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pinkrobotics commented on $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal   xprize.org/prizes/elonmus... · Posted by u/captn3m0
detritus · 4 years ago
Soil. It's soil.

Soil, in prodigious quantities. We need to be making it.

Using human waste - food and faecal from our cities; Using whatever plant fixes the most CO2 in a useful form that we can turn into charcoal (quick trees? bamboo grass? something genetically modified?), releasing heat energy, and then fixing carbon in a useful matrix, for soil regeneration a la Terra Preta.

I sort of made this post elsewhere here, I just wanted to repeat and focus on the soil angle.

We have huge swathes of the globe that due to poor historical environmental conditions have poor soil, so not much can grow. Some have become desertified, perhaps some of which is our fault (eg. Mediterranean deforestation). If we add soil to these places, at least hardier plants can grow and we can expand the reach of our efforts.

Strikes me that the most important thing is that plants can grow, and for that we need soil.

Soil.

pinkrobotics · 4 years ago
Soil could be something that is too easily overlooked.

If you had prodigious quantities of good soil, you could grow trees and food at sea, where we have lots of space to grow, especially at the equator.

The problem then becomes a floating platform, and controlling it all, but those seem less difficult.

pinkrobotics commented on Modular Homes for Under $50k   boxabl.com/... · Posted by u/yehudabrick
gurchik · 4 years ago
In one of the videos on the site it is explained that they are currently targeting people who want to build "backyard houses" or "ADUs" that are popular in some places like in California. Family members can live in them or you can rent them out, provided it has a foundation, power, plumbing etc.
pinkrobotics · 4 years ago
To me it's a modern cabin. And a place to live while a primary residence is being built. And then it'll be a place for visitors to stay.

I absolutely love this, and I really want one. Have you sold many/any yet? What stage of development is the company at?

Also, what sort of time frame can I hope to just order one and have it show up in a month or two?

pinkrobotics commented on Linux Terminal Tools [pdf]   ketancmaheshwari.github.i... · Posted by u/ketanmaheshwari
snug · 4 years ago
The secret that I never see brought up on any of the linux command line tools is "esc + ." - It's by far one of the most valuable tricks I've learned, it will insert the last thing from the last command

ls /foo/bar/this_is_the_file.txt

cat "esc + ."

which expands to

cat /foo/bar/this_is_the_file.txt

pinkrobotics · 4 years ago
wow, thank you! I did not know this. It will be very useful!
pinkrobotics commented on Ask HN: Ambitious robotics entrepreneur with failing Kickstarter. Seeking advice    · Posted by u/pinkrobotics
tixocloud · 5 years ago
Tyler, it sounds like you're quite passionate about robotics and the potential for addressing wildfire issues. Firstly, nothing wrong with continuing to fund yourself through a regular job while working on your passion. Folks love to glorify the all-or-nothing dynamic but frankly, there are plenty of folks who've done side hustles in order to get their startup up and running. Have you thought about consulting in an area where your potential customers are likely to be? This path lets you build expertise and network where your robotics solution could eventually be brought into. Best part is that you develop credibility and can adapt your solution to address exactly what the market needs and reduce your risk your failure.

In a similar position as yourself, I'm in deep tech and can share similar frustrations where funding is scarce and commercialization seems far away. Having attempted to fundraise, I can say that we've been blessed to be forced to bootstrap at this stage and are slowly identifying our commercial path. Happy to help you find a market.

The good news is that you are in a hot investment area and I can probably point you in the right direction with the right investors. Firstly, how far along are you? Do you have a prototype and have you spoken to potential customers?

One program that might be suitable for you is Creative Destruction Lab, who specialize in deep tech such as robotics (https://www.creativedestructionlab.com/program/). They don't take any equity and you'd have opportunities to be mentored and invested. I'd be happy to provide an introduction.

pinkrobotics · 5 years ago
Hi! Thank you for all the feedback.

The creative destruction lab looks really cool, and I may ask for an introduction, but, I worry that I'm am not really trying to build a business here. I don't see a product or customers in growing forests robotically. It's just a forest. And the robots are to handle the scale, they are doing nothing a low skilled worker couldn't do.

I don't see any real business opportunity outside of selling carbon credits, but there are vastly more profitable ways to use land.

But it's a reliable and feasible solution to climate change nonetheless, and something I could theoretically do with funding. So, hence Kickstarter, a place where businesses don't need to be businesses! :)

Oh, I built a rover named Henry, but I can't quite say that he is a forest planting prototype.

pinkrobotics commented on Ask HN: Ambitious robotics entrepreneur with failing Kickstarter. Seeking advice    · Posted by u/pinkrobotics
kyle_martin1 · 5 years ago
I can see you're passionate about this and that's a great trait to have as an entrepreneur. I'd invite you to consider that most of life isn't linear. It's full of twists and detours but if you keep your vector pointed in the generally right direction, over time you'll end up somewhere awesome.

This image always a good reminder: https://studentaffairscollective.org/wp-content/uploads/2015...

I am in a similar position-- a full-time roboticist and an moonlighting entrepreneur on the side. My goal here is to pick up marketing and sales skills that when the right robotics business opportunity presents itself...I'm ready for it.

If there's anything I've learned by watching the string of robotics companies close shop recently, it's that business model is more important than the technology.

Don't give up!

If you'd like to chat more-- you can hit me up at kyle (AT) castalytics dot com.

pinkrobotics · 5 years ago
Your image and words remind me of this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AD4b-52jtos&t=30m46s

Marketing and sales are the domains I am the worst at, maybe we should chat. Though, while I do foresee a market for carbon, I do not see much in the way for climate solving robots, only return is saving the world ;)

pinkrobotics commented on Ask HN: Ambitious robotics entrepreneur with failing Kickstarter. Seeking advice    · Posted by u/pinkrobotics
tlb · 5 years ago
I think there's potential for automated forestry to capture carbon, but the KS video doesn't really help me imagine how it would work. What would the robots actually do in the forest to capture a lot more carbon? How many different kinds of robots would it take? Can people do some of those jobs in the meantime while the robots are under development? Are there forests, even small ones, being managed this way today?

Rather than making one system to do all the forestry jobs, it's probably better to design one robot for one particular task that can save money for forestry companies. Once you have a business selling one kind of robot, expand outwards from there.

pinkrobotics · 5 years ago
I could definitely improve the KS video and presentation a lot :)

And you are right, a likely good place for me to start, is in logging industry (forestry). Though, I was more hoping to build robots to create and maintain forests, not cut them down at scale more efficiently.

Making robots to hasten climate change may not be the right approach to solving it. Yet, the best customers I could get would be logging, mining or oil.

Deleted Comment

pinkrobotics commented on Ask HN: Ambitious robotics entrepreneur with failing Kickstarter. Seeking advice    · Posted by u/pinkrobotics
kyle_martin1 · 5 years ago
Tyler,

I would get a job that to provide yourself a safety net such that you can continue your passions. It doesn't have to be all or nothing!

pinkrobotics · 5 years ago
Well, for each hour of each day, I do need to choose to work on either one thing or another, not both. I hoped to spend the majority of my hours working towards saving our world from climate change. If I get a safety net job, the majority of my hours will be spent getting someone else rich.

Don't get me wrong. This is likely what I will need to do to pay for rent and food. I'm just not happy about it. And saddens me when I see large numbers elsewhere

u/pinkrobotics

KarmaCake day9September 26, 2018View Original