Dimensional’s now-expired job advertisement asked for dependable people who could spend several hours walking outdoors, use a smartphone and handle equipment weighing about 33 pounds.
The equipment was a four-legged robot.
The San Francisco startup offered $20 an hour, with paid training and no robotics experience required. Workers would follow assigned testing routes during four- to six-hour shifts that began and ended at its Dogpatch office.
The lifting requirement had a practical explanation. According to reporting by Kashmir Hill for The New York Times, the robots could overheat during a walk. Their operators might then have to carry them back.
What the company is testing
During the outings, people guide the robots while onboard cameras and sensors record the journey. Those recordings provide real-world data to help Dimensional improve autonomous navigation.
The company develops software; the robots used for these walks came from Chinese manufacturer Unitree and cost around $2,000 each, according to the Times report.
Dimensional’s documentation describes tools for mapping surroundings, planning routes, avoiding obstacles and operating robots remotely. The walks let the company test its technology outside a controlled indoor setting.
Founder Stash Pomichter told the Times that Dimensional had compared the robots’ performance under human control with their performance under AI control. The AI still fell short, he said, leaving people with an essential role in the experiment.
Beyond dog walking
Dimensional wants its software to support robots working in factories, data centers, construction sites and security roles, according to the Times. The street outings are part of that development work.
For the operators, the responsibilities were straightforward: follow safety instructions, work independently, communicate reliably and complete the assigned route. The listing did not require applicants to build robots or write software.
The original Facebook advertisement has been removed, and the $20-an-hour listing on Indeed is marked expired. It is no longer an offer readers should expect to apply for.
It does show what one robotics job looked like this month: several hours outside, a smartphone and responsibility for getting a 33-pound machine back to the office.
Sources:
Dimensional’s job listing on Indeed (expired),
The New York Times via The Star
and
Dimensional’s official documentation.
Hero image: Editorial illustration by The Fetch; not a photograph of the reported events.
