Robotic technology is slowly making its way from more structured environments to less structured ones. Most of the work in factories is now done by robots. The invasion of warehouses is underway (and I'm helping with that). Probably you'll be seeing robots stocking shelves in retail. And folding clothes is substantially harder than stocking shelves and you, the consumer, aren't willing to pay nearly as much for a robot to fold your clothes as a store is for a robot because the amount of labor being replaced is much smaller. So it'll be a while.
CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
361–370 of 474 posts
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#362Earlier quoted context omitted.
I found a hack for #1 (I'm an architect) - I fit houses with 2 dishwashers side by side. You simply move dishes from one to the other, and start it when it's full. Think of the dishwasher as a robotic closet that automatically washes your dishes.
It takes less than 5 min to take out the dishes from a full dishwasher even a large one. I don’t care how many downvotes this get but how lazy can one person be. Also I found even a better way and that is not to use the dishwasher at all besides after a dinner party or a large cooking session during the weekend. I live with my partner and it doesn’t take more than 10min to do the dishes at the end of each day without…
I use a dishwasher but at the rate I go through dishes (slowly) it isn't particularly convenient, but I've run into some hurdles with the "clean immediately after use" workflow. I'm interested in hearing tips.
I never seem to be able to wring rags/sponges out well enough to stop them from quickly getting smelly. I would expect spectacular bacterial growth on a soft surface periodically refreshed with water and nutrients, and that seems to be exactly what happens. My parents swear by this approach but they always have a stinky sink and a gross scrubbing sponge/cloth. Do you have a better technique or do you just learn to be one with the bacteria-ball :-) ?
As for soap, dish soap leave my hands feeling so dry and awful that it takes regular application of hand cream over days before picking up paper, touching fuzzy fabric, and typing no longer bring immediate physical discomfort. Gloves solve the problem, but putting on + taking off gloves to scrub a single dish has poor time economy. Again, do you have a better technique or do you just live with it?
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#363Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#364[deleted]
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#365Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…
1. As said earlier: two dishwashers.
2. Have a walk-in closet next to toilet or other place when you change in to pajamas after a day. Make a few holes on the head level in the wall separating the closet from the toilet. One hole for one kind of clothing (i.e. 3: colors, whites, baby clothes). In closet under each hole place a basket with a hole near the bottom. Each basket is a laundry queue. Buy washer/drier combo (or two). Place it in your closet under baskets. Place a washing powder dispenser just above the machine's washing powder bay.
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#366Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…
> I can vacuum my floor by myself If you're in the HN demographic that likes to live in small urban apartments then you may not see value in automated vacuuming, but believe me they are filling a need for many people. My 68 year old mom decided to get one last year, prompted by discussions with several of her friends. She loves it so much that she's become something of a Roomba evangelical - last I checked she's talk…
I'm still on the fence about whether I like our Roomba. A few things:
- we can't run it on a schedule, b/c it requires prep (moving cat food/toys, floor mats, etc)
- it's much slower than hand vacuuming, especially with our lightweight Dirt Devil (which is great for hardwood / tile but not for carpet)
- it's not all that thorough. it naturally leaves some stuff behind because it pushes some dirt / dust around while scooting around the floor
- whenever it's running we have to either hide in a different room or always be getting out of its way
- it can't get nooks and crannies smaller than itself
I will say that it's particularly useful on carpet, where I'd normally have to retrieve our very heavy standard vacuum out of the closet.
However - my wife loves it and I tolerate it. The mental hurdle of picking up a few things off the floor and pressing the "start" button is easier than actually doing it by hand. It's really best thought of as supplementary to a regular vacuum rather than a replacement.
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#367Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…
1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. I have actually thought about this, since this is a chore that I absolutely hate. In my view no one should be subject to the task of making dishes. Some people seem to like it, God bless them ! Initial prototype will be to work with steel utensils to avoid damages. Current object detection techniques are sufficient to recognize plates, glasses, d…
This seems like a considerable amount of mechanical complexity (two multi-axis arms) to replace what's currently done with a jet of water...
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#368Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don’t care how many downvotes this get but how lazy can one person be. I downvoted but just to answer your question: INFINITY. INFINITY LAZY is the goal. Absolutely zero milliseconds worth of mindless toils would be my ideal number in life. That is the spec.
My girlfriend just bought dimming lamps for the living room so we can adjust the light levels in the evening. She CAN NOT see the benefit of having wireless bulbs controlled by your phone for this purpose. Apparently this is "too lazy". TOO LAZY. IS THAT A THING?!
Yes it is. The scientific name is "diminishing returns".
(And in physical life, if one overdoes it with laziness, they can get from obese to pressure ulcers)
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#369Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…
I want a robot to do my job so I can have time to be at home with my family, travel, make more meaningful memories, and have the time and energy to fold my own laundry.
I am far more interested in automating the parts of the day that really enslave me so that I am free to spend my time exactly as I wish. I spend maybe 1hr a week folding laundry, tops, but I spend 40hrs a week at a desk doing something I am at best somewhat interested in but generally wishing I was at home/away doing things I enjoy with people I truly care about.
The future I really care about is one where people don't have to spend nearly all their waking hours doing things they don't really care much about. If I could have a farming robot that could grow all my food for me in a self sustaining closed cycle, that would revolutionize my life. Add solar and decentralized sanitation/water and I really don't need much else.
These are idealistic naive fantasies, but there is something to it. Technology has the potential to really free us well beyond folding clothes and washing dishes. And the task of folding clothes actually sounds more complex than growing food on a hobby farm.
Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work
#370Earlier quoted context omitted.
It takes less than 5 min to take out the dishes from a full dishwasher even a large one. I don’t care how many downvotes this get but how lazy can one person be. Also I found even a better way and that is not to use the dishwasher at all besides after a dinner party or a large cooking session during the weekend. I live with my partner and it doesn’t take more than 10min to do the dishes at the end of each day without…
From research I've done lately, I found that new dishwashers are more environment friendly than washing dishes manually (taking into account water + electricity). So it's not only time saving it's also greener.
Well, taking account US-level use of water and electricity (eg. let the faucet run and wash the dishes leisurely, wasting water in the process).
Not sure it is as green as "have some predetermined amount of water at the ready and wash dishes with it", as is the case in much of the developing world (and could be an alternative for the developed world too if environmental costs were a concern).
Plus the cost of water+electricity to develop, pack, transport, etc a dishwasher could be big too.
Of course it could be premature optimization -- if 99.99% of the water is wasted in other uses.