Boston Dynamics New Robot ("Handle") - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 11:06:53 pm
content: Neat.Boston Dynamics stuff is awesome and terrifying in roughly equal measure.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 11:41:10 pm
content: Yep, and that is why, in the (near?) future, the human employment outlook for certain manual labor jobs should be terrifying to anyone needing that kind of work. A day of reckoning is coming to society where we are going to have to face the problem of what do to with all the unemployed manual laborers - yea yea I know - they are going to get jobs fixing the robots right?

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 11:50:57 pm
content: Much more practical with the wheels. And less scary. Also a lot quieter compered to other models. Any infos on the battery?Alexander.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 11:59:24 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on February 27, 2017, 11:41:10 pmConsidering how many stupid people are out there, with hands growing out of their ass, they are doomed.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 12:01:02 am
content: I'd like to see the guy with the hockey stick have a go at this one!

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 12:12:29 am
content: It would have been hysterical if they'd programmed it to stagger away like it was dizzy after it did the 'stand in place and spin' thing.Agreed - Very cool, but a bit scary at the same time.-Pat

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 12:30:27 am
content: As always, the Boston Dynamics stuff is impressive. There is a lot of really subtle, beautiful thought there. I had to watch the video again to understand the camber on the wheels when it was going around in circles and realize that it is achieved without any extra degrees of freedom in the "legs". It is also interesting to see how some of the motions and strategies seem to be patterned after biological models, and some are totally unique to Boston Dynamics. Kudos to them on another fantastic machine.The only thing you have to wonder, is given how impressive their marketing videos have been, why isn't the world already covered with their creations?

author: raptor1956
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 12:46:42 am
content: Quote from: xrunner on February 27, 2017, 11:41:10 pmWhy should an employer buy a robot at $250K when he can just use cheap people. The movement of manufacturing from the west to places like China isn't because China has better robots -- it's because they have cheaper people.Brian

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 12:50:17 am
content: Quote from: raptor1956 on February 28, 2017, 12:46:42 amIn the future which I'm referring to, how is it that you know the cost of the robot?

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 03:08:09 am
content: Quote from: raptor1956 on February 28, 2017, 12:46:42 amHere in the US a rule of thumb is that it costs about 2X wages to employ someone. That covers the costs of administration, employer taxes, training ...... So a minimum wage person making $20K costs $40K a year to employ. I have no idea what annual maintenance costs on the robot would be, but it seems likely that if the robot lasts 10 years it will have saved money. If, like many industrial machines, it lasts 20 it virtually guaranteed to be cheaper than a human.Similar (but different) analysis will apply worldwide, with robot costs likely much lower in China and other similar locations. So while it is possible that cheap human labor will win in some locations, it isn't obvious to me that it will everywhere.

author: Vtile
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 11:38:52 am
content: With boston dynamics robots you need to think a minigun on the shoulder of those to get the idea of the real application. Civil markets might be a spinoff for some technologies, but the support for killing thepeopleenemies is what is the main field of application for BD robots. (DARPA, US Navy, US Army as associates and looking what kind of robots they are studying and developing)

author: Vtile
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 12:14:28 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on February 28, 2017, 12:30:27 amJust like if you look up how people move with ice skates, skis or bikes (motor or velo).Now how many years it will take I can follow from news those "Handle" derives as a mass control tools in streets of US, my quess is not many.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2017, 01:10:53 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on February 28, 2017, 03:08:09 amAnd don't forget to divide your working day into three shifts, factor in sick days, holidays, costs of safe working conditions, bathroom breaks, healthcare, all the things meat sacks need to get through the day, wastage due to 'mistakes' etc. so your costs treble.Suddenly a robot workforce doesn't look expensive.That's partly why the 'dirty' jobs in manufacturing get shipped to third world countries.It's a nonsense to try to maintain jobs that can be done far cheaper elsewhere or by mechanisation.Very sad fact of life but with the progress of technology it means industry and 'the workforce' has to be continuously evolving unless you can find some cosy little niche where 'old fashioned' is the main selling point.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2017, 08:51:10 pm
content: It's fucking awsome!!!they did an amazing job.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 09, 2017, 09:08:09 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on February 28, 2017, 11:41:47 pmHopefully I'll die before that.