patrick.net

See what an Amazon warehouse employee actually has to do? Those Robots are scanning or labeling anything. They didn't open a big box from one shipper receiver and open and sort them into separate bins. That video above is just a staged propaganda video, at no point in that video, are those Robots performing an actual Amazon task that a human counter part is doing. The work station those Robots are using are not anything like the offshoot conveyor next to a terminal, scanner, and label printer. They are just lifting an undisclosed amount of weight, just like every other Boston Dynamics LARP video where they are the star of the show.


original link

I agree, this is more propaganda to intimidate workers. Those robots cost $100's of thousands of dollars, and require regular maintenance. They aren't even close to replacing human beings.

Robots are NOT cheaper than people, generally. They are very expensive, and they regularly break down. No self-repair on a robot.

I think Amazon employees should call the bluff and challenge Amazon to replace all human workers. That would bankrupt Amazon.

richwicks says

I think Amazon employees should call the bluff and challenge Amazon to replace all human workers. That would bankrupt Amazon.

That is where the hordes of illegals come in.

Or at least challenge them to which could carry a crate from a bin the quickest. Did you see the bot in the back, try to stack the crate in a bin that was already occupied, then it had to do down?

None of these robot manufacturers has showcased a robot that has performed meticulous tasks or even capable of performing them.
Those arms and hands are strong and made for lifting. They showcase them being agile, I still think the construction robots were CGI.
Those robots would have to have multiple arms specialized for different tasks. They will never perfect a bipedal humanoid robot to perform the tasks humans do. Sure they could make a conveyor that rips open boxes, then another bot takes items out and sends them down a shoot where they get scanned and sorted. I don't think those robots at the top could perform the simple task the girl in the second video was doing.

Self-driving cars sure disappeared quick, along with super power Goggles.

Like Vampire Movies, every 20 years it's front and center for a season then disappears

Looks like it's stoned, just like a real, live employee!

AmericanKulak says

Self-driving cars sure disappeared quick, along with super power Goggles.

These are marketing campaigns, that failed.

We will eventually have self driving vehicles, but we need to rethink our infrastructure to do it. If we invested in infrastructure, it would be trivial.

The spy glasses? I don't know if those will ever be accepted and I doubt it. I don't think VR will ever be really embraced either. VR was the "big thing" for decades, but experiencing it, even I have no interest in it, and I fervently believed I did at one point.

richwicks says

The spy glasses? I don't know if those will ever be accepted and I doubt it. I don't think VR will ever be really embraced either. VR was the "big thing" for decades, but experiencing it, even I have no interest in it, and I fervently believed I did at one point.

I think the only reason they can keep trotting out spy glasses is that there are plenty of pseudos who wear fake glasses in the hope that people will then think that they're smart. I remember the fad back in the 80's - it was pathetic. The media doesn't help either, always slapping glasses on "scientists."

Tenpoundbass says

See what an Amazon warehouse employee actually has to do?

Interesting video, but a sad representation of what this country has become. She is a consumption worker. Consumption should never be part of GDP.

Contrast that sad video to what a production worker does: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5i10jDaUCc

richwicks says

We will eventually have self driving vehicles, but we need to rethink our infrastructure to do it.

If we ever have self driving cars, they wont be made with a hodgepodge of delicate silicon chips and flimsy micro circuits like they are today.
I don't think our best tech is up to the task, we've gone backwards in robustness, and reliability. Which is what self driving cars need, not only do they need to be made out of space grade discrete circuits, the batteries will need be reimagined. The batteries that are used now, has a tendency to short circuit, when the vehicle flexes over a curb, or uneven surface. The batteries are on the bottom of the frame like a skid plate. It is prone to every flex of all 4 wheels. Until we can come up with a battery that you can puncture, short and set on fire, and it can be extinguished as quickly as the fire started. The electric car will only grow more and more with a reputation as a death trap. The electric car as we know it today, Tesla included. Will be deemed a Death Trap, and outright banned to own, and forbidden to park within any structure or dwelling where humans live. Mark my words.

The electric car as we have it today, just screams, Greenies pushing a proof of concept that wasn't quite ready yet for primetime, but some Idiot Shit Flinger President gave out billions in subsidies to make it sort of work, at a time hoverboards were exploding and burning down houses.

