╌>

Is this package-carrying robot the future of home deliveries?

  

Category:  Health, Science & Technology

Via:  perrie-halpern  •  5 years ago  •  45 comments

Is this package-carrying robot the future of home deliveries?
Digit is a new package-carrying robot that, in a partnership with Ford, aims to bring packages from a self-driving car right to your doorstep.

Tags

jrDiscussion - desc
[]
 
dave-2693993
Junior Quiet
1  dave-2693993    5 years ago

LMAO, damn if I see something like that pounding on my door it just might find the wrath of my .45 ROA or .44 mag.

War of the worlds I tell ya. LOL.

 
 
 
cjcold
Professor Quiet
1.1  cjcold  replied to  dave-2693993 @1    5 years ago

Yep. Do I have carte blanche to shoot it down if some flying thingy damages my mail box? I give my mail folk Christmas presents every year for not trashing my mail box or losing my mail. What do you buy for a robot?

 
 
 
MrFrost
Professor Expert
1.1.1  MrFrost  replied to  cjcold @1.1    5 years ago
What do you buy for a robot?

A garbage bag full of aluminum cans. 

 
 
 
Greg Jones
Professor Participates
1.2  Greg Jones  replied to  dave-2693993 @1    5 years ago

It's liable to be attacked by porch pirates, before it even gets to the porch.

Will it be armed for self defense?

Something along the lines of a death ray or stun gun.

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
1.2.1  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Greg Jones @1.2    5 years ago

I bet one ends up for sale on Ebay courtesy of porch pirates.

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
1.2.2  CB  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @1.2.1    5 years ago

LOL! I finally figured out what you all mean by "porch pirates." I was kinda behind there on my names.  (Smile.)

You mean those people who steal packages off the doorsteps and porches. Duh, CB!

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
1.2.3  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  CB @1.2.2    5 years ago

jrSmiley_15_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
Ed-NavDoc
Professor Quiet
1.3  Ed-NavDoc  replied to  dave-2693993 @1    5 years ago

I want to know if it carries change for a twenty in case I have to tip it...

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
1.3.1  CB  replied to  Ed-NavDoc @1.3    5 years ago

You see? Now that's how it all begins.

One enhancement leads to two and then three, next comes robberies, blazing shootouts at the curb, policies/rules, till we get to jail and long prison sentences! /S

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
1.4  seeder  Perrie Halpern R.A.  replied to  dave-2693993 @1    5 years ago

LOL I know, right?

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
2  CB    5 years ago

That thing will get 'rolled up' negative-style in poor communities and sold for parts. People are already spooky. So hear comes something advancing toward you will green skinny body plans and a terribly small head! Weird even the sober people out!

The future is coming and its bringing its own "shock and awe!"

 
 
 
dave-2693993
Junior Quiet
2.1  dave-2693993  replied to  CB @2    5 years ago

Bingo

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
2.1.1  CB  replied to  dave-2693993 @2.1    5 years ago

Gonna weird out the family pet and yard dogs too (does it open gates?) Maybe, a bigger, "kinder" face and an "amazing" smile will make this all work out. /S

 
 
 
dave-2693993
Junior Quiet
2.1.2  dave-2693993  replied to  CB @2.1.1    5 years ago

LOL. I don't think so. I think I can unload either one of those large bore single action revolvers quicker than it's microprocessor can imagine a human can.

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
2.1.3  CB  replied to  dave-2693993 @2.1.2    5 years ago

May be a voice box is needed with a pre-arranged message asking everybody to, "Stay reasonably calm, this delivery will be over and done with in forty-seconds tops."

(This whole "the future is now" thing is going to no doubt weird people out. As sooner or later one of these things is going to blow a 'circuit' and not make it up (or down) the family steps! Lawn furniture anyone?)

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
2.1.4  seeder  Perrie Halpern R.A.  replied to  CB @2.1.3    5 years ago

Good one CB. Well done!

