发布 HN：K-Scale Labs（YC W24）– 开源类人机器人
嗨，HN，我是Ben，来自K-Scale Labs（[https://kscale.dev](https://kscale.dev)）。我们正在开发开源的人形机器人。
硬件视频：[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZi9rtdEKg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZi9rtdEKg)
软件视频：[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXi3b3xXJFw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXi3b3xXJFw)
文档：[https://docs.kscale.dev](https://docs.kscale.dev)
Github：[https://github.com/kscalelabs](https://github.com/kscalelabs)
五月份的HN讨论串：[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44023680](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44023680)
我创办K-Scale是因为我非常想要一个可以进行改造的人形机器人，所以我知道如果我造出一个，至少会有一个客户。在Unitree G1发布之前，当时最便宜的选择价格超过5万美元，但我认为我可以用大约1万美元的现成组件（COTS）来制造一个，这对独立开发者和黑客来说会是一个更好的价格。
我们使用一些3D打印机和我从亚马逊和阿里巴巴购买的零件构建了第一个版本。虽然效果不佳，但这让我们能够建立完整的流程，从设计和制造硬件到在仿真中训练控制策略。实际上，我们在大约两个月内完成了大部分工作，并在YC Demo Day时有了一个站立并挥手的机器人（尽管它的其他功能不太好用）。
从那时起，我们的重点一直是如何将一款业余级机器人转变为消费级机器人，而不增加我们的材料清单（BOM，即所有零件的成本）或建立自己的工厂。这是相当困难的。目前，许多机器人组件的供应链都经过中国，但关税使得依赖中国供应商变得困难。此外，即使是1万美元的价格，对于大多数客户来说，拥有一款功能相对有限的人形机器人仍然相当昂贵。
我们的解决方案是开源我们的硬件和软件。这使我们更容易应对关税和制造挑战。通过公开我们的参考设计，供应商能够更轻松地为我们提供具有竞争力的解决方案，而我们的制造合作伙伴也能更容易地根据他们的生产流程调整我们的设计。
在需求方面，人形机器人的基本问题是它们现在大多无用，而使它们变得有用的过程可能是漫长且资本密集的。我预期有一大批像我一样对人形机器人感兴趣的黑客，这个客户群体比传统的商业机器人应用更具潜力。作为这个客户群体的一员，我认为开源软件和硬件将是一个强有力的价值主张，尤其是对那些希望将人形机器人引入自己业务领域的开发者。
从更哲学的角度来看，我认为拥有一款优秀的开源人形机器人是非常重要的。我认为这项技术可能会比许多人目前预期的更快成熟，而由某个单一公司拥有的大量人形机器人四处走动的想法则显得相当反乌托邦。
目前，我们正在以8999美元的价格出售我们的基础人形机器人K-Bot。我们现在出售它的主要原因，而不是等待更多的研发，是因为我们希望在进行最终的制造设计（DfM）之前，与我们的供应商谈判批量价格。例如，我们能够为执行器和末端执行器谈判比普通独立开发者在小批量订单中能获得的更好的批量定价。
然而，许多今天想要购买人形机器人的人是因为他们希望拥有一个完全自主的机器人来完成所有家务，这是一项相当困难（但令人兴奋）的任务。为了解决这个问题，我们提供了一个“完全自主”选项——它是相同的机器人硬件，但我们将提供免费的硬件和软件升级，直到我们能够使机器人完全自主。这样，我们可以提前获得一些资金来启动开发，并开始建立一个核心团队，帮助我们在多样化的环境中提升机器人的能力。从客户的角度来看，这是一种降低从一家年轻硬件公司购买第一代产品风险的方式，并且能够对技术的发展产生更大的影响。
构建开源软件和硬件的最佳部分是被比我们更聪明的人拆解，因此我们非常期待您的反馈！
查看原文
Hi HN, I'm Ben, from K-Scale Labs (<a href="https://kscale.dev">https://kscale.dev</a>). We're building open-source humanoid robots.<p>Hardware video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZi9rtdEKg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZi9rtdEKg</a><p>Software video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXi3b3xXJFw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXi3b3xXJFw</a><p>Docs: <a href="https://docs.kscale.dev">https://docs.kscale.dev</a><p>Github: <a href="https://github.com/kscalelabs">https://github.com/kscalelabs</a><p>HN thread from back in May: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44023680">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44023680</a><p>I started K-Scale because I really wanted a humanoid robot to hack on, so I knew that if I built one, I would have at least one customer. It was before the Unitree G1 came out so the cheapest option at the time costed over $50k, but I figured I could build one for about $10k using COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) components, which would be a much better price point for indie hackers and developers.<p>We built the first version using some 3D printers and parts that I bought off of Amazon and Alibaba. It was not great, but it let us build out the full pipeline, from designing and building the hardware to training control policies in simulation. We actually did most of this in about two months, and had a standing, waving robot by YC Demo Day (although it wasn't good for much else!).<p>Since then, our focus has been on figuring out how to go from a hobby-grade robot to a consumer-grade robot, without inflating our BOM (Bill of Materials, i.e. cost of all the parts) or having to set up our own factories. This is surprisingly difficult. A lot of the supply chain for robotics components currently goes through China, but tariffs have made it difficult to rely on Chinese suppliers for components. Also, even a $10k price point is pretty expensive for most customers, for a humanoid robot that has fairly limited capabilities.<p>Our solution to this is to open-source our hardware and software. This makes it easier for us to navigate tariffs and manufacturing challenges. By making our reference design public, our suppliers have a much easier time figuring out how to offer us competitive solutions, and our manufacturing partners are able to more easily adjust our design for their production processes.<p>On the demand side, the basic problem with humanoid robots is that they're mostly useless right now, and it will probably be a long and fairly capital-intensive journey to make them useful. My expectation was that there is a large pool of latent interest from people like me who are interested in hacking on humanoids, and that this customer segment is a much better customer segment to sell into than more traditional business-focused robotics applications. As someone in this customer segment myself, I felt that open-source software and hardware would be a strong value proposition, particularly for developers exploring bringing humanoids into their own business verticals.<p>More philosophically, I think it is important that there is a good, open-source humanoid robot. I think the technology is likely to mature much more rapidly than many people currently expect, and the idea of armies of humanoids owned by some single company walking around is pretty dystopian.<p>Right now, we're selling our base humanoid robot, K-Bot, for $8999. The main reason we're selling it now, instead of waiting to do more R&D, is because we're trying to negotiate volume prices with our own suppliers before we do final DfM (Design for Manufacturing). For example, we are able to negotiate better volume pricing for actuators and end effectors than what the average indie developer would be able to get for low-volume orders.<p>However, a lot of the people who want to buy a humanoid robot today do so because they want a completely autonomous robot to do all their chores, which is a pretty hard (although exciting) thing to build. To square this circle, we're offering a "Full Autonomy" option - it is the same robot hardware, but we will provide free hardware and software upgrades until we are able to make the robot fully autonomous. This way, we can have some extra cash upfront to kickstart development, and start to build a core group of people who are aligned with helping us improve the robot's capabilities across a diverse set of environments. From our customers' perspective, it's a way to de-risk buying a first-generation product from a young hardware company, and to have a bigger influence on how the technology unfolds.<p>The best part about building open source software and hardware is getting torn apart by people smarter than us, so we'd love your feedback!