Comments on: Canon shifts to robots for camera production

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Nobody actually does any physical work, besides engineers when they’re fixing things (and even then most fixing is 95% automated – very few physical interactions are needed for repairs).

They key to understanding this about Star Trek is understanding that the main characters you see are people who wouldn’t be doing physical work anyway, of course, but also, everyone (in the Federation anyway) is like that. There’s nobody behind the scenes doing manual labor!

Of course you’re right that there’s much more that could be automated than appears to be, but I always felt like they made a fully conscious decision not to be completely automated (Wall-E showing us what might happen if things were fully automated). There are fairly frequent struggles with the computer and the over-automated nature of their vessels on Star Trek – it’s something the writers like to explore.

By: 100_billion_planets

100_billion_planets — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:52:00 +0000

They have replicators…

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:22:00 +0000

perhaps implying some fundamental limitation. overcome only by Noonian Soong, regarding their capacity to made decent decisions. Like, for example, choosing to suspend disbelief. That’s a sure sign of an intellect.

By: Moriarty

Moriarty — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:38:00 +0000

That’s just it. They have the technology to be past robots, yet much of the work still seems to be done by redshirt muscle power.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:31:00 +0000

They have a holographic doctor. They’re past robots.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Yeah, you do realize rates are falling here in the US, also?

By: Moriarty

Moriarty — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:50:00 +0000

I always thought there was a ridiculous lack of automation in the Star Trek universe, frankly.

By: 100_billion_planets

100_billion_planets — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:29:00 +0000

So there are two choices for our future: the Star Trek one, where robots do our work, money doesn’t exist and we work to better ourselves, and the Terminator one where robots try to exterminate us.

By: lecti

lecti — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:46:00 +0000

By that measure, Wyoming must be like heaven compared to California. ;)

[edit] I’m sure the Japanese will like the 50′s living space, but they certainly won’t appreciate 50′s wealth per capita.

By: Dv Revolutionary

Dv Revolutionary — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:33:00 +0000

Oh no at some point in the future they will have the same population they had in the 50′s. It will be so horrible for them having open space and real estate maybe even larger apartments.

They should spend colossal money right now to keep their grandparents alive forever with robots.

By: David Carroll

David Carroll — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:20:00 +0000

I think getting robots “to come up with innovations on how to use robots” is a very bad idea:
But just in case things spiral out of control, you might want to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G3RoBHMu-o

By: fuzzyfuzzyfungus

fuzzyfuzzyfungus — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:46:00 +0000

I suspect that large portions of the process(including pick-and-place board stuffing and wave/reflow soldering) were already automated. Humans were likely handling some of the larger scale assembly and/or shuffling things around from robot to robot.

The interesting bit is the transition from ‘partially/largely automated’ to ‘fully automated’. Even in things like chip fabs, where humans can barely even see the product without a microscope, you often have a person or two running around in bunny suits looking at displays. Getting rid of those last few is the tricky bit.

By: sockdoll

sockdoll — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:28:00 +0000

Japan, where the Canon plants in question are located, is a leading nation in robotics development.

Given their reported declining birth rates, they're gonna need those robots.

By: lecti

lecti — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:24:00 +0000

This is the right direction to take with the ever-declining labor pool in the country. But is it too little, too late for Japan?

By: Toby Graves

Toby Graves — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I’m sure it will take just as many humans to come up with innovative uses for robots as it took to make cameras. Not.

By: ackpht

ackpht — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:39:00 +0000

Given the mechanical fragility, alignment tolerances, and space limitations for the assembly of electronic devices, I’m surprised it took this long.

I, for one, welcome…

By: jameslosey

jameslosey — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:21:00 +0000

When will Canon make a robot to take photos? I always forget to take my camera out at parties.