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
Question: is the progress in humanoids possible only due to technological progress in other domains? Or is progress in humanoids likely to drive developments in other fields?