Over the next few weeks, TechCrunch's Actuator robotics newsletter will host Q&A sessions with some of the top minds in robotics. Subscribe here for future updates.
Part 1: CMU's Matthew Johnson-Roberson
Part 2: Max Bajracharya and Russ Tedrake of the Toyota Research Institute
Part 3: Dhruv Batra of Meta
This time it's Boston Dynamics CTO Aaron Saunders. He has been with the company for more than 20 years and most recently served as Vice President of Engineering.
What role will generative ai play in the future of robotics?
The current pace of change makes it difficult to predict the very distant future. Core models represent a major shift in how the best machine learning models are built, and we're already seeing some impressive near-term speedups in natural language interfaces. They offer opportunities to create conversational interfaces for our robots, improve the quality of existing computer vision functions, and potentially enable new customer-facing capabilities, such as visual question answering. Ultimately, we believe these more scalable architectures and training strategies will likely extend the language and vision toward robotic planning and control. Being able to interpret the world around a robot will lead to a much richer understanding of how to interact with it. It's a really exciting time to be robotic!
What do you think about the humanoid form factor?
Humanoids are not necessarily the best form factor for all tasks. Take Stretch for example: we originally generated interest in a robot that moves boxes from a video we shared about Atlas moving boxes. Just because humans can move boxes doesn't mean we're the best form factor to complete that task, and we ultimately designed a custom robot at Stretch that can move boxes more efficiently and effectively than a human. That said, we see great potential in the long-term pursuit of general-purpose robotics, and the humanoid form factor is the most obvious match for a world built around our shape. We have always been excited by the potential of humanoids and are working hard to close the technological gap.
After manufacturing and warehouses, what is the next important category of robotics?
Those two industries still stand out when looking to match customer needs with the latest in technology. As we expand, I believe we will slowly move from environments with determinism to those with higher levels of uncertainty. Once we see widespread adoption in automation-friendly industries such as manufacturing and logistics, the next wave will likely occur in areas such as construction and healthcare. Sectors like these are attractive opportunities because they have a large workforce and a high demand for skilled labor, but the supply does not meet the need. Combine that with work environments, which sit between the highly structured industrial environment and the totally unstructured consumer market, and it could represent the next natural step on the path to general purpose.
How far away are true general-purpose robots?
There are many difficult problems that stand between current and truly general-purpose robots. Purpose-built robots have become a commodity in the world of industrial automation, but we are only now seeing the emergence of multipurpose robots. To be truly general-purpose, robots will need to navigate unstructured environments and address problems they have not encountered. They will need to do this in a way that builds trust and delights the user. And they will have to offer this value at a competitive price. The good news is that we are seeing an exciting increase in critical mass and interest in this field. Our children are exposed to robotics from an early age and recent graduates are helping us drive a massive acceleration of the technology. Today's challenge of delivering value to industrial customers is paving the way to the consumer opportunities of tomorrow and the general-purpose future we all dream of.
Will home robots (beyond vacuum cleaners) take off in the next decade?
We may see a further introduction of robots into the home in the next decade, but for very limited and specific tasks (like Roomba, we will find other clear cases of value in our daily lives). We are still more than a decade away from having multifunctional home robots that add value to the consumer market in general. When would you pay as much for a robot as for a car? When you achieve the same level of reliability and value that you take for granted in the incredible machines we use to transport us around the world.
What important robotics story/trend isn't getting enough coverage?
There is a lot of excitement around ai and its potential to change all industries, including robotics. Although it has a clear role and can unlock domains that have been relatively static for decades, a good robotic product is much more than ones and zeros. For ai to reach the physical incarnation we need to interact with the world around us, we must track progress in key technologies such as computers, perception sensors, power sources, and all the other components that make up a complete robotic system. Automotive's recent shift toward electrification and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is rapidly transforming a huge supply chain. Advances in increasingly sophisticated ai-based graphics cards, computers, and consumer electronics continue to drive value across adjacent supply chains. This huge technology snowball, rarely in the spotlight, is one of the most interesting trends in robotics because it allows innovative small companies to lean on giants to create new and exciting products.
