
The robotics revolution is here, and it's changing how we live - DamnInteresting
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2020/09/the-robot-revolution-has-arrived-feature/
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paulsutter
"If it works, it's a machine. If it doesn't work, it's a Robot" \- Kane Hsieh,
Root VC

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michaelbuckbee
I prefer Buckbee's Law: "The value of a robot is proportional to the degree it
does not look like a robot."

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Legogris
Japan would like a word with you.

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ethbro
_Captain Bryant toka, me ni omae-yo._

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syndacks
Can we please change the title of this post? "And it's changing how we live"
is not only click bait, it's not even in the original article.

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jasode
Understand your annoyance but _" it's changing how we live"_ is in the raw
HTML source tag _< title>_. It may have been the most convenient text (e.g.
maybe default title in RSS reader) to copy paste into the submission form.
From browser's view source:

    
    
      <title>The robotics revolution is here, and it&#039;s changing how we live</title>

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noodlesUK
I’ve recently got a roborock vacuum, and it’s actually been life changing. I
have a number of pets, and not having to vacuum 3x a week or so has been
incredible. I had a roomba when I was a kid and it sucked (or not I suppose).
The roborock has lidar and it’s super meticulous.

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TheSpiceIsLife
What model have you got? I've been looking and it a seems robot vacs have
finally started to be _good_.

So looking to make a purchase between now and Christmas-ish.

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CarbyAu
Not GP; I have a Roborock S5.

But it hasn't run yet. I have yet to get around to rooting it to avoid privacy
issues.

[https://www.iot-tests.org/2019/02/from-the-land-of-smiles-
xi...](https://www.iot-tests.org/2019/02/from-the-land-of-smiles-xiaomi-
roborock-s55/)

On the upside, apparently once it is rooted and dustcloud installed it is
apparently even more responsive as it pretty much stores the database on
itself.

[https://github.com/dgiese/dustcloud](https://github.com/dgiese/dustcloud)

As usual, disclaimers apply, YMMV etc etc.

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amelius
Robots are still very much special-purpose devices, so I would call them just
machines, like a dishwashing machine.

The moment they become more versatile we can call them robots. E.g. when the
same machine can bake an egg, do the dishes, and vacuum the floor.

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LeifCarrotson
I use robots in my day job for industrial automation. $12k to 60k, SCARA or
6-axis robot arms, from Fanuc, ABB, Epson, Denso etc.

We call them "robots" and not just "machines" or "actuators" like the rest of
the equipment because, in comparison with the rest of the industrial LEGO with
which they interact, they are incredibly versatile.

They're not sci-fi "Do what I mean" versatile, no, but if the requirements
change (or are likely to change) then they're probably going to be your
easiest path to accommodate those changes, without buying new parts. Sure, you
can, say, design in a shim pack to precisely set the travel of a pneumatic
cylinder (to make one of six degrees of freedom able to be changed), but with
a robot you just bolt the fixture down to the concrete at woodworker precision
and let the robot programmer (sigh...) accomodate any tolerance you may need
to take up.

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r0s
This feels like a Wired article from 2003.

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magneticnorth
"If you're like most people, you've never met a robot" is a very odd opener. I
have seen a roomba? And ridden in a car with autopilot? And outside the tech
bubble, I'd expect that nearly all factory workers have "met" a robot by this
point.

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ourcat
If relationships with China go further south, I've been wondering/worrying if
that might eventually (and sadly) affect the supply of cheap components to
young, developing 'makers', many of whom ultimatately tend to end up in this
line of industry after years of tinkering.

The knock-on effect could be huge in the future.

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sircastor
I’ve worried about this too, but it is a two way street. China’s industry
can’t stop supplying these components to manufacturers without taking a hit.
The extra supply that feeds Makers won’t go away unless the production itself
goes away. In spite of all their efforts, this is still Capitalism, and there
are still willing buyers.

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toxik
The Chinese government is boneheaded enough to do something like that,
definitely. It would of course be a bad idea in the long run as production
would simply move.

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neilpanchal
We also have things like this where a drip coffee machine would do exactly the
same thing:
[https://images.wsj.net/im-223921?width=1280&size=1.33333333](https://images.wsj.net/im-223921?width=1280&size=1.33333333)

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nkingsy
If it cleans up that would be a pretty nice pour over station.

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lkrubner
If the robotics revolution is here, why is productivity growth so low?
American factories underwent dramatic automation during the 1950s and 1960s,
and productivity growth was very high at that time. Maybe that was the real
robotics revolution?

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petra
It's all so new, and far from being fully deployed, to be seen in economical
averages.

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lkrubner
Then why use the word "here"? Your point is that this is something that is
still nascent -- maybe we will see results in a few years. It is not "here"
yet.

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emteycz
Because people who want to risk a little for some interesting gains should be
doing it now, not when it's in the averages. It gets in the averages years
after all the purchases, setup, customization and consulting is done.

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lkrubner
Then why use the word "here"? Your point is that this is something that is
still nascent -- maybe we will see results in a few years. It is not "here"
yet.

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emteycz
It was not my point, but I think our definitions of 'here' differ. I don't
need to wait until everyone has it to consider it 'here'. I consider it here
when I can start doing it.

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Animats
Every example they give is a demo, not a production system.

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jam
A few they mention are production systems at fairly high volume. The floor
scrubbers from Brain Corp and shelf scanners from Bossa Nova are running in
hundreds of Walmart stores, and the delivery robots from Starship are running
in dozens of cities.

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Animats
I've seen the Starship robots rolling around, always with a human watcher
following along.

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oldgradstudent
The meaning of the expression 'to be here' when applied to a technology has
changed in recent years. consider the sentences:

The robotics revolution is here.

Self-driving cars are already here.

The expression 'to be here' no longer has any specific meaning.

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banmeagaindan2
I like robots but bullshit.

There is no Robotics revolution and won't be until the Paradoxes are broken.
We have toys until then.

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jbarrozo
Is a vendo machine considered robot?

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CyberDildonics
Only if you need to make your word quota for the week.