 
 
 
Ed-NavDoc
Professor Quiet
2.1.5  Ed-NavDoc  replied to  CB @2.1.3    5 years ago

And the voice box will end that sentance with "Resistance is futile"...

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
2.2  seeder  Perrie Halpern R.A.  replied to  CB @2    5 years ago

Very true CB. I don't think we are really ready for this, both economically, ethically, or emotionally.  

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3  Bob Nelson    5 years ago
 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
3.1  seeder  Perrie Halpern R.A.  replied to  Bob Nelson @3    5 years ago

It's very much like that one.... but mine has a video, LOL. 

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3.1.1  Bob Nelson  replied to  Perrie Halpern R.A. @3.1    5 years ago

Ummmm...........

 
 
 
MrFrost
Professor Expert
3.1.2  MrFrost  replied to  Bob Nelson @3.1.1    5 years ago

It's "hands" give me the creeps. 

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
3.1.3  CB  replied to  MrFrost @3.1.2    5 years ago

"Digit" one has no semblance of fingers or toes. Amazing!

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
4  CB    5 years ago

Y'all know me. I am open to a lot of new stuff, but something all legs and tinny-head?!! Talk about unorthodox and non-traditional. Where is the Ford aesthetics team with 'deliverables'? Next generation youth will be A-okay with strip-down parts walking next to them (probably even holding a conversation); but, today's modernists need something a little bit for. . .charming. . .or relatable. (Smile.)

 
 
 
MrFrost
Professor Expert
5  MrFrost    5 years ago

Is it water proof? Because technology and water....not good bedfellows. 

 
 
 
Nerm_L
Professor Expert
6  Nerm_L    5 years ago

IMO a deliver truck with a dedicated drone would be a better option.  The human form is not the most efficient design for all tasks.

A nagging speculation is that robotic designs mimicking the human form intends to foster competition with humans rather than find the most efficient means of performing any given task.

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
6.1  CB  replied to  Nerm_L @6    5 years ago

You make a good point, in that like brightly colored fake guns, a cyan colored robot with no neck or head" and long legs should present as non-threatening. Still, as it performed in the video above I see machines acting more or less autonomously. It will not eat, sleep, or question authority: What good is that for people?

 
 
 
Nerm_L
Professor Expert
6.1.1  Nerm_L  replied to  CB @6.1    5 years ago
You make a good point, in that like brightly colored fake guns, a cyan colored robot with no neck or head" and long legs should present as non-threatening. Still, as it performed in the video above I see machines acting more or less autonomously. It will not eat, sleep, or question authority: What good is that for people?

Well, it's a poor design for the task.  A bipedal robot has a high center of gravity and any payload shifts the center of gravity laterally from the stable axis.  This is an inherently unstable design for the task.  That's why back injuries are a common complaint among humans; the human form is not well adapted to the task of lifting and carrying payloads.  Humans have developed task specific tools to overcome the limitations and weaknesses of the human form.

So, a robot mimicking the human form was not designed according to the task.  The robot would still need task specific tools just as humans do.  The obvious intent of the design is to mimic the human form.  But what purpose does that serve?

Seems to me that robotics should be automating the task specific tools used by humans.  

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
6.1.2  CB  replied to  Nerm_L @6.1.1    5 years ago
That's why back injuries are a common complaint among humans; the human form is not well adapted to the task of lifting and carrying payloads.  Humans have developed task specific tools to overcome the limitations and weaknesses of the human form.

But you can build a central core (anchor point?) into a robot so that it will not topple over and you can reinforce 'break points' known to be common in the human form, yes?

 
 
 
charger 383
Professor Silent
7  charger 383    5 years ago

Is this to get us used to robots before the more aggressive ones are used to control us? 

 
 
 
Perrie Halpern R.A.
Professor Principal
7.1  seeder  Perrie Halpern R.A.  replied to  charger 383 @7    5 years ago
Is this to get us used to robots before the more aggressive ones are used to control us? 

