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Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

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Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#281

Post by cloverich »

seattlefreeze wrote: post #260
laurentl wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand when reading the article I kept thinking of the poor sod who has to cook a new batch of waffle fries because “The Edge” told him to.

Why do you consider the cook "a poor sod"? Because he/she is working a job and making a living? I imagine you didn't mean much by it but understand that just because everyone isn't employed in what many consider desirable professions doesn't mean their work is not important or that they don't take pride in what they do. Not meant to be a rant, just wanted to make the point.

I actually interpreted the comment a bit differently. I read it that the employee who used to have some autonomy on when to make adjustments is now doing it because the computer, which they (perhaps) have no control or insight into, is telling them to. I'm sure there's more nuance and people who would view that instruction differently. But to the comments direction, I'd assumed it was alluding to a dystopia of sorts where we do more and more things "because Computer™ said so".

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#282

Post by wil421 »

max_im wrote: post #85

I work in midtown NYC near a Chick-fil-a location. Used to be a line down the block, went with a friend yesterday thinking we caught the line at a short time but turns out they were using smiley employees with ipads coordinating orders and that they were serving arguably more people than before. Very impressed with how seamlessly they've integrated tech in their brick and mortars in contrast with the countless "cashl…

Chick-fil-a does not run the iPad software but it does integrate with their systems. The same company who sells their POS software runs the iPad software and I believe the Chick-fil-a One app.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#283

Post by textmode »

walrus01 wrote: post #40
trhway wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting as it seemed that smarter edge/iot nodes would be like ARM/RaspPi, yet it seems it may get even as high as (or just straight to) Intel nuc.

Raspi cannot be used for a semi serious server application due to microsd card write wear issues. All other methods of attaching external storage by USB bus to an rpi are not reliable or suitable for this sort of purpose. Nowhere near the longevity of something with a native sata or m.2 SSD interface and a real SSD.

"Raspi cannot be used for a semi serious server application due to microsd card write wear issues."

As an end user, I run a personal authoritative DNS server that has small RAM requirements. The RPi (or other SBC) boots to a mfs mounted root, then mounts all directories as tmpfs. Then I remove the SD card.1 As such, the logs for this server, which are automatically rotated and do not exceed 5M in total, are written to RAM.

1 I only use the SD card to boot. The only files on the card are a bootloader, a bootloader config and two kernels, each with an embedded filesystem. If updates are necessary, I make them to one of the kernels at a time. The other is the backup. The bootloader and bootloader config lets me specify which kernel to boot.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#284

Post by ereyes01 »

TickleSteve wrote: post #157
ereyes01 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They said in the article without getting super-specific that they have low-latency / high-throughput / time sensitive data processing needs in each restaurant. It sounds like they have a whole bunch of sensors tracking their inventory and food preparation pipeline. Other comments here link to other blog posts by them with more details about french fry done-ness deep learning models, for example (wacky but cool). If y…

I suppose I'm struggling to see how much of a requirement for low-latency data processing exists in a restaurant. There just isn't that much data there unless they're attempting to do real-time control of equipment (in which case, just use a regular control system). I can imagine a requirement for logging potentially, but thats not a low-latency requirement and the use-case for edge-computing is exactly that, low-lat…

I think you are right that this blog post doesn't lay out a specific use case to justify this setup in a restaurant- that does not appear to be the goal of the post. An exploration of problems and requirements is probably what you're looking for.

They did drop a few hints, though. They are just hints, and going by what's in the blog post, a bit of imagination is required to fill in some of the gaps. However, if you do that, I can envision a few possible needs for low-latency edge computing that are interesting and forward-looking:

- Kitchen automation. Sensors that monitor food being cooked, and help implement a pipeline to ensure quality is consistent. (example here is that neural net monitoring the staleness of fries).

- Inventory automation. Monitor and automatically restock items. Track purchases and ingredient usage in real time.

