My husband and I recently used our newest Tesla Y with full self driving to travel from the East Coast to the Rockies then North through three Canadian provinces and back to North Carolina. It was the most enjoyable trip we’ve made because the car drove us everywhere we wanted to go. We are Senior citizens and enjoyed not having to control the car except for a very few times, mostly through temporary road construction sites. This is the future of driving and it is much safer and smoother driving than even we can drive as humans. Our grandchildren were amazed by the car’s self driving capabilities. This is the best future for safe road travel!
35 years ago an engineer at ABB robotics said the human hand and wrist has 31 degrees of freedom. This is the biggest challenge to robots end effectors. Yes AI can help but we humans are a magical machine not easily replicated.
I had robot-assisted lung surgery 2 years ago. It was said to be “minimally invasive,” saved me from having my chest cracked open. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to watch, I slept through the whole thing.
So, the real question for a father looking at his children in their 30's and with young grandchildren, what are the jobs of the future that will not be replaced by robots and AI?
Once again the old saying "Follow The Money" has proven true. Developments that begin making money the quickest will always be adopted first and will set the bar for those following. Products from Bedrock Robotics will have reached off-the-shelf availability decades before humanoid devices get past beta testing.
Very interesting. I do wonder how these advances will impact those with a visual challenge or total blindness. I thought so much tech was going to allow for greater individualization of consumer products. I'd love a custom Dvorak keyboard. My twenty-something year old keyboard is getting glitchy. But I have to try to find one that won't negatively impact my screen reader software -- either screen reader software package. Sometimes one works on certain websites better than the other. This is also why i need several web browsers.
In 2014, I was attending a presentation from Caterpillar & Trimbel at the Cat proving ground in AZ. Way back then, Cat was supplying autonomous haul trucks to the copper mine across the street. Those trucks unloaded at the same spot but had to know where the shovel would be for the next load. To me, that was pure magic. These giant trucks must drive very slowly or else the tires burst and burn the truck up. It is difficult to convince the human drivers to drive below 10 mph (until they set their truck on fire). Autonomous trucks do not have to be persuaded to drive at the correct speed. If that was way back in 2014, can you imagine how much further advanced those trucks are today?
Waymos can drive but cannot think, most important when driving. Not possible to program every possible problem you can run into on the road. They may have some use in SF, which is very small geographically, have driven there numerous times, and in certain parts of certain cities, such as LA and Austin. But I wonder how a Waymo would do in a snowstorm or ice storm. Note SF and LA almost never even get snow, much less ice, while ice and snow rarely happen in Austin. In over 50 years of driving have driven in snow and ice on many occasions. Re the construction equipment, nice, but the area to be worked must be checked to ensure there are no water pipes, gas pipes, buried electrical/fiber-optic cables, etc.
My husband and I recently used our newest Tesla Y with full self driving to travel from the East Coast to the Rockies then North through three Canadian provinces and back to North Carolina. It was the most enjoyable trip we’ve made because the car drove us everywhere we wanted to go. We are Senior citizens and enjoyed not having to control the car except for a very few times, mostly through temporary road construction sites. This is the future of driving and it is much safer and smoother driving than even we can drive as humans. Our grandchildren were amazed by the car’s self driving capabilities. This is the best future for safe road travel!
35 years ago an engineer at ABB robotics said the human hand and wrist has 31 degrees of freedom. This is the biggest challenge to robots end effectors. Yes AI can help but we humans are a magical machine not easily replicated.
This is very fascinating stuff. Especially articulated robots like the Machina Labs’ robot have been such valuable additions to the industry.
How necessary is perfect connectivity to the web for driverless cars? Does than need drive demand for bandwidth providers like American Tower and CCI?
Please explain, why "The legacy robotics companies like ABB, Fanuc and Yaskawa are toast in this new world of physical AI".
I had robot-assisted lung surgery 2 years ago. It was said to be “minimally invasive,” saved me from having my chest cracked open. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to watch, I slept through the whole thing.
So, the real question for a father looking at his children in their 30's and with young grandchildren, what are the jobs of the future that will not be replaced by robots and AI?
Maybe even more important: what will be the jobs created for our (grand)children by robots and Ai? Think about that!
Once again the old saying "Follow The Money" has proven true. Developments that begin making money the quickest will always be adopted first and will set the bar for those following. Products from Bedrock Robotics will have reached off-the-shelf availability decades before humanoid devices get past beta testing.
Fun to think about the future through Stephen's eyes.
Very interesting. I do wonder how these advances will impact those with a visual challenge or total blindness. I thought so much tech was going to allow for greater individualization of consumer products. I'd love a custom Dvorak keyboard. My twenty-something year old keyboard is getting glitchy. But I have to try to find one that won't negatively impact my screen reader software -- either screen reader software package. Sometimes one works on certain websites better than the other. This is also why i need several web browsers.
In 2014, I was attending a presentation from Caterpillar & Trimbel at the Cat proving ground in AZ. Way back then, Cat was supplying autonomous haul trucks to the copper mine across the street. Those trucks unloaded at the same spot but had to know where the shovel would be for the next load. To me, that was pure magic. These giant trucks must drive very slowly or else the tires burst and burn the truck up. It is difficult to convince the human drivers to drive below 10 mph (until they set their truck on fire). Autonomous trucks do not have to be persuaded to drive at the correct speed. If that was way back in 2014, can you imagine how much further advanced those trucks are today?
I love any article about robotics and this one did not disappoint.
I took a Waymo in San Francisco...so quiet, so smooth and no need to make chit chat with the driver. I loved it!!!
Waymos can drive but cannot think, most important when driving. Not possible to program every possible problem you can run into on the road. They may have some use in SF, which is very small geographically, have driven there numerous times, and in certain parts of certain cities, such as LA and Austin. But I wonder how a Waymo would do in a snowstorm or ice storm. Note SF and LA almost never even get snow, much less ice, while ice and snow rarely happen in Austin. In over 50 years of driving have driven in snow and ice on many occasions. Re the construction equipment, nice, but the area to be worked must be checked to ensure there are no water pipes, gas pipes, buried electrical/fiber-optic cables, etc.
I thought Dr Stuart Russell 'piloted' a driverless car from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 1985 or so.
Congrats on your new dishwasher! Made me think of this Hans Rosling talk: https://youtu.be/6sqnptxlCcw?si=DE1AMFqTX-a7ZOO8