https://twitter.com/TicToc/status/1201342769253535744?s=19
With lights and camera and msybe some AI could these be used to help inspect inbound/outbound trains? Tunnels? Track? Could be used on live track and just "hunker down" when a train passes by.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
As with widespread use of low-flying drones ... and urban shopping carts: expect to see their components recycled into a wide range of local items anywhere they'd be used in 'meaningful' neighborhoods. Or just vandalized for fun.
What you'd need would be the inspection dogs from Fahrenheit 451, complete with Novocain. And the willingness to allow them to use force to defend themselves. Probably not likely any time soon, unless of course implemented by Government.
See? They're making the robots look cute.
Next thing you know, we have a robot revolution.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
zugmann See? They're making the robots look cute. Next thing you know, we have a robot revolution.
Well, as long as they're cute....
zugmannSee? They're making the robots look cute. Next thing you know, we have a robot revolution.
The food store I frequent has a roving robot that circulates around the store cleaning up minor issues and announcing on the store's PA system for cleanup of major spills that it detects. It is on the lookout for 'traffic' on a 360 degree basis and will stop or turn when 'traffic' is detected. It has its own designated parking space in the store so it can recharge its batteries.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDThe food store I frequent has a roving robot that circulates around the store cleaning up minor issues and announcing on the store's PA system for cleanup of major spills that it detects. It is on the lookout for 'traffic' on a 360 degree basis and will stop or turn when 'traffic' is detected. It has its own designated parking space in the store so it can recharge its batteries.
Marty!
See? we even name them.
oltmannd zugmann See? They're making the robots look cute. Next thing you know, we have a robot revolution. Well, as long as they're cute....
Cute my @$$, those little Sci-Fi nightmares give me the creeps.
If I see any of those things around the Fortress Flintlock there's going to be some serious sledgehammer action!
Anyone besides me remember this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCZY9Z6WvSY
I wonder if states would limit robot hunting season to the fall.
zugmann BaltACD The food store I frequent has a roving robot that circulates around the store cleaning up minor issues and announcing on the store's PA system for cleanup of major spills that it detects. It is on the lookout for 'traffic' on a 360 degree basis and will stop or turn when 'traffic' is detected. It has its own designated parking space in the store so it can recharge its batteries. Marty! See? we even name them.
BaltACD The food store I frequent has a roving robot that circulates around the store cleaning up minor issues and announcing on the store's PA system for cleanup of major spills that it detects. It is on the lookout for 'traffic' on a 360 degree basis and will stop or turn when 'traffic' is detected. It has its own designated parking space in the store so it can recharge its batteries.
Yep! Marty at Martins!
Lithonia Operator I wonder if states would limit robot hunting season to the fall.
The idea of a season's a good one. Just tell all the country boys robots taste great and the season closes tomorrow! Watch how fast those things disappear!
but I'm wondering what happens if you get 4 shopping carts and . . . (see the New and Improved Humor thread for the story about the guy in the Target store and his mischief).
It's made by a company named Badger in Tennessee, I think.
- PDN.
Paul_D_North_Jr BaltACD The food store I frequent has a roving robot that circulates around the store cleaning up minor issues and announcing on the store's PA system for cleanup of major spills that it detects. It is on the lookout for 'traffic' on a 360 degree basis and will stop or turn when 'traffic' is detected. It has its own designated parking space in the store so it can recharge its batteries. Most of our local Giant supermarkets have one. The employees hate it - almost every time it's a false alarm, but they have to stop what they're doing and reset the alarm. It does nothing useful - except maybe document that the store has a diligent policy and practice of looking for spills, so as to defeat lawsuits for claims for slip-and-fall injuries - and supposedly has been the cause of layoffs. It will 'alert' at trivial stuff, but my wife has seen it miss some real hazards. It broadcasts its alarm in both English and Spanish - louder if it perceives the hazard as being really bad. It will stop or maneuver around people or carts . . . but I'm wondering what happens if you get 4 shopping carts and . . . (see the New and Improved Humor thread for the story about the guy in the Target store and his mischief). It's made by a company named Badger in Tennessee, I think. - PDN.
Most of our local Giant supermarkets have one. The employees hate it - almost every time it's a false alarm, but they have to stop what they're doing and reset the alarm. It does nothing useful - except maybe document that the store has a diligent policy and practice of looking for spills, so as to defeat lawsuits for claims for slip-and-fall injuries - and supposedly has been the cause of layoffs. It will 'alert' at trivial stuff, but my wife has seen it miss some real hazards. It broadcasts its alarm in both English and Spanish - louder if it perceives the hazard as being really bad. It will stop or maneuver around people or carts . . .
Martin's is owned by the same company that owns Giant - Royal Ahold, that I believe is a Dutch food conglomerate. Some people refer to Martins as Giant Lite.
When I moved to my community there was a newly built Giant, a older Martins, a IGA store and a Food Lion. When Royal Ahold bought Martins, they sold the Giant store to Safeway and started building a new Martins building that was much larger than the old Martins or the old Giant. The old Martins then became a Shop-rite which remained in business for about 7 or 8 years and then closed. Food Lion sold off a number of their stores and my local one is now a Weis. The IGA closed about 8 years ago.
Paul_D_North_JrMischief but I'm wondering what happens if you get 4 shopping carts and . . . (see the New and Improved Humor thread for the story about the guy in the Target store and his mischief).
You just make more work for the employee. Ultimately Marty is supposed to scan shelves for products that need restocked, check prices that are wrong, etc - Walmart is using the same type of robots for that already.