- Data analytics. Collect detailed time-series data about food quality, facilities maintenance, foot traffic, noise levels, security, etc.

These aren't standard restaurant problems. However, it's an interesting approach to scaling data analysis and automation in the physical world. All of these use cases assume the need for "real-time" data, and they assume that such a thing has business value (which is where I think your critique is coming from).

I'm not affiliated with Chick Fil-A, so I don't know how correct any of my speculation is, but that's my takeaway from reading the article.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#285

Post by throwaway82729 »

Bizarro wrote: post #45
behringer wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company themselves chose this political stance, not the community around them.

No, the grandparent's political stance is to be outraged at anybody he/she disagrees with and has an unhealthy obsession to blurt it out on discussions that aren't political.

Why is their stance deemed as political and not humanitarian?

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#286

Post by raiflip »

beckler wrote: post #272
max_im wrote: post #85

I work in midtown NYC near a Chick-fil-a location. Used to be a line down the block, went with a friend yesterday thinking we caught the line at a short time but turns out they were using smiley employees with ipads coordinating orders and that they were serving arguably more people than before. Very impressed with how seamlessly they've integrated tech in their brick and mortars in contrast with the countless "cashl…

I have a friend who used to be a shift manager at Chick-fil-A. I can't remember exactly what he called that process... It was like meet and greet or walk and talk, but it's surprisingly efficient for the drive thru. He said it cuts down the average wait time for customers around 15% at his location. I don't know what it would be like at NYC since it's not a drive thru.

It's crazy efficient. When you walk in someone with a tablet takes your order, and by the time you get to the cash register your food is ready. Works so well because the employees are able to catch customers at the end of the line.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#287

Post by Fellshard »

pvg wrote: post #275
Fellshard wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language does not operate on the basis of what the speaker _wants_ it to mean.

I don't understand what ghost windmill you are tilting at here. At all. It certainly doesn't seem to be anything I've actually said.

I have a pretty personal beef with the idea that language can simply be contorted to supposedly mean whatever someone feels like it should mean, as heading down that road is basically abandoning meaning and communication altogether, and is wholly incoherent.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#288

Post by jimktrains2 »

joezydeco wrote: post #264
mjcl wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Petsmart was like the before the chip change over. It would typically take a few hundred MS to get approval and print the receipt. I have noticed that some chipotle cashiers print the receipt before the card goes through, the CFA cashiers could be doing something similar.

To add another data point, the quick-accept only happens under a certain amount, like $25. Anything above that might trigger a signature.

No major issue requires a signature since April. Some places still ask for one because there was no real need to update software over it.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#289

Post by ocdtrekkie »

dnautics wrote: post #190
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.

they've kind of a pain in the butt for us... For example, it would be nice for them to have remote admin, more than one NIC, not freak out when the HDMI is not plugged in, etc.

I use my NUC without HDMI plugged in, and I assume Chick-fil-A does as well. ;)

They do actually make a dual NIC NUC, but it's a little overkill for most uses: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Machine-NUC8i7HVK-Radeon-Graphi...

On the other hand, my NUC has plenty of USB 3 ports, and an Ethernet dongle will run you about $7.

Re: Edge Computing at Chick-fil-A

#290

Post by uncreativebrian »

jedberg wrote: post #208

Sure, they have the biggest cloud in the US, but it's down on Sundays. Kidding aside, do you guys do maintenance on Sundays or is that forbidden by company policy?

This is Brian -- I wrote the article. We are closed on Sunday but its not dogmatic in nature. We want to make sure that everyone at Chick-fil-A has a great work/life balance. Occasionally we need to do some work on a Sunday but we try to architect and engineer in a manner that supports business-hours-friendly deployments, or scheduled deployments over night to protect that. This is truly a first-class design consideration. In my 14+ years at Chick-fil-A, I have only worked a handful of Sundays for any reason. Its a tribute to leadership at all levels and a great company culture that values people (and their need for times to rest).
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