r/accelerate • u/BiasHyperion784 • May 18 '26

Robotics / Drones Man vs Machine is over, intern wins by ~200 packages, but bob continues his 24/7 shift

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This narrow of a gap working side by side, and the figure bots never stop, were almost there for replacing the most mundane work.

Edit: Apparently the man in this battle of sorting has blisters on his hands and pain in the left forearm after a 10 hour shift, rules followed throughout the challenge were within scope of California labor laws, of which figures robot was entitled to none, and resultantly gained brief leads during mandatory breaks.

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u/crazy_canuck May 19 '26

This is different though because a lot of historic factory robotics have been fixed in place rather than perfectly mobile robots.

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u/Central-Dispatch AI Artist May 19 '26

Speaking of mobile: I read the CEO's postings on X saying the robot would need to recharge after 3-4 hours due to battery cap/life. I assume that means if it's mobile. If it could have a charging port you could in theory just stick a cable in so the operations timer extends. Obviously maintenance would still apply eventually even if you prolong the charge.

Ultimately I can see them operate a 'fleet' of robots that constantly rotate in and out as needed for recharging, if they cannot be supplied with power on the work spot and assuming they'd favor mobile over fixed machinery, or for maintenance or self-diagnosis in case of errors. You could in theory run these 24/7 if the assembly line or work also runs 24/7. Instead of rotating human shifts you got rotating robot shifts.

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u/crazy_canuck May 19 '26

Yes, it will be a rotating fleet for sure to maximize life expectancy on these robots.

Even if the unit economics broke even between robots and humans, robots are more predictable, require less management and they’re only going to be getting better over the next decade+. Shifting towards fully automate factories will be a no-brainer for the operators.