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Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

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Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#101

Post by tomnipotent »

RandallBrown wrote: post #33
Aloha wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about Nordstrom, I know nothing of their infrastructure.

Their tech stack is similar to what you'd expect from any large tech company. I can't speak much to the server side of things (I worked on the iOS app) but I know they had everything ranging from older monolithic .NET apps to Node and Go micro services. Their GitHub page ( https://github.com/Nordstrom ) doesn't have much in the way of internal projects, but it has lots of forks that will give you an idea of some of t…

Nordstrom also does polymorphic React with server-side rendering via .NET [0]. I've always been impressed with this part of their stack.

[0] https://libraries.io/github/Nordstrom/React.NET

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#102

Post by reaperducer »

ballenf wrote: post #75
joezydeco wrote: post #30

Having worked with some of CFA's competition and comparing their IoT architectures, I'd say these guys have their heads on straight. Kudos to them.

I've never been to a retail establishment with anything close to the credit card speed of CFA. The cashier can swipe and grab receipt in one smooth and quick motion. It's so fast you feel like it's broken or slight of hand. I wonder how they do it or why other companies can't or don't do it. CFA stores are so much busier than even an average McDonald's, maybe the efficiency gains are just worth more. No idea how they…

The one place where CFA IT seems to fall down is at the drive-through.

I used to be able to pay for my order with the order taker on his/her iPad using my Apple Watch.

For the last six months or so, I have to go all the way to the pick-up window, and they have to get a manager to unplug a card swipe terminal from the front counter, plug it in near the window, log in to the terminal, and then hang the actual terminal out of the window so I can tap my watch.

Very strange. Hopefully it's only a problem at the one CFA in my geographic area.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#103

Post by PascLeRasc »

mh- wrote: post #48
gammatrigono wrote: post #43

What data does CFA actually /need/ to collect in their restaurants? Orders and supply chain metadata? Store traffic statistics? Cleanliness and user ratings? I hope it isn't Bluetooth or WiFi (or worse yet, GSM/LTE) metadata from their customers.

Our hypothesis: By making smarter kitchen equipment we can collect more data. By applying data to our restaurant, we can build more intelligent systems. By building more intelligent systems, we can better scale our business.

Yeah, I wish the article had more detail on the data and how they want to use it instead of the same overview of containerization you could find a thousand other places.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#104

Post by seanmcdirmid »

wuliwong wrote: post #62
siruncledrew wrote: post #2

I don't know why, but for some reason the juxtaposition of traditional, brick-and-mortar brand images with tech blogs about building modern application technologies is amusing to me. It's seeing two completely different sides of the same organization. There's 0 condescending sentiment behind it, it's just like "wow, that was unexpected."

I'm in Atlanta and have had a few discussions with people at Chik-fil-A (CFA) about joining on of their teams. I have a good friend that just moved from Intel to CFA working on business analytics. It seems like a really great place to work. And yes, whenever I mention to someone that I might be working on machine learning problems at CFA I always get a puzzled look in return. :)

CFA has long meant control flow analysis in PL.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#105

Post by monocasa »

sheepmullet wrote: post #100
monocasa wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or... your privilege allows you to ignore the political consequences of most conversations. What do you think politics is? Like an actual definition.

> Or... your privilege allows you to ignore the political consequences of most conversations. What political consequences are there to most conversations?

Once again, define 'politics'.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#106

Post by gammatrigono »

chris_mc wrote: post #58
gammatrigono wrote: post #43

What data does CFA actually /need/ to collect in their restaurants? Orders and supply chain metadata? Store traffic statistics? Cleanliness and user ratings? I hope it isn't Bluetooth or WiFi (or worse yet, GSM/LTE) metadata from their customers.

Did you RTFA? Did they say anything about collecting customer data? Why the heck did you bring this up, even?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

Somehow I missed the couple paragraphs mentioning kitchen equipment, and only saw the "Why does a restaurant company like Chick-fil-A want to deploy Kubernetes at the Edge?" bits. Those don't really give me any idea of what they're doing with the servers.

Thank you for the rude comment that doesn't even answer my question, though.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#107

Post by ocdtrekkie »

gbear605 wrote: post #14
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NUCs are surprisingly well-built little machines. I have one in my car, and I give them my absolute seal of approval. I've heard of people running little VMware clusters on them too.

What is it running in your car?

I have a custom piece of software that powers a display in the car, syncs and plays my music, and logs GPS. It also can manage audio and video recording and is intended to handle some future features[1] I have planned, so I wanted to over-spec rather than under-spec.

[1] It's the same software that runs my home automation system, so an inevitable feature is my car and home units interacting, I wrote half of a piece of navigation software before I stopped, and the entire interface is intended for voice control so I need to throw that in there at some point too. I intend to work on a CAN interface to connect to the car, but I've had a few roadblocks to getting started on that project.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#108

Post by caconym_ »

factsaresacred wrote: post #53
stickfigure wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Political values are important to point out. Companies create these tech blogs as a recruitment vehicle. You should know if the company you're considering applying to is funding bigotry (or "wholesome family values" if that's your angle).

> 'Bigotry'. noun : intolerance towards those who hold different opinions from oneself. Surely castigating the owner of Chick-fil-A for advocating his personal beliefs is the truest example of bigotry here.

I love seeing this argument. It's like you people think you can raise any arbitrary instance of hate/intolerance/bigotry onto a criticism-proof pedestal simply by brandishing a dictionary. Like, who are the real bigots: Nazis, or the nasty people who have the gall to disagree with their racist, antisemitic, etc. views? Is the answer not obvious? Does the question send you scuttling back under your dictionary?

I'm fine with a bit of pedantry but ultimately in the real world we need to show a little more intellectual maturity.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#109

Post by ocdtrekkie »

SheinhardtWigCo wrote: post #15
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NUCs are surprisingly well-built little machines. I have one in my car, and I give them my absolute seal of approval. I've heard of people running little VMware clusters on them too.

Why do you have one in your car?

Answered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17822015

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#110

Post by reaperducer »

collinf wrote: post #9
bradleyankrom wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the domain is interesting, but I worry about the long-term effects of maximizing efficiencies (read: automation) forpeople who rely on jobs in that industry.

Why? I think that they move on to another service industry job such as customer service or something. I don't think working in a fast food restaurant is building the sort of skills that making a horizontal jump to another industry is outlandish.

I think that they move on to another service industry job such as customer service or something.

That's just something people think so that they don't have to feel empathy for people who lose their jobs to automation. It's kind of an internal excuse.

The reality is that not everyone is re-trainable. And if someone could easily get a job in customer service, or some other marginally better situation, they already wouldn't be working at a fast food joint.

In addition, many fast-food jobs are temporary/seasonal. A high school kid can get a six-month stint at MacDowell's to pay for car insurance over the summer. A call center isn't going to take him in and train him knowing that he's going to bolt come September.

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