
I made a robot to cut my hair with scissors [video] - thdrdt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zBrbdU_y0s
======
tomerico
Meta point: I think that this channel illustrates well the transition from
personal blogs to youtube videos.

If you go to his projects blog,
[https://shane.engineer/](https://shane.engineer/) you could see very detailed
blog posts in the past that go deeply into the engineering, including code
snippets. However, he only really go traction when starting to publish youtube
videos, specifically youtube video with a clickbait subject (such as a self
aiming basketball hoop).

What YouTube provides is a highly competitive environment that provides
creators with constant feedback. This allowed him to identify and his niche as
he uploaded more videos. With YouTube, the exposure these projects receive is
orders of magnitude higher, while empowering its creators to be self
sustainable with ads (and sponsors, patreon, and merch) revenue.

At the end of the day, I think it's a positive change, as it allows more
people to create high quality content independently, and in a rewarding way
(vs volunteering).

~~~
mrfusion
It sucks for people aren’t videogenic though.

~~~
kiba
There are tons of DIY video that didn't really feature the person's face, or
isn't really necessary.

~~~
hombre_fatal
Binging with Babish didn't even show his face until he was popular:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHA_jMfCvEnv-3kRjTCQXw](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHA_jMfCvEnv-3kRjTCQXw)

He basically popularized a whole genre of "here are my rolled-up sleeved
forearms doing things" video framing.

~~~
ngngngng
He has some really nice looking forearms though.

------
sambroner
This guy is a legend. Awesome videos. A few of them seem productizable in a
way most DIY-er videos don't, albeit in a limited run capacity.

He made a iPad lidar to "braille" converter that was really impressive, and
I'm hopeful someone picks up the work.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Au47gnXs0w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Au47gnXs0w)

~~~
ricksharp
Each of these projects is something I think I could probably figure out how to
make in a year (but not really - I simply couldn't do the hardware side with
my toolset).

Then I look at his youtube videos and see he is putting out one of these
videos each week.

The level of productivity is insane.

For example, in the basketball 2.0, he mentioned doing the 1.0 version a few
weeks before. Then in a few weeks, he is doing something equivalent to Mark
Rober's dart board (that took Mark 2 years with help) - while creating other
videos.

How is this possible?

~~~
hanniabu
He has a very particular set of skills; skills he has acquired over a very
long career. Skills that make his projects a nightmare for people like you.

------
pcurve
In the beginning I was afraid he was going to lose his ears... vacuum
contraption reminds me of Flowbee on a 3d arm.

I think it's impressive feat of engineering. I'm sure he can really perfect it
collaborating with a stylist.

~~~
jansan
For those fellow readers who do not know the Flowbee, here it is:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK7_VSpTyVY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK7_VSpTyVY)

Quote: "This ingenious device lets you give yourself and family perfect
haircuts everytime!"

~~~
exhilaration
If anyone else suddenly had a flashback of Wayne's World where the Flowbee was
parodied, here's the clip you're looking for:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LrJDt-
fPQI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LrJDt-fPQI)

------
the_duke
Clearly inferior to Simone Giertz' revolutionary hair cutting drone:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQSh1MWIdVU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQSh1MWIdVU)

Looks like it is a tad more practical (and functional), though...

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bitdotdash
Just watched this last night with my wife. Was cracking up the whole time. The
combination of cheesy humor and engineering chops is fantastic. I also enjoyed
the one he did about making a basketball back board that ensures you always
make the shot. Good stuff.

~~~
Akronymus
I think you'd enjoy michael reeves. Altough that guy is a bit out of his mind.

[https://www.youtube.com/c/MichaelReeves/videos](https://www.youtube.com/c/MichaelReeves/videos)

~~~
gala8y
Thought I was done with OP videos for the evening, but now this guy...

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supernova87a
I had been thinking about rather than a robot, the thing I really need is
actually just a camera and remote arms I control, that can help me cut the
back of my head more accurately.

