SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the damned-robots-always-getting-under-foot dept.
A light topic for a summer Friday:
Bookshelves that pop out just the book you need. Kitchen tables that set themselves. Bathrooms that adjust to your personal comfort levels.
The robots in this video from The Economist do absolutely none of those things. But they're pretty adorable nonetheless. Stanford University created a motorized foot stool that can be summoned by its human
captorsowners. It's either the best footstool or the worst R2-D2 ripoff, and as you can see in the video, some people treated it more like the latter than the former.There's also a chest of drawers that opens up to provide the right tool, and is also designed to respond to being tickled. (NOT CREEPY AT ALL!) Also there's a couch that can move itself around the room, and a Rubbermaid garbage can that serves as the second worst R2-D2 imitator in the video. You'll still feel bad when it collides into another, non-robotic garbage can though. Just imagine trying to get comfortable with your feet oppressing that adorable ottoman.
There's video accompanying the article as well. What would your ideal robotic furniture be?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by microtodd on Sunday August 09 2015, @02:26PM
couches and chairs that rearrange in the living room. I can use a tablet to set a floor plan and the furniture rearranges itself. Awesome. My wife is always wanting to change the furniture. This way we just set it, walk away for 15 minutes and when we come back it arranged itself!
A trash can that comes to you, via a voice command or some hand signal picked up by a camera a la Kinect. Again, I love it.
Drawers that automatically open with a tap.
Patio furniture that puts itself away at night.
Couches and chairs move so the Roomba can get under them.
Seriously, guys, what's not to love?!?!?!?!?
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Monday August 10 2015, @01:03AM
Seriously, guys, what's not to love?!?!?!?!?
So, after 7 years in one spot, you tell your couch to move 12" to the left and discover something failed. Its not responding. Does it have power? Hmm yes... still not responding. Sigh. Did you buy (and pay for) the 10 year extended robotics warranty on your couch. No? So then you open up the couch, and discover one of the leg motors has seized up and some of the electronics appear to be shot. A bit of research and some email and phone messages later you know the company that made the couch robotics electronics doesn't exist anymore, and compatible parts aren't cheap, you'll need to replace a the mainboard... its not cheap and it will take a week to bring them in for you. Worse, the programming interface to get it going again is still USB and Windows 8 neither of which you've seen in years, hopefully you've still got an old laptop in the basement that still has USB. You wander downstairs to see if you can cobble something together.
Your partner, meanwhile, rolls her eyes and gives the couch a hard shove. It slides a over a foot, and she sits down.
Seriously, what's not to love?
(Score: 2) by microtodd on Monday August 10 2015, @12:58PM
7 years, eh? You bring up an interesting point that's always bothered me. My car is, like 15 years old. How do I know the airbag still works? All those sensors, whatever mechanical solenoid or switch or whatever that's supposed to trip and release the air. There's not really any way to test it. And if it doesn't work...well, sucks for me in a crash, eh?
So yeah, I get your point, and that's an issue that, to be honest, basically exists everywhere for everything. My dishwasher, fridgerator, heck even my bbq grill.
Except my cast iron pan. Basically a hunk of metal, that thing will continue to work long after my grandkids are dead.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday August 10 2015, @06:04PM
After about eight years, my mechanic told me that the airbag had to be replaced, because after that long it would no longer be reliable.
I use seatbelts. Always. And I won't move the car unless all the passengers have them done up. I don't need an airbag.
Your mileage may vary.