Hacker News

points by R1D3R 4 days ago | 0 comments

> Can it kill you? no probably not. The tension limit kicks in and lets the line out if you pull too hard.

Is there a physical safety? The anchors are attached to the wall, do they release with less tension than a human airway can withstand? I have experienced injuries that would prohibit me from exerting a "backpack" of force over my head.

[–] nhnifong 4 days ago

There is a tension limit of 28 newtons on any single line. Beyond that, the motors release with a damped motion. This can be lowered, at the expense of payload capacity.

[–] reacweb 3 days ago

Is there also a speed limit ? A fast moving object of 2kg may be dangerous.

[–] R1D3R 4 days ago

How far will they release? Is that physical or software? If the line is wrapped around my neck and anchored to the wall how does the motor releasing help me? I can see industrial applications but it seems like a dangerous thing to have in a home.

[–] King-Aaron 4 days ago

FYI they said the tension limit is 28 newtons.

It takes about 38 newtons to lift a 4 litre bottle of milk.

It'll be okay.

[–] R1D3R 4 days ago

The lines are anchored to the wall. There's no tension release on that. The gripper in the middle of the room unwinding some line won't prevent you, your child, or a pet from hanging themselves from the anchored end.

[–] thrownanchor 4 days ago

The winch is in the corner at the wall. The fixed end is at the tool. You can't hang yourself.

[–] R1D3R 3 days ago

Ah, that does seem better.

[–] solyin 4 days ago

A tension limit 28 Newtons means the average child of age one or up is heavy enough to break the line.

[–] R1D3R 3 days ago

The line doesn't have a 28 newton breaking strength. That's the point at which the motors release. The line itself is presumably much stronger.

[–] King-Aaron 4 days ago

Unless you're using tensioned steel wires, I don't think even a child is going to have problems escaping from some fishing line.

[–] andrewstuart2 4 days ago

So it probably can't kill you with blunt force trauma but it could drop something toxic into your drink while you're in the other room. Which, you know, assumes some sort of hostile intent that a robot can't have on its own lol. So it can kill you but probably not accidentally.

[–] nvme0n1p1 4 days ago

If your adversary wants to murder you that badly, I doubt they're going to give up when they find out you don't have a Stringman wired up in your kitchen.

[–] King-Aaron 4 days ago

"Any machine can be a blender if operated wrongly enough"

[–] WarcrimeActual 4 days ago

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you should just have better survival instincts than a toddler and not let the line wrap around your neck. And if you do have toddlers, maybe keep them away from the hanging machine.

[–] nextaccountic 4 days ago

If that's the official stance, then this robot will kill people. You can't expect people to never leave a toddler in the same room with the robot, unless they fully realize the implications of having a killer robot at home. Otherwise the consumers are being deceived

Products in the real world need to be better than that

[–] Closi 4 days ago

> If that's the official stance, then this robot will kill people. You can't expect people to never leave a toddler in the same room with the robot, unless they fully realize the implications of having a killer robot at home. Otherwise the consumers are being deceived

There are plenty of things sold that toddlers can kill themselves with, this is why parents have to spend ages 'toddler-proofing' their house. Same with dogs - supermarkets sell lillies but I can't have them in my house as I have a hungry dog that eats anything.

It's OK to have products which are not suitable for people with pets or kids.

[–] doctorpangloss 4 days ago

the discourse in hacker news is turning into a neurodivergent, overdramatized concern trolling competition.

[–] piloto_ciego 4 days ago

I'm getting frustrated with this sort of thing myself. Good lord people, chill.

[–] komali2 4 days ago

"Just let people be responsible for themselves" would work if we hadn't built a society that neutered everyone's ability to take care of themselves by gutting education systems and disconnecting people from political participation and social responsibility.

Tldr have you met people? There's a reason seat belt laws exist. If we're going to let companies sell things to this population we've fostered and not take our own responsibility, we have to put it on the companies.

A quick browse through any of the shock content subreddits will reveal a lot in terms of average people's understanding of risk.

[–] pinkgolem 4 days ago

No one is selling this, or am I mistaken?

As far as dyi projects go... This is harmless

[–] jubilee33 4 days ago

So the solution to a less-than-capable, over indulgent, irresponsible society is... more coddling? More seatbelts! Can we try natural selection again pls?

[–] SR2Z 4 days ago

This might kill like three toddlers if one is installed in every home in America.

It sits several feet above the ground and is attached to the ceiling ffs. Unless you have the world's most clueless toddler who waits for this to fall just to sprint full speed at multiple ropes and you just so happened to install the winches with concrete bolts it seems pretty unlikely.

The toddler:robot win ratio is gonna be like 100:1.

[–] meigwilym 3 days ago

Locally, a two year old managed to kill himself by getting tangled in window-blind string. All toddlers are clueless, and no one wants theirs to be the outlier.

[–] TheBicPen 3 days ago

I agree with the rest of your comment but

>The toddler:robot win ratio is gonna be like 100:1

is beyond unacceptable for a consumer product.

[–] SR2Z 3 days ago

Maybe this is too generous. If the robot has a 4kg payload the toddler would really have to throw the fight, any toddler fatalities would probably be because they ripped the whole thing out of the ceiling and touched an exposed wire.

My point remains that even a toddler would reliably beat this in a fight.

[–] R1D3R 4 days ago

Toddlers exist in homes. It is their natural habitat. Keeping them away seems like a reasonable precaution. I'm glad we agree on that.

[–] sandworm101 3 days ago

It has cameras. Just tell it to retreat to above head height when it sees a person, or motion.

My worry is cats. I know cats that will go to war with such a robot. String, jerky movements, vertical retreat... cats are built to war with such things.