Naum Shuv
Ok, it's cool. But you can just bring small wheeled robot and put it inside the plane with "spider" crane
Daishi
>JRL says that it's taking a long view of humanoid robots 10 or 15 years from now
I think it's easy to forget that human robots 15 years ago were't much less sophisticated than humanoid robots of today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLc26fNAe8
I like the solution used by the winner of the Darpa robotics challenge with wheels on its knees and feet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGOUSvaQcBs
It's out of the box thinking like that that will eventually win the day. The compilation of all the robots falling over in the darpa challenge is pretty entertaining.
Mel Tisdale
When we first came down from the trees (widely recognised as a bad idea) there was no evolutionary pressure to build airplanes.
So, instead of making the robot perform like a human, make it perform like you wish a human could. For example, I wish I could have electro-magnetic fingers when trying to install (or retrieve) fiddly little screws. And wouldn't it be handy (literally) to have hands instead of feet? We could even have three or four of each, for that matter. They could even be interchangeable. And while we are at it, there is no reason to limit the number of eyes (with built-in illumination) we have, or their locations. The number and size of its noses are also unrestricted. Relocate the brain and it wouldn't keep banging its head.
As an aside, give it a fuel cell with an associated fuel supply and it would make a fantastic rock climber, especially in recovery situations, such as falls, earthquakes etc. with especially rough fingertips for grip.
Oh what fun is going to be had by one and all on this little project. Just one word of warning: Robots can be especially dumb and are usually deaf. This means that humans and robots are a dangerous mix.
Chuck Anziulewicz
Robots may build aircraft just like they build cars today. But why should they necessarily be "humanoid"? There's no practical advantage there.
Randolph Garrison
A more humanoid stronger robot could produce a more consistent product working 24/7 without overtime, days off, breaks.
habakak
Such early days. We are more than 15 years away from building robots with this kind of ability. Off course it will be time well spent learning and developing. Robots would also need to be light weight and softer as to not crush or break things, and not to mention solving the power dilemma (it can't be tethered for the most part and hopefully wireless charging will work in a situation like this in 25+ years).
Island Architect
The thing that really needs to be considered is actually People!
Since they all can be replaced with automatons what are we going to do with people? How are they going to eat, live, and pursue happiness ?
Siegfried Gideon forewarned us with "Mechanization Takes Command".
So what is it that you propose that we do?
Bob Flint
It still takes people to program the robots, and with all the recalls in the automotive field, imagine what chaos they could impart in the aviation industry.
ezeflyer
This is the future. But what's going to happen to all the people whose jobs they substitute for?
A'Tuin
@ezeflyer - Soylent Green?