Re:Boston Dynamics will start selling its dog-like SpotMini ...
by SEJeff on Monday May 14, 2018 @08:26PM
(#17070631)
For one, machines haven't (yet) proven as capable as them in dynamic situations. The tech both hardware and software simply isn't there yet. The fact that these Boston Dynamics robots are both loud, and have a relatively short battery life cements this current fact. This problem will likely be overcome in the next 5-10 years or less. That kind of makes it a nonstarter in and of itself. As it stands today, it is the same reason you don't (yet) have machines replacing fast food workers. The economics for most places or the actual tech simply isn't there 100%. Not yet at least.
If one of these things, maybe the more advanced biped version could be bought for $1M it would have to be cheaper and more reliable than a human. No salary, no pension, no health insurance, no time off, no training hours, just pure measurable, reliable killing. I guess there would be a huge crew of maintenance engineers though, but maybe automate the servicing too.