Astro Hacker News - The Robot I Didn't Expect to Build

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This robot looks a lot more "unnatural" compared to the Chinese robots currently being used in everything from gymnastics to fighting matches. Many people I showed videos of those thought they made with A.I. To be honest I wasn't completely sure myself.

Also, I wonder if (as in the case of XGO) it isn't easier to just automate the moving of crates onto the conveyor belt instead of using a robot picking them up and hauling them there.

WillAdams |next |previous [-]

>It needed to achieve the lifting limits recommended under the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health guidelines for human workers, which include repeatedly lifting 23-kg bins and reaching shelves 1.75 meters high. Digit is designed to perform tasks like these for 20 hours a day—something no human can do.

I think that rather underestimates what people can and have done (cue John Henry story).

I worked in an Amazon warehouse for two different stints:

https://www.reddit.com/r/EDC/comments/dmnuts/53mamazon_fulfi...

and it was rather like a gym membership which I couldn't skip out on (glances at exercise equipment cluttering living space) and during which I could ponder life choices and consequences while wishing there was a soundtrack/music.

That said, this sort of thing, LLMs/AIs and data centers, and so forth feel like a perfect storm leading up to singularity (as envisioned by some optimistic science fiction authors) or something far worse, cue Marshall Brain's novella "Manna":

https://karmak.org/archive/2003/12/manna/manna1.htm

bambax |next |previous [-]

> filling the need for labor in jobs that are too physically stressful or too dull for humans to want to do

That's a disturbing sentence. Most jobs are "dull". Peolpe work not to fill their otherwise empty existence, but in order to earn money. Dullness could be solved by making the tasks less dull, or empowering employees (even if the term has been abused).

The sentence is also dishonest. Businesses want robots to save costs and increase profits, not to make their employees happier.

jryle70 |root |parent |next [-]

Successful businesses understand keeping employees happy is also good for business. It isn't either-or.

> Peolpe work not to fill their otherwise empty existence, but in order to earn money

Unless they are desperate, they'd still prefer less dull jobs. Desperate employees are disaster in the waiting.

> Dullness could be solved by making the tasks less dull

That's the recipe for unsafe working environments.

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niemandhier |next |previous [-]

TIL that I should not confuse „ Agility Robotics“ and „Agile Robots“.

Both build humanoids, but apart from that the companies are quite different.

amelius |next |previous [-]

Can anyone explain that if we had this more than 10 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ2bqz3HPJE

we are still struggling with making a robot walk?

Gravityloss |root |parent |next [-]

Very nice video. Comparing to the channel's latest, I guess the channel itself experienced evolution, with the Algorithm and clicks as its fitness function...

glimshe |root |parent |previous [-]

I think people can make robots walk, but it's really expensive and not particularly useful if most of what the robot does is walking.

tailsdog |next |previous [-]

Does it even need legs? For most of these factory use cases would it not be more efficient/cheaper to have a version that has wheels to get around?

hingler36 |root |parent |next [-]

The main appeal for human robots in general is that, in theory, they can go wherever humans can go. As soon as a facility has stairs or even a single step up wheeled robots can't work.

helsinkiandrew |root |parent |next |previous [-]

And some kind of bin holding attachment would be far more efficient than using arms and 'fingers'

ostacke |root |parent [-]

a forklift?

wartywhoa23 |root |parent |next |previous [-]

One needs legs to allow for more intimate appendages that sell.

contingencies |root |parent |previous [-]

The market for souped-up vacuum cleaners is already saturated.

Gravityloss |next |previous [-]

Very beautifully written.

dvh |previous [-]

Are these kind of robots even economically viable? I've seen them doing work that would generally pay like $3/h. And human after a week is significantly faster.

WillAdams |root |parent [-]

>As of late 2026, Amazon’s U.S. warehouse hourly pay generally ranges from about $18 to $22 for most roles.

That said, after a while, one can be surprisingly fast when picking --- on one occasion I walked up to a bin full of non-descript cardboard boxes, grabbed one, spun it in my hands for the six-sided box check and scanned it to verify it was the correct pick, and then was asked to explain how I had gotten that right by a trainer w/ a bunch of trainees--- it seemed like almost five minutes of explanation of minor differences in cardboard texture, box shape, construction and so forth to explain how it was that at first glance, that was the only correct choice.

I've always wondered if LLMs would arrive at a similar conclusion with on-going training as they are used.