In a world where AI has become more prevalent, robots are the next step in making our lives easier. Unlimited Robotics is a company that specializes in AI and robotics. They have just released their newest service robot- Gary!
Unlimited Robots, with who I work and collaborate, are taking AI and robotics to the next level. AI is now being used in everyday life, for example, Siri on your phone or Alexa at home, but AI has been able to be applied so much more! For example, Unlimited Robotics’ Gary robot can do a multitude of tasks such as:
*Taking out the laundry
*Ironing
*Cleaning the toilet seat
*Watering the plants
*Bringing drinks and snacks
*Washing the flower
Only to name a few.
I mean, this is astonishing. Think about all the arguments you had with your family members on who’s turn to wash the dishes, who needs to water the plants, and who’s turn it is to clean the toilet. Well, soon, it will all be Gary’s responsibility.
I had a chance to talk to Unlimited Robotics Co-Founder & CEO Guy Altagar, and ask him several questions about Gary:
Hi Guy, can you provide us with some info on how the process of building Gary looked like?
Guy: The development has been going on for the last year and a half, and it has been renewing all the time. The challenge of developing a physical product as Gary alongside the development of a software platform like Ra-Ya will probably continue all the time, depending on the feedback we receive from the community, but that’s the beauty: our goal is to empower the software developers community (at this point for Gary, and in the future, even if developers do not necessarily have previous experience in hardware development.
The “dance” between the machine and the software is a crazy challenge. In general – the desire to make it as easy as possible for developers to deal with issues such as mapping, navigation, gripping, computer vision and more, requires us to constantly think about possible situations that developers may encounter and solve them even before they begin the development process. To make it even easier, we built a simulator and detailed documentation in which you can keep up to date with the latest developments and libraries and actually try out Gary’s actions until he “physical” arrives at your home/office. Our libraries are open in a sense that each developer can add their own feedback, streamline the execution of various applications and in addition – at the center opened in early 2022 – developers can physically arrive and see how their applications actually work (those who did not participate in the Waiting List and purchased Gary for them).
Where do you think the use of Robotics is going? Are they going to replace certain human labor work completely?
Guy: I don’t think robots will replace human labor work, but definitely help them with their day-to-day tasks. Prof. Yuval Noah Harari referred to this question in an interview to the Wall Street Journal in 2018 and said:
“The automation revolution will make a lot of jobs disappear. This is not necessarily such a bad scenario… Many jobs — may be even most jobs — that exist today are not worth defending. What we need to protect are the humans. In the current political and economic system, if you want to have your basic needs fulfilled and, for many people, to have meaning and purpose in your life, you need a job… Many jobs are very difficult, very boring, very unfulfilling. People do them because they have to, not because it’s really their dream to be a cashier or to drive a truck. If you can be released from these hours of working, you could perhaps develop your human potential in a much fuller way. In this sense, you are becoming more human.”
So I believe that in order to communicate better and make our day-to-day easier and simpler – we can use mechanical automation tools that can help us with that. Just like the “smartphones” did not replace humans but rather helped us (in some cases) – the same goes with my opinion of robots.
Should we be worried about this? I mean, you can’t help think about the movie iRobot.
Guy: I don’t believe there should be a concern, because based on my knowledge, robots are designed to help, not to ruin (well… at least until they understand what they need to do:). People use devices that are autonomous more than ever (and the usage is growing every day). I think we should provide the relevant tools for that.
This is why the community and the marketplace we are building are so important for us because they help us to understand the true need, and the community is feeding and expanding based on common knowledge. Suppose until today; the AppStore was limited in its digital level to screens (computer, mobile phone, smartwatch). In that case, we want to create another “arena” where you can create applications – the physical-mechanical arena, and there be a place to connect to download functional applications according to device limitations.
Just as not all applications are supported by smart TV, but yes on the mobile phone – so our ability to make the applications accessible depending on the mechanical structure of the robot will work. We also allow end-users to offer applications that they would like to produce so that when developers start thinking about business logic – they will have real “requirements” from consumers. You can find the requests of the various consumers – on our apps page on the site.
When will Gary be available for purchase? How much will it cost?
Guy: The first cohort of Gary will be available during Spring 2022 for U.S and Canada. It seems like in Summer 2022; we will open the purchase for other territories as well. We’ve opened up a waiting list on which people can register and save a spot to buy Gary. Reserving a spot on the waiting list costs $99, and once Gary is ready for shipment – we contact each of the members and ask them if they want to make the full purchase (either for a one-time fee of $5900 or installments of $99/month). Unregistered customers will get to purchase Gary at a price of $129-$149 (depends on the model). In addition, the apps in the app store may cost money (or can be free, it is subject to the developers’ discretion).