So, after they work out all the mechanical kinks (there are quite a few!), and after they work out all the software issues (again, many of them), the last problem is the biggest: production. Anyone can make a half dozen robots by hand. A hundred thousand is a completely different challenge. If they can't be made efficiently, their cost makes them more of a toy than a tool.
replyHave you seen the mass produced humanoids from China? They’re incredibly capable (again, save for hands which is a huge mechanical and software problem) and cheap.
replyBut what do they do?
replyI’ve only ever seen them performing choreographed routines or running races.
I’ve yet to see one doing something useful, so if you know of an example, I’d love to see it.
One of the Tesla's factories is winding down car production in a plan to convert to producing humanoid robots.
replyI can buy China doing it, but not Tesla. They have a terrible track record of production, nothing even close to China's capability. In the past they've "developed" factories by taking huge government incentives and then basically doing nothing with them and pocketing the cash.
replyYou need to recalibrate your bullshit sensor, because that statement from Tesla is clearly a farce.
replyThe line between moonshot and scam is thin and elon is known for doing jumping jacks on it.
replyIs that because they're close to building robots or because Chinese EVs are eating their lunch and Tesla is flatlining?
replyDeliveries use hands because humans have hands, not because hands are a prerequisite for deliveries. Last mile is already “solved” with the little robots that drive around cities, no need for hands. Humans are useful because of our brains, because we can adapt to almost any situation for very little cost. Humanoid robots will remain a novelty until the cost is reduced far beyond what is plausible.
replyHow do we define common? I’ll bet that in 5 years, the average person, even in somewhere like SF, will not see a humanoid robot during their every day life.
> Last mile is already “solved” with the little robots that drive around cities, no need for hands.
replyAnd yet we haven’t seen widespread adoption because they can’t handle stairs, steep slopes, streets without sidewalks, sidewalks with mud, or a hundred other real world challenges
We haven’t seen widespread adoption because they can’t hope to compete with human delivery drivers on cost. The cost to DoorDash and Uber Eats of a delivery driver is nothing upfront and a few dollars per delivery. The cost of a delivery robot is thousands of dollars upfront and more per delivery. Stairs aren’t even in the top 10 problems these robots face, they’re more than capable of delivering to most customers already.
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