Yes.

 
 
 
bbl-1
Professor Quiet
8  bbl-1    5 years ago

The 'real future' may be the evolution of robots performing services for other robots. 

What will humans do?  Answer;  Nothing.  Ah, maybe attend anti-robot rallies?

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
9  JohnRussell    5 years ago

This should nauseate everyone. There is no need for this service. Human beings can deliver packages just fine. The "advancement" of robots getting out of the car or van and carrying the package to the door is for one reason, better profit for the companies involved.  If robot delivery of packages represented some sort of advancement, that would be one thing, but they don't. Their advantage is simply that they don't get paid.

The human race will pave the way for it's own demise.

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
9.1  Bob Nelson  replied to  JohnRussell @9    5 years ago

There’s no "personal enrichment" in repetitive tasks like delivering packages. We should rejoice every time a real person is liberated from drudge work.

The problem is "Who gets the added value created by the robot?"

Let's imagine that that added value goes into a fund, to be redistributed to everyone. In this case, we would all want as many robots as possible.

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
9.1.1  JohnRussell  replied to  Bob Nelson @9.1    5 years ago
Let's imagine that that added value goes into a fund, to be redistributed to everyone.

Thats the problem , you are imagining things. The added value will go into the pockets of the robot makers and the retail companies that sell the products in the boxes. 

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
9.1.2  Bob Nelson  replied to  JohnRussell @9.1.1    5 years ago

No. The added value will go to the shareholders of the company.

To the ultra-rich.

Of course.

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
9.1.3  Texan1211  replied to  Bob Nelson @9.1.2    5 years ago

If they supplied the capital and own the business, why wouldn't they profit?

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
9.1.4  Bob Nelson  replied to  Texan1211 @9.1.3    5 years ago

Why should they?

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
9.1.5  Texan1211  replied to  Bob Nelson @9.1.4    5 years ago

Because they own it.

Why shouldn't they?

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
10  CB    5 years ago

Good to see Hombre is back (for a while), John Russell!

Though I take your point for sho' (What about the people?), the betterment of science is involved here too. These 'spin-offs' will benefit humanity in surprising and unexpected ways in 'tomorrow world' where they are run-of-the-mill. Maybe even exploited like everything else.

In this article I have been poking fun at this "monstrosity," but I am fully aware that today's bare-bone creations can be tomorrow's servants possibly pulling widows, orphans, and/or the elderly out of burning structures, plane crashes, or from places humans shouldn't want to go.

Serendipity at work in these automatons on Earth can lead to working robot 'spacemen' (with AI) intelligence soon!

 
 
 
It Is ME
Masters Guide
11  It Is ME    5 years ago

Cool Idea....but I see many "Bots" laying on their sides.....Bullied …… just for fun.

256

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
11.1  JohnRussell  replied to  It Is ME @11    5 years ago

The point of knocking the robot down is to show that it can get up. The full video is actually an advertisement for the robot company, Boston Dynamics. 

I think it is likely that anyone found to have damaged a robot will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. They will make examples out of people. I also expect that the van the robot gets out of will have video trained on it all the while so as to see who comes up and messes with it. 

 
 
 
It Is ME
Masters Guide
11.1.1  It Is ME  replied to  JohnRussell @11.1    5 years ago

No !

The point is.....Bad folks exist, and there will be many "Bots" knocked over, all over this country.

Folks still knock of "Porch Packages" ….. even with "Door Bell Video Surveillance" !

We haven't reached the "Stars" of total sanity yet !

Time to build more "Jails" ?

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
11.1.2  CB  replied to  JohnRussell @11.1    5 years ago

WoW! This one is almost realistic. It's the proportional head, I'm sure. I actually feel 'something' watching it get pushed over. I could whip that testers butt for cause!

 
 

Who is online




JBB
Drinker of the Wry
Snuffy


77 visitors