Robotics Expert: Humanoid Robot Investments are a risky business
A prominent voice in robotics, Rodney Brooks, is throwing some serious shade at the current humanoid robot craze. Brooks, the guy who helped start iRobot (you know, the Roomba people) and spent years at MIT, believes that investors are throwing money away on humanoid robot startups. He's especially critical of companies like Tesla and Figure that are trying to teach robots complex hand movements by simply showing them videos of humans.
According to Brooks, this approach is unrealistic. Human hands are incredibly complex, with a staggering number of touch receptors that robots just can't replicate. While machine learning has revolutionized areas like speech recognition, those advancements were built on years of data collection. We simply don't have that kind of historical data for touch.
And let's not forget about safety. These full-sized, walking robots require a ton of power just to stay upright. When they fall, they can cause some serious damage. The laws of physics dictate that a robot twice the size would pack eight times the energy upon impact.
Looking ahead, Brooks envisions that in about 15 years, the successful "humanoid" robots won't actually look that human. Think wheels, multiple arms, specialized sensors – functionality over form. He's convinced that the billions being invested today are just funding expensive experiments that won't ever be commercially viable. It's a bold prediction, but coming from someone with his experience, it's worth paying attention to. I think he might have a point; sometimes, the most innovative solutions come from thinking outside the box, not just trying to replicate what we already have.
Source: TechCrunch