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392 points lairv | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.213s | source
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jppope ◴[] No.45529372[source]
Correct me if I'm wrong here but humanoid consumer robots are basically smoke and mirrors right now because the unit economics are so bad. Even the baxter robot was targeting small business because the lowest price point you could get was $40,000 for something that would have to work 24 hours to do something a human would do in an hour or two. Having a robot do chores at home is an even worse financial position. Anyone know more about this?
replies(3): >>45529452 #>>45529565 #>>45533012 #
1. refulgentis ◴[] No.45529565[source]
I do, I think.

It is breaking news if there is a $40K robot that had a 12:1 efficiency ratio.*

Because production is so nascent and small, cost doesn't mean too much, no ones scaled yet.

At only $40K capital investment, even a guaranteed 12:1 efficiency ratio would be an absolute no-brainer financially for many, many, wealthy people and certainly businesses. I do 1-2 hours of chores a day if I'm lucky. If I had the equivalent of a robot vacuum working 24/7 it'd do a much better job than me.

* The whole thing is written up and shown in a way that makes you think we're on the second refining release of a breakthrough**. I don't think they've gotten to the breakthrough yet - we would have seen > 0 videos from outside the company by v3.

** Really, the whole thing has an audience of one: Musk. (c.f. focus on fingers which was recently reported as the major pain point for whatever he calls their robot not making it to production; aping of Musk-y things like the factory itself a product)