Painted clouds. The perfect way to start your week. (Credit: Lance Ulanoff)
Elon’s robot
Later this week, Tesla CEO and Twitter frenemy Elon Musk will unveil a functioning Optimus robot prototype.
In August of last year, we first saw this bot, or a mannequin in the style, shape, and rough size of the future humanoid robot. It was a surprise, especially coming from Musk, who is quite afraid of AI run amok.
His ambitious plan is for a factory robot (and maybe more) that could move at the speed of a decent jog, lift 150 lbs. (the weight of, say, an average person), and carry around the equivalent of two 20lbs bags of bird feed.
I don’t expect much from this demo. Robotics are notoriously hard, especially humanoid-style ones.
Boston Dynamics Atlas robot program has taken years to build robots that can dance, leap, and parkour. They do all these things and yet look little like us and have yet to leave the laboratory.
Among the big holdups is autonomy. Robots living and working alongside humans is still an activity fraught with some danger, which is why most robots work alongside other robots. It has changed as factory floors have more wheeled bots that do a good job of avoiding human collisions, but they look like carts and not people.
The other issue is battery power. Single-purpose bots can usually operate for a couple of hours on a charge before finding their own charging stations. Humanoid robots have to expend a lot of energy just staying upright (humans don’t stand around without expending energy, either). More complex activities that include countless sensors and actuators, plus the energy spent lifting those 45 lb. parcels, eat even more.
Atlas robots have huge battery packs on their backs (or fronts) which is why they don’t look very human.
Tesla and Elon’s Optimus design looks a lot like a real person, just in a black and white plastic shell. Where will he keep the battery?
If you think just because Tesla is an EV car company and that it’s obviously solved the battery issue, think again. The entire base of a Tesla is filled with batteries (they really account for a significant part of its weight). My point is a true functioning and useful humanoid robot will need big batteries that I don’t think Musk will be able to hide in that sleek design.
Naturally, I’ll be watching Tesla’s AI for the Optimus update, along with a bunch of other AI-related advancements like better fully self-driving Tesla technology on Sept. 30.
Not indestructible
Last week I wrote on TechRadar about one of the first Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max drop tests. The phone took a beating (as did a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra) and reminded me that the best way to protect these devices is with a case.
But it also got me thinking about why we still demand these glass-covered, pricey pieces of technology and not plastic and rubber-encased iPhones and Galaxy phones.
Is it that the companies can’t build beautiful devices that hold up to a hard drop on concrete? No. It’s because we’re in love with pricey but ultimately fragile materials. There really is no good reason for the iPhone 14 to be encased in glass, even if it is hardened with a ceramic shield.
I’m just as guilty as everyone else, though, In my iPhone reviews, I lauded the design, because it’s lovely.
But humans are clumsy, and I have spoken to so many people who go through three or more iPhones a year (or at least that many repairs) because they keep dropping their phones.
The funny thing is, we’ve all accepted that the glasses we wear on our faces will no longer be made with glass. We all have plastic lenses. Our glasses are lighter and no longer shatter when we drop them. Granted, they are scratch-prone, but they’re also no less important than our smartphones. Yet, we allow (insist, really) companies to build our phones with materials that we know are far from shatterproof (and yes, they still get scratches, too).
My point is, I’d like to see someone make a flagship-class phone with indestructible and affordable materials. I know it’s possible. who will do it?
Next level
I don’t think we’re talking enough about Apple’s new AirPods Pro 2, and the insane level of noise cancellation Apple achieves with in-ear buds. In a recent story, I wrote that the effect, which you can turn on by long pressing one of the stems, is almost physical. It’s like you feel the pressure change in your ear canal.
It’s a new bar for ANC earbuds and closes in on what you can achieve with over-the-ear headphones that actually seal off your ears from the outside world.
You can read a bit more of my thoughts on the buds and the technology that makes the ANC possible in my TechRadar post.
That’s all for now.
Stay well
See you soon.