Hacker News
China drafts lifetime ID codes for every robot it makes, not just humanoids
19 points by ilamont
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17 comments
coldtea
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>China drafts lifetime ID codes for every robot it makes, not just humanoids
How's that different to serial numbers, which most devices have, everywhere?
klez
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That it's centralized, while serial numbers are not (you could easily have two manufacturers that use the same numbering scheme and find yourself with two different appliances from two different manufacturers with the same serial number).
This is more akin to VINs for vehicles. EDIT: and not even that is an accurate comparison.
wenyuanyu
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a registry of all robots?
exe34
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Will the ship of theseus sail?
numpad0
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Ship of theseus is solved by the VIN plate. That plate is the car, and moving it across chassis is illegal. It's not easily damaged accidentally, and it also can't be easily faked.
exe34
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Which part of the robot is the chassis?
numpad0
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_of_spades#Design
exe34
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I trust that you believe that you have answered the question. My question is, to clarify, which part of the robot will you not be able to replace under pain of death?
numpad0
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Anything that the manufacturer and/or government regulations designate as the main body. Data plate above the door 1 Left, VIN plate under the front windscreen, engine room firewall, metal plate embedded around the magazine well left side, framed certificate hanging on the wall, a consecrated amulet placed somewhere in the lower deck, doesn't matter. Everything else are parts, which can be separately defined and controlled as dangerous items if need be. Generally that works.
ssivark
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I wonder whether they've put careful thought into what counts as a "robot" and what doesn't eg. Is a coffee maker a robot or does it only become a robot if it happens to have "hands" that lift the cup?
That said, giving each item a UUID or even IPv6 might doesn't seem like a big deal, but they need to somehow prevent collisions.
imrehg
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Cue "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" where the robots endlessly reused parts from older and broken models. I do wonder how such reuse would be covered -- not because I am looking at a fantasy situation, but aren't machine parts in general, at least in theory quite reusable, and there's a healthy tradition of such reuse?