[ExI] Meat v. Machine

[Mike Dougherty]

On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 7:33 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> Yes by all means, snip that.  Far too pessimistic methinks.  We should be
> able to write a good simulation of builder-bots operating 1.3 seconds away,
> and see what we could accomplish with that modest level of latency.  Once
> one gets the rhythm, we will be able to do plenty of building with a 2.6
> second round trip feedback loop.

I sometimes have more than 2.6 seconds of latency using remote desktop
software to control my work computer from home.  Sometimes I have more
than 1.3 seconds of latency using my work desktop when I'm actually AT
work.  Ask windows to browse (via GUI) at multi-thousand file
directory and see how many "sweeps" of that silly flashlight it takes
before you see the first file...

With semi-intelligent (or at least not-too-dumb) of a robot a fairly
long latency could be tolerable.  I'm pretty sure a Roomba vacuum has
enough smarts to not fall down stairs or kill the housepets - and for
a few dollars more we could probably make a dumptruck version to move
ready-to-haul regolith around the moon.

Submarines have similar latencies too, don't they?  every action must
fight through water, then wait for debris to settle or be swept away
before a remote operator can orient to the new status (even when the
machine is capable of greater responsiveness, the operator may not be)