this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
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It is very difficult to make a robotic hand that can operate a screwdriver. If the robot only ever needs to perform one task on an assembly line, just build it with the tools as part of it. Of course, some modularity helps to retool the plant for another product but there are very few cases where a robot needs the versatility of the human hand (maybe bomb defusal?) or body.
yes we have millions of tethered robotic arms in use today with tools as hands. but once an untethered humanoid robot is available on the market with robotic hands, the use cases are infinite.
I don't think it's productive to try replicating the human hand accurately enough to do most manual tasks, especially with very different technology like servos, actuators and pneumatics. If we ever get there, the resulting product will be very expensive and still less capable than purpose-built robots. Why buy a $1M humanoid robot that can split logs with your existing $20 axe when fully automated splitters cost tens of thousands?
the estimates are $40k per robot plus ai cloud subcription