I've read some online postings that claim their Marty has wandered out the front doors and was found in front of antoher store. Whether they are true or not - but I'd like to believe.
zugmannI've read some online postings that claim their Marty has wandered out the front doors and was found in front of antoher store. Whether they are true or not - but I'd like to believe.
It would be interesting to know what would happen if Marty got into another store and was checking their stock and preparing an order...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 zugmann I've read some online postings that claim their Marty has wandered out the front doors and was found in front of antoher store. Whether they are true or not - but I'd like to believe. It would be interesting to know what would happen if Marty got into another store and was checking their stock and preparing an order...
zugmann I've read some online postings that claim their Marty has wandered out the front doors and was found in front of antoher store. Whether they are true or not - but I'd like to believe.
Wandering Marty makes for a nice story, however, I suspect there is some form of electronic 'tether' in Marty's software and communication parameters that would prevent him from leaving the building.
My Martins, has ADA 'rumble strips' guarding both entrances, so even if Marty made it to the exit, I suspect the rumble strips might present a operational challenge he can't overcome.
In the railroad world, how many remote or belt pak engines continue to operate OUTSIDE the radio range of the Remote opeational controls?
WAY back in the middle 1970's, GE's Appliance Park East in Columbia, MD had a radio controlled remote engine. The B&O Yardmaster at Jessup would occasionally get calls from GE that they had lost contact with their engine and it was moving away from the plant on the Columbia Branch which was dead ended in the direction the engine was traveling. Whenever the B&O job was sent up the Columbia Branch to service GE or any of the other customers, GE was contacted and requested 'hold on to your engine' to prevent any issues.
BaltACD WAY back in the middle 1970's, GE's Appliance Park East in Columbia, MD had a radio controlled remote engine. The B&O Yardmaster at Jessup would occasionally get calls from GE that they had lost contact with their engine and it was moving away from the plant on the Columbia Branch which was dead ended in the direction the engine was traveling. Whenever the B&O job was sent up the Columbia Branch to service GE or any of the other customers, GE was contacted and requested 'hold on to your engine' to prevent any issues.
To be fair, you don't need robots or beltpak for that to happen. In years past there were two incidents of runaway industrial locomotives on the CN line northeast of Edmonton (near Fort Saskatchewan) that were 100% human error.
Incident 1. Engro (later Agrium, now Nutrien) fertilizer plant sends out one of their ALCO/MLW switchers to be rebuilt, it comes back with a new control system their crews are not familiar with. One day they break for lunch, thinking they have left it idling in neutral, really it is in forward and throttle 2 or 3. It runs out onto the CN line (no derail at the plant entrance then) and runs for about 20 miles until it gets into the main CN yard in Edmonton. CN lines it into a clear track and catches it with a yard engine. The very rough coupling damages both units and injures the CN Engineer.
Incident 2. Dow Chemical's switching crews do not like riding their engine when running around the yard lead due to rough track. So they let it run itself around the lead, race to the other end in a pickup truck, and get on when it shows up. One day it shows up going WAY too fast to get on, and runs out onto CN by itself (again, no derail at the plant entrance). It runs down the main track at considerable speed for several miles before derailing on a curve.
In both cases it would seem that the crews had disabled the 'dead-man' or whatever other safety control(s) the units had.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
zugmann . . . Ultimately Marty is supposed to scan shelves for products that need restocked, check prices that are wrong, etc - Walmart is using the same type of robots for that already. . . .
I know WalMart was hoping that RFID would be cheaper. Amazon took a different approach with their "go" stores.
https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011
Paul_D_North_Jr I don't see stores putting RFID chips on each box of cereal . . .
I actually read of just such a concept several years ago.
With everything tagged, a shopper simply walks through a checkout portal where all of the RFID tags are read, as well as the RFID for your store courtesy card. Your credit card is linked to the courtesy card, so everything is paid for, too.
I don't know exactly how the scanner would know you had two boxes of Wheaties or four, but apparently it would.
It's not a reach for Marty to wander the store and keep track of stock levels with such a system.
Of course, POS systems now are connected to the inventory computer, so if you buy the last box of Wheaties, there will be a fresh supply on the next truck arriving at the store.
tree68 Paul_D_North_Jr I don't see stores putting RFID chips on each box of cereal . . . I actually read of just such a concept several years ago. With everything tagged, a shopper simply walks through a checkout portal where all of the RFID tags are read, as well as the RFID for your store courtesy card. Your credit card is linked to the courtesy card, so everything is paid for, too. I don't know exactly how the scanner would know you had two boxes of Wheaties or four, but apparently it would. It's not a reach for Marty to wander the store and keep track of stock levels with such a system. Of course, POS systems now are connected to the inventory computer, so if you buy the last box of Wheaties, there will be a fresh supply on the next truck arriving at the store.
I went to Wallyworld the other day - wanted to be 2 of a item, but there was only one on the shelf. Contacted an associate and asked if there were any more 'in back'. After she checked her hand led stock computer was told that I was getting the last one in the store, the next delivery would be 4 of them on 12/11.
Paul_D_North_JrI don't see stores putting RFID chips on each box of cereal . . .
You would be surprised at the amount of research that has gone into making cost-effective (meaning very, very cheap) but relatively complex RFID chips for packaging and logistics. One technique is to use fast laser printers to paint both the antenna circuit and the components on a paper substrate, complete with its own IoT code that individually identifies the item as well as encapsulating its bar-code representation. A surprisingly small number of computer 'bits' is needed to distinguish very large numbers; unsurprisingly, there are a number of contending schemes for 'universal' coding of mass-produced or mass-generated RFID.
I didn't think it could get much more fun than disposable cell phones printed on paper, but it does.
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