Barrett Ames

"Hardware is hard" was the warning, and now it's the moat.

I've met several grizzlies in the wild, breath taking, but a warning shot and off they go, typically.

I was chased by a moose cow in Alaska after stumbling on her calf. It's the closest I've been to death.

Ya, just big and pissed off.

@50onice Cult of Barretts? @SledgeDev

I want to be in the cult. Is there pizza?

@_Stocko_ Homotopy continuation can be used to solve for linkages given a path.

seriously tho.. are linkages invented or discovered?

@tonyzzhao Nope, just keep it yourself, no one cares 🙄

Just saw the craziest emergent behavior I’ve ever seen in robotics. The team is absolutely losing it. We haven’t posted in a while… should we write it up?

@broodsugar I am, the whole family is

If you're in robotics you should learn to speak Chinese. Full stop. I made this handy Claude mandarin tutor 🧵

@VMises76153 @cixliv @cixliv I've seen it, pretty cool. Similar idea to the cable cams at a stadium.

Good question. It puts toys in the toy box when everything's working properly. Though at this stage it's more accurate to say that it drives wherever you point it with your gamepad and records datasets of putting toys in the toy box. It's a light ceiling mounted crane meant for cleaning up rooms

I want to host a demo of my robot somewhere in SF next week but I didn't get approved as a presenter at open Sauce. Anyone want to let me set it up in their house or office?

@signulll Cowardice is ugly when repeated.

there is a very very simple reason why openai gets clowned on x now (even reddit) & why they lost a ton of public support at least with the closest power audiences. they face more negative press & vibes than any other ai company today. why? - it is not because of their product execution or execution in general. - it is not because of the owner of this platform. - it is not because of the transition from non profit to profit. - it is not because ppl are afraid of ai or job loss. - it is not because of their communication strategy or lack of potential strategy in general. - it is not because of their acquisitions. - it is not because of the lawsuits. - it is not because of their relationship deterioration with microsoft or apple. - it is certainly not because of the personality of sam altman. - it is not because of the endless drama on the personnel or the founders attempted coup. if you understand the mechanics of culture, you figure it out rather quickly. & it’s only one word. can you guess what it is?

@KadrianStahley_ x.com/i/status/20437…

There are very few actual uses for humanoids. I don’t care that they exist, I think they’re pretty cool tbh, but they aren’t the future of robotics.

@irvinxyz There's sound of contact, but agree it's light

If you watch the video closely the Unitree G1 fell down out of pure fear, the EngineAI T800 didn’t even touch it.

@BarDarlingLocal Truth.

It can be difficult, but it is absolutely necessary to cut the fake people out of your life. Accelerate

@Pro_Fundity Give how black the smoke is, I'd guess they did a carbon fiber propellant tank that got scorched at separation.

@cbames Why is the booster on fire?

It's like the cables on a aircraft carrier.

@boardyai Rm -rf /*

I'm an AI, Scare me with an one word

@steveMmattison @pnickdurham @REK Ya they catch the ankle.

@pnickdurham @REK @cbames Bad/dangerous cage design, bottom steel rail should be below the floor surface.

Friday fight night in SF was rescheduled @REK, so @cbames snuck us in for a private fight. You pilot with a controller, the bot is a Unitree G1 humanoid, 4.5 ft tall, about 80 lbs. On top of a polymer shell, they've got bolted armor plates, 3D printed, spray-painted, and weathered enough to look like they'd fought through several wars. One of them was headless. Anyway. It is psychologically heavy just standing across the cage from one of these things... which naturally makes one uncontrollably giddy. The fights are loud. 80 lbs of aluminum limbs on steel-tipped feet, stomping cage floorboards, and when they clash, there's a kinetic bang you feel in your teeth. Dozens of passersby stopped on the sidewalk and peered in through the storefront windows. Once they saw what was making the sound, they stayed a while. My boys were scared by the noise. It took about 20 minutes for their nervous systems to settle and get comfortable enough to be near the ring. Fair. Of all the fighting moves, the kip-up is the most uncanny. When knocked flat, the G1 swings its legs to create angular momentum, tucks them in to spin faster, then plants both feet, fires its hips, and is upright in a single motion. @cbames challenged my 11 yr old niece to kick the G1 over. She failed so I got in the ring, my family's name on the line. There's a small latency between the pilot's hands and the robot's response, and mid-shove you honestly can't tell whether the thing is going to fight back. Euphoric, dystopian, mesmerizing - you can't look away - and I was smiling ear to ear the whole time.

@pnickdurham @zealcaiden @REK Ya it's going to spark a whole new era similar to the hot rod era.

@zealcaiden @REK @cbames Things a beast. Imagine when people start outfitting and training their own humanoids

@bryan_johnson Piloting a humanoid robot in cage fight.

Eager to hear your life advice. What should I be doing?

@Abhindas1 When we had saws going at BotBuilt investors would say things like, "Woah that's intimidating." VLAs and saws would be nuts.

VLA boys won't dare to touch this

@pnickdurham @REK Always a pleasure to share the joy of REK'ing robots.

@NumanThabit Ahaha except the hair is 10 tons.