$18k
That's a pretty low price tag.
Universal Robots are popular for research, and from what I heard start at around $30k.
KUKA LBR iiwa is more like $100-200k.
Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
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Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#72Feels like it would overbalance given how lightweight and tall it is - any time it tried to pick anything up that was even slightly heavy it would just fall over.
When it lifts something, it can apply the force gradually. When that force approaches the tipping limit, it would abandon the lift.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#73Alternative title: "Startup offers one armed, remote controlled 20.000$ robot on wheels with limited autonomous capabilities"
What's the use case besides novelty purposes? Who is supposed to buy this? Solely quadriplegic people come to mind but even that is a stretch and it's far too expensive. This is lightyears away from being a useful consumer object like a vacuum robot. If this is peak robotics, it is very disappointing.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
People used to say the same things about dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, powered lawn mowers, etc. Heck, one could imagine Og the caveperson lamenting that their kids don’t know how to drag stones properly anymore given that new fangled wheel invention. Don’t worry, we will find other ways to discipline and train our kids as tech marches forward.
The important part is that people know how to do the things - and that the things have to be done - without the equipment. I grew up with a dishwasher, but when I moved out I was without for five years. I didn't end up panicking and just did the manual washing up for five years.
I own a house now with a dishwasher; I don't NEED it, but it sure is convenient.
Anyway, when it comes to kids picking up their shit, the important part there is that they learn the importance of not living in a fucking tip. If they or a robot or the well-paid help does it, it doesn't really matter in the end as long as it gets done.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
If you actually had a simple hack that reliably made children clean up after themselves, and could somehow sell it for money without it being instantly pirated, you would make rather more billions of dollars than Aaron Edsinger's robot ever would.
There is no magic trick there, just stop being afraid of hurting their feelings by being assertive and making your expectations of their contribution to the household known.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#76"As of right now, Stretch is very much a research platform."
That was buried way too low in the article for most HN commenters to bother getting to. Maybe this fact will help refocus the conversation from what this thing can't do to what it might be able to with some more work. Personally, I think it looks innovative. Adding a relatively inexpensive telescoping arm and some LiDAR to a Roomba could be another evolutionary step forward in home robotics.
I can easily imagine wiring this thing up to Alexa and asking it to go get me a drink from the fridge. That alone would be worth a few hundred bucks when it becomes a commercial product.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Instead of building robots, perhaps we should allow low cost care workers to help immobile people. These care workers can be sourced locally or abroad (immigrants). Boom. You've just lifted someone out of poverty and helped an immobile human get a live human care taker.
Why the focus on low cost and immigrants? There's millions of people in your country (and I don't even know where you live) that live below the poverty line or are unemployed.
Open up jobs, pay a decent wage, and stop this line of thought about exploiting people as much as possible for as little money as possible.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#78Things 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…
- Set the table - Gather & sort laundry, maybe even put in the washing machine - Gather dishes and maybe put them in the washer All chores easy for an able bodies human. But imagine having some disability or getting older. Getting back that autonomy in your life is definitely worth the money. Heck, if I have to pick between playing with my newborn son or doing the above and the likes, I'd trade my car for a robot tha…
If you have the money, why not just hire a help? Hire your neighbour, not some billionaire. There's social ways and means for a situation like that.
But oh no, having people around and paying them a decent wage smells like socialism! Anti-individualism! Better to pay 20K for a half-assed robot that can only do a fraction of what needs to be done than to pay someone's wage, right?
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#79Alternative title: "Startup offers one armed, remote controlled 20.000$ robot on wheels with limited autonomous capabilities" What's the use case besides novelty purposes? Who is supposed to buy this? Solely quadriplegic people come to mind but even that is a stretch and it's far too expensive. This is lightyears away from being a useful consumer object like a vacuum robot. If this is peak robotics, it is very disapp…
Research; as the article states, it's a research platform. It's up to hackers and stuff to come up with ways to use this platform.
Re: Ex-Googler's startup comes out of stealth with simple, clever robot design
#80The idea of it being controlled by a remote person makes me feel like a new breed of gig-jobs could be around the corner. Buy a robot, and pay someone remotely to do your housekeeping for you. The housekeeper could even operate it from their smartphones.
Why remote? There's plenty of people nearby you can hire that can do the job better, faster, and cheaper.
The only downside is that you've got a real person in your house, but honestly if that's a hangup then you need to suck it up and just do the work yourself.