Photos from open sources
Baxter industrial robot for small businesses. A photo: nexbigfuture.com
The first swallow of the upcoming revolution has broken out. Already in a few years the entire global economy will change to unrecognizable.
Baxter is a representative of a new generation of industrial robots. is he adapts and learns so easily that you can just show what needs to be done, just like a working man.
Ordinary production robots are very expensive in programming, unable to cope with even the smallest deviations in the environment environment, and just so dangerous that they have to be fenced off people bars.
Baxter robot developed by Rethink Robotics very different from its predecessors.
It can be trained in a few minutes, just like a person working, how to recognize new objects and complete new tasks. For Baxter training to recognize, you just need to hold the subject in front of his video cameras located in the head, chest and at the ends of both hands. In this case, if the item flips up legs in the process, the robot will recognize him anyway.
To program an action, just grab Baxter for hand and show the required movements. In this case, you need to choose required actions with a pair of switches located on the wrists of the robot.
When you move the arms of the robot, they feel light as a feather. Motors compensate for all efforts in response to your touch, which allows, for example, to easily carry over air heavy loads.
The price of such a robot will be $ 22,000.
Now let’s count a little. Let’s say we have small production, in which the role of robots is performed disenfranchised migrant workers. Let’s say we pay one worker a modest 15 thousand rubles a month, while our slave is not sick, not goes to the toilet and on vacation, does not drink coffee and does not smoke with friends, does not requires supervision, does not steal, feels normal with temperature +5 degrees and, in general, behaves like a dream exploiter.
How long does it take to replace a living person with a robot will pay back?
At first glance, it is necessary to divide 680 thousand rubles by 15, which will give us a result of 45 months, about four years. Quite reasonable payback period, even for small businesses.
However, there is a nuance. Robot Baxter, unlike humans, can work seven days a week. And not 8 hours a day, but all 24 hours. And if we take into account the factor of working time, then the payback period of the robot immediately will be reduced to … 11 months. Less than a year! It is incredibly good indicator. Which will definitely make the business drive packers and other low-skilled personnel in the cold.
In comments on Habré expressed doubt that the robot able to move as fast as an ordinary person. They say look at this video on which playing cards are packed living Chinese:
Naive deniers of progress … First, when Baxter senses near a person, he deliberately slows down the speed to be absolutely safe. This is not an industrial robot worth millions of dollars which with one deft swipe of the manipulator reveals the head to a gaping engineer – Baxter can be safely to put at least a replacement for diapers in the maternity hospital of Sukhumi a monkey.
Secondly, even if Baxter will work three times slower person. Then the payback period will increase from one year to three. It would still be more than a bargain for the plant or workshop.
Thirdly, the cost of such equipment will certainly be to decline. Today, 22 thousand dollars, in three years – already 10 thousand
And finally, fourthly. Look at the possibilities experimental developments that have not yet gone to series:
But we will get industrial robots very soon …
In short, the sentence is clear. Replacing a stupid job staff on robots – a matter of a very short time. We’ll see mass production robots even before the end of this decades.
And the first to begin to reduce their costs in this way themselves factories for the production of mechanical workers.
Authors: fritzmorgen, Sergey Podlesny, Brian Wang
Addition – dancing, making music robots
Time robots
