm still amazed by companies trying to create humanoid robots. I mean, any automation, factory improvement, transportation, etc. will be achieved with fewer issues and easier maintenance by purpose built robots. Alternatively by something simple but adaptable (like mounted or mobile arms with different attachments). Unless they're building a sexbot or art... who exactly is the target here? (I get t…

Seems a dog or spider robot with 2 human arms on it's body (why would it need a head?) is much better really.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#33

Amazing!!! This one... I would buy one. Can't find any specs on battery life.

If it even has a battery, it will be horrendous. The most expensive purpose built robots with large battery cases have horrible battery life; this has far less space, so it will be measured in minutes. Battery life is why we won't have nice robots any time remotely soon unless there is an actual (not the yearly bla is coming and then it isn't) revolutionary step in battery tech. And there is just no sign of that.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#34
post #28

They're claiming some revolutionary "synthetic muscle," but is there video of one of these things walking? If it's just pneumatics then this is a repeat of the early androids out of Japan, which looked cool but never got up and moved - they were basically just impressive animatronic dolls. My guess is that this ends up being something similar.

Check the arm/hand videos; it shows what they are testing ; unless they completely changed everything since that video, it's just a bucketload of rubber (pneumatic) tubes.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#35
post #8

It looks fun, but I'm still amazed by companies trying to create humanoid robots. I mean, any automation, factory improvement, transportation, etc. will be achieved with fewer issues and easier maintenance by purpose built robots. Alternatively by something simple but adaptable (like mounted or mobile arms with different attachments). Unless they're building a sexbot or art... who exactly is the target here? (I get t…

Your house, your car, your dishwasher, you washing machine (and everything else in your kitchen and laundry), your medicine bottle/syringes/etc etc are all designed for humans.

Factories are not the target market, in-home use is. Imagine if you could buy a robot that was a chef a cleaner a gardener a butler a security guards and a carer for the price of a family car. It would sell like crazy. Every household would want one.

Ignoring the weirdness-factor it would be an amazing quality of life improvement if you had a tireless robot that could basically do all your day to day chores for you.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using humanoid robots means you get to reuse human tools and workflows, and use teleoperation (and training) until your AI catches up.

Why would you want to use human tools? Human tools exist because of how we work. If you're building a robot, it's extremely easier to give it a functionally equivalent attachment instead. (rather than a functionality equivalent arm with enough fine-grained pressure feedback to be able to reliably grab things) Teleoperation works great on purpose built robots too - for example https://www.bbc.com/future/article/201405…

To be glib: you're not competing with KUKA, you're competing with the parking lot at Home Depot.

The market here isn't competing with toolmakers, it's competing with temp agencies.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you want to use human tools? Human tools exist because of how we work. If you're building a robot, it's extremely easier to give it a functionally equivalent attachment instead. (rather than a functionality equivalent arm with enough fine-grained pressure feedback to be able to reliably grab things) Teleoperation works great on purpose built robots too - for example https://www.bbc.com/future/article/201405…

Assuming the cost of the droid is low enough, I think the use-case is to have it do ad-hoc tasks using the tools you have at hand right now, without the need to invest in an expensive specialized tool which only the robot can use. The idea is not efficiency but versatility.

Just think for a moment on all the unique interfaces we humans encounter with our tools on a daily basis*. No interior in our cars look the same, coffee machines have varying functionalities, every vacuum has its buttons placed differently, all our digital interfaces (smartphones, smart home control panels, digital oscilloscopes, synthesizers etc.), even simple remote controls etc. Some of these interfaces are just some designers choice on top of an already standardized digital protocol (CAN bus, Bluetooth) - so this thing takes the hard way and needs to adapt to all those interfaces in order to be more useful than "can follow you around"?

Honestly, I think that would be quite an achievement and could be great for something like elderly care. Although this thing needs to be able to do useful tactile tasks first, like putting a thread through a pinhole, or cutting your vegetables in cubes of equal size. I'd look forward to seeing a demo!

*: How many things do you personally encounter with the exact same interface? iPhones yes-ish (apps can be renamed and shuffled around, the control center can be customized etc.), but not even QWERTY keyboards. I think we humans constantly strive for some form of individuality.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#39
post #12

Their video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7dhwFcuUn0 Taken at face value, it is a very cool project. With pneumatic muscles, the biggest challenge is actually not strength but control. Fine strength/distance control is difficult. Pneumatic muscles are more for bang-bang control (on/off). The company seems to address this issue by having many "myofibers" and recruiting the fibers one by one. However, in the video,…

I can imagine the noise coming out of a 500w air pump has to be quite something. Imagine having a vacuum cleaner running at random intervals 24/7.

Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android

#40
post #8

It looks fun, but I'm still amazed by companies trying to create humanoid robots. I mean, any automation, factory improvement, transportation, etc. will be achieved with fewer issues and easier maintenance by purpose built robots. Alternatively by something simple but adaptable (like mounted or mobile arms with different attachments). Unless they're building a sexbot or art... who exactly is the target here? (I get t…

Seems a dog or spider robot with 2 human arms on it's body (why would it need a head?) is much better really.

Those exist and they tend to work really well.
Post reply on HN