Humanoids hit a critical mass moment!

Robotic complexity is starting to become 'free', meaning the BOM is the benchmark for the cost of a humanoid robot

Seeing so many humanoid robotics companies in one spot at IEEE Humanoids in Austin TX, all talking about their robots being available commercially in 2024 was mind blowing. Evan Ackerman from IEEE Spectrum was also there so expect some great coverage coming up.

The big news is that the weight of the robots is coming down and the projected sales price for these robots is going to be “less than the cost of a car” according to Jeff Cardenas from Apptronik. Bernt Øivind Børnich was of the same opinion, saying that NEO would be available at a “consumer price point”.

While making humanoid robots isn’t easy and requires great skill and experience, this complexity is effectively becoming free. Designers and engineers can leverage the learnings of the experts, and what was purely academic knowledge becomes tested functional knowledge that can be reverse engineered, rather than needing to be discovered.

Add in the economics of mass production and then compare the Bill of Materials for a 2,000kg car, with the Bill of Materials for a 60kg humanoid. There is much less mass, and in mass production, the raw material cost is ultimately the price determinant.

If I don’t have a humanoid home robot by Xmas 2024, I will be very disappointed.

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Quick Reads:

Can robots help cure loneliness? - The Hustle

The Autonomous Vehicle Industry sends an SOS to Pete Buttigieg - The Verge

GM owned Cruise’s bumpy road to driverless ambitions - Reuters

How autonomous driving is reshaping the car - WSJ

Kroger’s rolls out autonomous trucks to aid fast delivery - Chain Storeage

Robotics in the engine room - Maritime Professional

Chipotle is investing in companies that make robots and fertilizer from artificial lightning - Fast Company

Robotics Q&A with UC Berkeley’s Ken Goldberg - TechCrunch

Robots in the ranks: Army integrating robots into two platoons - Army Times

This company has been secretly serving robot-cooked meals out of a takeout restaurant in Queens - ABC7

Retail robots are slowly paving the way for industry disruption - The Robot Report

Video Friday: The simplest walking robot - IEEE Spectrum

Robot chemist sparks row with claim it created new materials - Nature

Robots free humans from repetitive tasks - American Institute for Economic Research

Elon Musk just teased Telsa’s new Optimus Gen-2 robot with a video featuring a funky treat at the end - Live Science

This new system can teach a robot a simple household task within 20 minutes - MIT Technology Review

Inside Amazon’s Robot Revolution - NBC News

35 Years Ago, Researchers Used Brain Waves to Control a Robot - IEEE Spectrum

Housework robot can learn to do almost any chore in 20 minutes - New Scientist

Robotics Events:

SVR 2024 Calendar in next newsletter!

20-21 Feb - IEEE Serious Open Source 2024 Mountain View CA

April 2024 - RoboGames and…. Robot Block Party (more news soon!)

Some more robotics conferences

• TAHRI 2024 Boulder CO 9 Mar - 10 Mar (Technology Advances for HRI)

• HRI 2024 Boulder CO 11 Mar - 14 Mar

• Haptics 2024 Long Beach CA 7 Apr - 10 Apr

• Robosoft 2024 San Diego CA 14 Apr - 17 Apr

• ICRA 2024 Yokohama Japan 13 May - 17 May 2024

• ARSO 2024 Hong Kong, China 20 May - 22 May 2024

• AIM 2024 Boston MA 14 July - 18 July

• CASE 2024 Puglia Italy 28 Aug - 1 Sep 2024

• IROS 2024 AbuDhabi 14 Oct - 18 Oct 2024

• Humanoids 2024 Nancy FR 26 Nov - 28 Nov

• ICRA 2025 Atlanta Georgia 17 May - 23 May 2025