If I could see the back of my head in front of me in a way that's not reversed
in the mirror, and use my own hands as normal but they do the work back there,
all problems would be solved...

I don't need a smart robot, I just need an improved angle of using my own
hands!

~~~
chansiky
I've been cutting my own hair for some time now, and I have to say that after
a while you develop a certain level of proprioception for where the buzzer is
at. I don't even look at the mirror for most of the time I'm cutting, only to
check if I did it right. And almost always I know the instant I cut too much
(because I get the same kind of cringe feeling you get right when you throw a
basketball and know instantly that you missed).

Then again, I have a "good enough" attitude for haircuts - but people are
genuinely surprised when I tell them I cut my own hair. I think this is
because I've gotten better at cutting my own head of hair than what a random
barber would be capable of.

------
krick
I actually think this isn't that far from a legit product. It is just an early
prototype, the approach seems to be totally working, current problems pretty
easy to fix, so it kind of makes me surprised cheap robotic barbershops aren't
a thing yet.

(Attempts into jokes and acting in this video are painfully lame, though, it
is much better when he just focuses on description of the actual project.)

~~~
amINeolib
It's extremely far from a usable product.

The fact he couldn't cut his own hair, means he can't cut different hair, or
different styles, or different textures or head shapes. No testing completed
either.

This is really nothing more than a YouTube video.

Source- Design Engineer

~~~
TeeWEE
Exactly how the first iPhone prototype was.... But you need to see past that,
see the vision. I see robot haircutters everywhere in 10 years.

~~~
amINeolib
Everyone forgets about Blackberry...

Also I believe you are describing a general Apple quality.

------
robbrown451
One more way coronavirus lockdown is a threat to a whole lot of trades. Once
it is over, not only will a whole lot of people have figured out that it isn't
all that hard to cut your own hair or your spouse/family member's hair, but
we'll have figured out how to have robots do it.

Same goes for a whole lot of other things. Education is probably going to take
the biggest hit. I'm ok with this overall, but it's going to hurt a lot for
some people.

~~~
davidedicillo
You sound like someone who hasn't cared about a child while trying to keep a
full-time job. I bet many parents would support giving childcare/education
professionals a raise after having to do the job themselves for a few
months...

~~~
robbrown451
I actually am one of those parents. Childcare and education are actually two
different things. They tend to be combined into one in schools, but that isn't
the only approach.

There is also college education, which is a bit different. I could see many
people choosing to simply pay for an institution to give them tests to prove
they actually learned the material, while the actual learning is done
independently. If you against this, well, you sound like someone who had their
college paid for by their parents.

------
slazaro
I always thought that a hair cutting robot should use that static electricity
trick to make your hair stand up straight, then it would be a matter of having
your head immobilized, and then the problem is way easier to solve in a safe
way.

------
knodi123
Maybe a dumb question, but I just don't see - from a pure haircutting
perspective, how is the scissor approach better than a flowbee? i.e., why not
just have regular electric clippers inside the vacuum channel?

~~~
kolinko
Because that mames it mire difficult and fun, I guess :)

~~~
knodi123
that's a perfectly valid answer, but it raises the additional question of why
actual cheap haircut shops use scissors and fingers instead of a flowbee-style
piece of equipment, too. :-)

~~~
ghaff
Based on the very limited reading I've done about it:

1.) It only really works for certain styles, lengths, and types of hair

2.) Cheap haircut shops are presumably mostly competing with home haircuts so
if you start doing 5 minute haircuts with some gadget, your customers may
start going "hmm" and go off and buy the gadget to use at home.

------
Aardwolf
Let's hope it goes better than this:

[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/automatic-
business/](https://pbfcomics.com/comics/automatic-business/)

------
cdnsteve
Pretty innovative first release that has major potential longer term as the
product gets refined with possible industry disruption factor. Kudos to the
creator!

------
jcmontx
This guy makes me feel like an inferior mind

------
slig
His channel is fantastic, be sure to check his other videos.

