[airstrike]

I'm just a layman, but I can't see this design scaling. It's way too slow and "hard" for fine motor tasks like cleaning up a kitchen or being anywhere around humans, really.

I think the future is in "softer" type of robots that can sense whether their robot fingers are pushing a cabinet door (or if it's facing resistance) and adjust accordingly. A quick google search shows this example (animated render) which is closer to what I imagine the ultimate solution will be: https://compliance-robotics.com/compliance-industry/

Human flesh is way too squishy for us to allow hard tools to interface with it, unless the human is in control. The difference between a blunt weapon and the robot from TFA is that the latter is very slow and on wheels.

[nullc]

The development here is primarily in the model. If someone invents the 'brains' a robot needs to do useful domestic tasks then there will suddenly be a lot of incentive to build the right body for it.

[airstrike]

Right, but ISTM that building the right body is a much harder problem than people are willing to admit.

Software isn't constrained by the harsh truths of physical reality.