Hacker News Reader

Comment by hingler36 | Hacker News Reader

The main appeal for human robots in general is that, in theory, they can go wherever humans can go. As soon as a facility has stairs or even a single step up wheeled robots can't work.

View on HN

Yeah, sure, but in practice your humanoid design might get beaten by a wheeled robot with arms long enough to grab things off the ground without bending down.

Sure, until it needs to go up or down stairs.

Why not an arachnoid form factor with wheels too? Like the tachikomas[0] from Ghost in the Shell world. It usually drives with its wheels but when needed it can use its legs like a spider/insect would. Much more efficient and versatile (and stable) than bipedal form factor IMHO.

[0] https://ghostintheshell.fandom.com/wiki/Tachikoma

I wonder if we're missing the much simpler thought of "Heelys for robots?" Put wheels in the feet so it can move with a quickness, but also let them step around when they need to maneuver into our spaces.

Boston Dynamics makes some robots like this.

Carnegie Mellon has (had?) a robot called CHIMP that worked in similar fashion.

They do have those, but the leg mechanisms don't have the same dynamic range as a humans' so they end up getting stuck in doorways, narrow stairwells, or other places which assume bi-pedals. Making them narrow enough to fit, makes them too short to reach the same heights assumed for adult humans, so they can't do the same thing.

The height vs width form factor kills the whole idea as a general solution.

might struggle to get into narrow spaces that a human could fit. wheels and legs do seem like a good idea though and a robot on rollar skates does sound awesome.

Unless there's also an elevator.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com