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…
Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
31–40 of 54 posts
Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#32Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#33Amazing!!! This one... I would buy one. Can't find any specs on battery life.
Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#34They'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.
Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#35It 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…
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
#36Earlier 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…
The market here isn't competing with toolmakers, it's competing with temp agencies.
Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#37"Straight out of science fiction" Looks a lot like Westworld, and the series doesn't end well for humans.
If this Protoclone is the thing to go by, we have nothing to fear for a long time.
Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#38Earlier 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.
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
#39Their 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,…
Re: Protoclone: Bipedal, musculoskeletal Android
#40It 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.