There’s a fair amount of practical expertise, like picking specific sizes/shapes for specific areas and arranging the rocks so they won’t move later (he talks about the long-term safety implications around 12:30). It’s a very involved moment-to-moment decision making process.
Just because the robot can fit the rocks together in a way that stands up now doesn’t mean it’s done so in a way that will be safe and stable five years from now, especially with the pressure of tons of dirt behind it, probably with a building on top of that.
Automation can replace human labor but it can’t replace human attention.
It was mostly a miscommunication with the engineer, but still, the guy stacking the boulders never realized they wouldn’t be stable the original way it was done, with the support wall built the way it is.
No kidding, I hadn’t seen that one. If I understand correctly, the rocks were stable but the angle was putting too much pressure on the concrete wall which made it crack.
This video gives a good look at what’s involved in building a stone retaining wall like this:
Essential Craftsman: How to stack a boulder wall
There’s a fair amount of practical expertise, like picking specific sizes/shapes for specific areas and arranging the rocks so they won’t move later (he talks about the long-term safety implications around 12:30). It’s a very involved moment-to-moment decision making process.
Just because the robot can fit the rocks together in a way that stands up now doesn’t mean it’s done so in a way that will be safe and stable five years from now, especially with the pressure of tons of dirt behind it, probably with a building on top of that.
Automation can replace human labor but it can’t replace human attention.
Funny you picked that video, because even with all that experience, they still messed it up.
https://youtu.be/mG1meCTie1w
It was mostly a miscommunication with the engineer, but still, the guy stacking the boulders never realized they wouldn’t be stable the original way it was done, with the support wall built the way it is.
No kidding, I hadn’t seen that one. If I understand correctly, the rocks were stable but the angle was putting too much pressure on the concrete wall which made it crack.
That’s what I understood from the video.