Lol I use to work on warehouse automation, that video is a joke. No good reason to make robots even remotely like humans that would be to complex, fragile, and costly to maintain.

https://youtu.be/SuD9gsaOqGc?si=VHwFHIDZUkrB4xZK

Tenpoundbass says

hich is what self driving cars need, not only do they need to be made out of space grade discrete circuits, the batteries will need be reimagined.

I think EV's are a dead end. They actually use more energy over their lifetime than an ICE engine does.

richwicks says

I think EV's are a dead end. They actually use more energy over their lifetime than an ICE engine does.

Agreed..

I think a small combustion engine, powering an electric generator directly with no batteries what so ever is viable.
When you consider, that you can get a generator that takes 5 gallons of gas, that can then run 4 to 5 hours.
Just imagine how far a car can travel in 4 to 5 hours, just on 5 gallons of gas.

I can see that setup going 300 to 400 miles on 5 gallons. That hasn't been done, because the greenies are so bent on force fucking the battery into every electric car. They are stupid with that. An electric car doesn't need a battery. The hybrid was the dumbest fucking idea of all.. Toyota should have ditched the battery, and put a 5 to 7 hp motor in the Prius, powering a generator, with a bank of capacitors between the electric motors and the generator, to give it the volts and amperage needed.

Tenpoundbass says

I think a small combustion engine, powering an electric generator directly with no batteries what so ever is viable.
When you consider, that you can get a generator that takes 5 gallons of gas, that can then run 4 to 5 hours.
Just imagine how far a car can travel in 4 to 5 hours, just on 5 gallons of gas.

No, this wouldn't be efficient. You have loss in generating the electricity, and then loss in consuming it.

The real problem is cars weigh too much and they produce too much drag in the air. Nearly every car would be more efficient if you drove it backwards.

The cars as we know it are so heavy because the components are heavy. Of course if you reduce the drive train to weigh only 1/3rd of what cars weight now, then the rest of the car can be lightweight as well. Cars also don't have to go faster than 40mph in a City setting. It could be done, it might not resemble what a car looks like today, but it doesn't have to.

RC2006 says

No good reason to make robots even remotely like humans that would be to complex, fragile, and costly to maintain.

Back to robot automation issues. The segment in that video that features the Lotus robot designed to reduce the unproductive walking a worker would do in a warehouse. What is the worker supposed to do while he's waiting for the Lotus robot to get back from being unloaded by the worker it went to bring a load to in the warehouse? I can see a scenario, where the worker on the receiving end of the Lotus binging the loaded bins, has four or five of them in queue waiting for him to empty them so they can return. In the meantime, there's four or five folks in the warehouse, waiting for their Lotus to return so they can place the items they already picked and are waiting for the Lotus. While the guy being bombarded by them is overwhelmed. He has the job that nobody wants and probably has the highest turn over or employees calling out for the day. While those other 4 or 5 employees has a prolific TicToc video collection.

Tenpoundbass says

The cars as we know it are so heavy because the components are heavy. Of course if you reduce the drive train to weigh only 1/3rd of what cars weight now, then the rest of the car can be lightweight as well. Cars also don't have to go faster than 40mph in a City setting. It could be done, it might not resemble what a car looks like today, but it doesn't have to.

Oh, I know. Check out this car:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHXuoZ1KHdI

They have been "in development" forever. They were about to go to production, some asshole from GM was hired to run the company, he sunk it by demanding redesigns, like you could roll down the window. The entire vehicle is designed for optimal aerodynamic efficiency.

Gets 100 miles to the gallon equivalent, it's electric, but they had ICE versions I think as well. The ride is a little choppy because it's so light, that can be taken care of by electronics, it had real potential. They didn't care about what it looked like, they only cared about efficiency.

It can easily do 70 MPH, but it's probably more suited to city driving, and not highway.

Tenpoundbass says

Back to robot automation issues. The segment in that video that features the Lotus robot designed to reduce the unproductive walking a worker would do in a warehouse. What is the worker supposed to do while he's waiting for the Lotus robot to get back from being unloaded by the worker it went to bring a load to in the warehouse?

It's making the employee into a manager, directing several robots concurrently. The robots reduce the need for space in the warehouse, and increase productivity of human workers.