Ask HN: What unusual areas would benefit from automation?
What uncommon tasks that are largely performed manually today could benefit from automation?
I don't know if it counts as unusual, but I want a robotic gardener that identifies weeds and zaps them with a laser (or otherwise kills them).
https://www.google.com/#q=infrared+plant+identification
...and it seems like there could be quite a sizable market for such a device that automatically helps grow your food.
Broad scale agriculture already uses similar technology to selectively identify and spray weeds in grain fields.
Fruit picking, it has already started but could really take off.
Also, talking to a guy at work whose in-laws own a super popular Chinese restaurant where I live, manufacture of some dumplings. But this one is super hard when you look at how long it takes a person to learn to do it just right, mostly by feel, as all flour is different and changes day to day with humidity.