~~~
thdrdt
I like his way of thinking: don't create new parts for your prototype all the
time when they don't work but just fix them quickly so they will work (with
tape, nails, glue and what not). And only when the prototype works create new
parts that look good.

First iterate, then make it look good.

------
syntaxing
That was an awesome video, I've been wanting to make something similar since I
have been cutting my own hair. I am super envious of his workshop! Some of his
designs are super neat like that "hair finger grabber". I love how its a cam
mechanism.

------
thdrdt
Around 10:25 the time-lapse.

------
aiisjustanif
As someone with an afro, this is nightmare fuel.

------
perseverance
This is very cool actually. How often have we asked the barber to style our
hair a particular way and then been disappointed.

~~~
frabert
This way you can be consistently disappointed! Jokes aside, the complexity of
this kinds of applications is not easy to grasp until you see stuff like this

------
person_of_color
Woah, that’s one serious home laboratory.

------
kjhughes
He should team up with Debbie Sterling, who built a hair washing robot,

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAF1CaCykwQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAF1CaCykwQ)

and start a salon.

------
nootropicat
You could turn it into a startup

There's definitely some reliable way to detect tissue (like ears) between the
blades (capacitance?) so that a robot never cuts someone's ears off

~~~
OJFord
SawStop does so with its table saws - instead of losing a finger or worse,
they barely nick you (I've seen at least one report of it triggering and not
even drawing blood).

------
ricksharp
Wow, amazing work - the skillset includes everything from machining parts
(Using a plasma cutter) to custom 3D software (for simulating and debugging).

------
_curious_
This is the second experiment/invention video of yours I've come across over
the past year and equally enjoyable - keep up the great work!

------
grecy
> _There is just something deeply satisfying about a mullet_

For anyone that has never had a mullet, I wholeheartedly agree. Gotta do it
once in your life!

------
mooreed
This made my day. Great video. incredible project, and funny too.

Spoiler - he gets a robotically perfect mullet because the scissors can reach
the lower neck line.

~~~
drited
I wish he kept the Mullet. It truly was art.

------
jeffrallen
This guy is totally insane. And his wife is a saint.

------
emrahcom
very nice work

------
qwertox
Robot: "Did you do anything fun this weekend?"

Dude: "It was really sad, my dog died"

Robot: "Oh well, cool"

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LeroyJenkins19
This is so cool!

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LeroyJenkins19
This is super cool!

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villgax
Never run with scissors!

------
oriettaxx
mmh, it could be much much easier: why not using an air vacuum to have the
hair perpendicular to the skull? :)

~~~
amelius
Or use electrostatic energy to pull the hair away before cutting. But I think
vacuuming would work best.

~~~
Retric
It does use a vacuum.

------
alias_neo
Is nobody else going to comment on the disgraceful number of adverts? I got a
couple of minutes in, and mid sentence a couple of unskippable ads interject,
so I skip forwards bit and a couple more, again, miss sentence. It's annoying
and I just gave up all interest in what might otherwise have been an
interesting video.

~~~
RandomBacon
Maybe everyone else is using an adblocker?

I used Firefox uBlock Origin and didn't get any ads.

~~~
alias_neo
Interesting point. I also use uBlock Origin (what sane person doesn't these
days?) but I also browse HN primarily on mobile and the video opened in the
app, where of course uBlock doesn't work. I even have a PiHole, also doesn't
work for YouTube.

I think it's the first time I've ever seen a YouTube video linked on HN.

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wiz21c
That's absurd.

The energy it takes to make such a machine, to maintain it, etc. is probably
so much more than what it takes to have a human doing it. Plus the fact that
the human will actually talk to me.

I can understand that humanity looks forward to more automation. But in this
case, it seems we loose so much. Plus the fact that, as with many
manual/creative skills, a robot is nowhere close being able to work as good as
a human.

Just one more example of people who wrongly assimilate "innovation" to
"progress".

~~~
wtetzner
Except that in many places you can't go to a human to cut your hair, because
of COVID-19.

