ProfessionalMeal2407 t1_jarmhs2 wrote on March 3, 2023 at 3:47 PM

You know what’s cheaper than a robot dog? A dog.

You know what’s cheaper than a big robot dog meant for carrying things? A donkey.

Annual-Cheesecake374 t1_jarnnky wrote on March 3, 2023 at 3:55 PM

Sorta. Dogs, and donkeys, need water, food, and shelter pretty frequently. A robot will need maintenance but the depth and frequency will not be frequent (or at least can be designed to not be frequent). Also, if your dog breaks their leg there is a considerable amount of time for the dog to heal. A robots leg could be made to be replaceable in a matter of minutes.

The upfront cost of a dog (or donkey) is considerably low compared to a robot but at a point in the not-too-distant future, the accumulated cost for a robot would be less.

Justforthenuews t1_jarp6g5 wrote on March 3, 2023 at 4:05 PM

Yeah, based on their logic, we should go back to ox ploughed fields.

UltimateGammer t1_jarsmog wrote on March 3, 2023 at 4:28 PM

I think comparing these things to dogs kind of sets them in a certain light.

They aren't dogs, they won't be used as you'd use a dog, they don't have the same capabilities as a dog.

ergobearsgo t1_jarsgrj wrote on March 3, 2023 at 4:27 PM

A stock Boston Dynamics Spot robot has a runtime of 90 minutes. Of course the battery can be swapped out, but in a standard work day that would be six enormous batteries. For the sake of argument let's say that the military model has two batteries to run at the same time. That's a minimum of three battery swaps a day and someone who has to carry all of those around. News flash, the operators also need food and water and are going to have that on them anyway. A donkey can also eat and drink pretty much anywhere in the world that's not covered in snow or sand.

Edit: each Spot battery is 5.2kg/~11.5lbs. With two batteries on the robot and four in reserve, that's 20.8kg/46lbs of weight to support a robot that can only carry a 14kg/30lb payload to begin with. Each battery is also the size of a mid-range quadcopter, meaning that someone's job on the team is just dealing with the drone and carrying its luggage. All for a drone that can't smell, can barely hear, and can barely carry anything. Might be able to provide early warning if it happens to spot someone using FLIR from two feet off the ground. Maybe. This is just one tiny slice of the taxpayer's pie being served up to the military industrial complex on a newer, shinier platter with nothing but prop pieces to show for it.

Annual-Cheesecake374 t1_jas0kzh wrote on March 3, 2023 at 5:19 PM

I agree with you about the Boston dynamics robot but that doesn’t mean all robots in the future would be under the same restrictions. Though, we do use robots to conduct bomb detection and disposal meaning robots don’t have to be on (or maybe reduced power requirements) until they are needed. This robot, however, is (nearly) useless to the military.

Another thing to consider is training. We can train animals to do lots of pretty cool things but a robot would be easier to train and be more accurate in commands.