"This is not the business model you were looking for."
Yeah, I had to go for the easy joke. But my only interest in Ookla involves their speed test and I also haven't figured out that business model. Where the heck did this $1.2 billion "valuation" come from?
They sell data and software to big ISPs, content providers, cell providers, etc. That free speed test pulls a lot of data the other companies want. You basically act as a test node in exchange for getting your speed test. Same with DownDetector. Companies pay them to get alerts and data from user reports (there is a reason it pings your browser/device for permission to access your location data when you make a report). https://www.ookla.com/
Battery swapping systems are in use in several parts of the world, mostly Asia, for trucks and taxis. There's no reason it can't be applied to construction equipment.
That still means the bots need to leave the spot they are working, move to a swap location, swap, and come back to where they were every hour or two (or less, depending on how much motion is required for the job). And that's a lot of packs. Two per if you can fully recharge faster than they discharge. In reality probably need 3 per robot.
In fact there are fully automated and fully electric open pit mines in China already.
With battery powered humanoid robots? And to be clear that's what I was referring to. I even called out specialized larger robots as an alternative in some phases of construction. Those probably could be tethered, or even use on-board diesel generators instead of batteries. They could also carry much larger batteries. Humanoid robots are going to be constrained to batteries that fit into their form. 1-2 hours is based on current bots in China.
Money is its own reward.