
Hands-on with Baxter, the factory robot of the future - mjohn
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/hands-on-with-baxter-the-factory-robot-of-the-future/
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andrewljohnson
I recently did some research on robot state-of-the-art, and Baxter is one of
the standouts. Baxter combines advanced sensors with an interesting approach
to learning a mechanical routine, ostensibly trained by a factory line worker,
not a programmer. The founder was also one of the iRobot founders:
[http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2013/rodney-brooks-rethink-
robotic...](http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2013/rodney-brooks-rethink-
robotics-0809)

This isn't totally uncharted waters. There are similar robots/arms out there,
cheaper even than Baxter's ~$20K price tag: [http://www.universal-
robots.com/](http://www.universal-robots.com/)

I think the semi-human factory robot is going to be a big robot segment
eventually, and part of the path to robots moving around within society.
Companies like Rethink Robotics end up working on necessary problems like how
not to whack humans with giant robot arms, and make humans feel comfortable
with the robots next to them.

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mlangdon
My firm does industrial automation consulting. I've seen one of these in the
wild at an in-house demo for a furniture manufacturer and we have an auto
parts supplier who is looking at using them in production.

They seem to have a ludicrously low weight limit (I remember reading 5 lbs)
and don't seem capable of tasks where you need a programmer for automation
(welding, quality checking, etc, etc.)

I would not discount the likelihood of managers and owners getting unduly
excited and buying ten of them before having to quietly admit to themselves it
was a mistake.

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lifeisstillgood
I think they may a decent set of sales, but that's more about cutting out the
programmer from the process (it's a fairly basic packing robot by the looks of
things and if your factory is laid out well enough to fit it in, you will
probably have a more specialised robot doing that work anyway. This seems too
generic too be effective.

I think the biggest open market here is turning things that are not factories
into factory-forms. For example my house is a new build and it was stuffed up
(forgot to put in insulation). Now as the CEO of the building company I would
rather have put QR codes on all my planks of wood etc, have them photo graphed
in place then put the plaster on top, thus being able to record the processes,
add analytical to something that is "in the field".

The major benefits will not come from replacing humans with robots but with
replacing lack of control with control.

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god_bless_texas
I got a chance to see and play with one of these not too long ago. Cool
technology, not really ready for prime time.

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angersock
Anybody else getting flashbacks to Fallout New Vegas?

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ferongr
This isn't a "factory" robot. Maybe a toy for some hardware startup to waste
VC funds on but not something you'd want in a proper factory.

