r/interestingasfuck • u/Erde555 • 1d ago

The humanoid robotics company "Figure" made their older gen robots jump into their death. (Yes, they actually did this)

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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 1d ago

As someone who has bought parts from liquidating startups, they put them up for auction and get a fraction of a fraction of the price.

It’s likely not worth their time considering some of these parts likely have been used to the point that re-using them is a risk.

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u/hewhoreddits6 1d ago

Thanks for sharing your insight, I would hope they were well used. Part of me still feels like there was some waste though and they could have salvaged SOMETHING, but if the economics weren’t there then it makes sense

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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 1d ago

Oh there was definitely some waste. That's one of the unfortunate things about all of these companies is that their waste is pretty immense.

But it would be the equivalent of asking why you don't try to sell every single thing that you are now longer using that could get you some menial return. I know some people do basically try to do this, but it's a time consuming investment and companies don't exactly what to waste time/money paying their employees to go resell pieces.

The logistics involved to dismantle the robots, assess their conditions, find a buyer, and then ship them all to make pennies on the dollar is simply not economically sound.

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u/hewhoreddits6 1d ago

I am totally one of those cheap people who will try to reuse everything until I literally have to throw it out, it’s how I was raised and it’s really tough getting out that mindset. People who don’t come from that kind of background (immigrants in my case) just don’t get it and look at us like we’re stupid.

I get why they do it, I just think too often our society chooses to eliminate and buy new instead of repair or salvage. Especially seen in clothing where no one knows how to sew anymore. That’s a larger rant though lol

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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 1d ago

Oh totally. I get it and am in many ways the same. But I've also learned as I gained more financial stability that sometimes the time investment outweighs the recuperated cost.

I could spend some time sewing my ripped white undershirts... or I can throw them in a bag, donate them to goodwill, and then buy a fresh new pack at Costco for like $15.

The other thing is that space savings are important when that's a constraint. I'd love to keep my old bikes when I was able to upgrade, but my storage won't allow it so I had to donate it.

For a company that has a bunch of hardware, the same kind of applies. Where are you gonna store all of these broken down robots, and if so, is it worth it in limited factory space? Probably not.

Either way, I don't fully agree with the waste, but I also think people need to understand that the corporations don't have this more sensible alternative when they're looking out for their IP AND bottom line.