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A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

countthings.com

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Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#221

Post by viraptor »

TchoBeer wrote: post #209
viraptor wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People often don't know what's really needed by businesses until they see the use case. I remember 2 decades ago a family friend making fun of his son's project where they identified bad apples on a processing line in a packing facility. Pretty close to this project. He saw it and still didn't get it.

To be fair, a machine that spots bad apples is rather useless, as by the time you spot them the whole bunch is already spoiled.

Let's assume that the company ordering that project knew what they were doing :-)

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#223

Post by NiceWayToDoIT »

XCSme wrote: post #143
NiceWayToDoIT wrote: post #141

I am not impressed, they could cut 1000% by using: big bawl, pipe, simple mechanical sorting mechanism, and electronic counter.

I am not familiar with pearls, but a mechanical sorting mechanism could damage them I think. Also, how is a mechanical sorting mechanism or an electronic counter simpler, cheaper or faster than a photo?

I thought pearls are quite strong, but I learned something today, I just learned that Pearl's Mohs hardness is 2.5 (between gypsum and calcite), meaning very soft in comparison to Diamonds (10).

I had this video in mind: https://youtu.be/nu7snTgSFeE?t=39 They do not look they are gentle with them.

Described method has repetitive manual steps: - put pearls in the trey, - take a photo - take out pearls, - put new ones ...

These steps do not look like much, but if we are talking about amount shown in video can be hundreds of hours.

Phone costs money, and making application costs developer's time and money (so nothing is free) ...

Counting device can be made by Lego, so very cheaply, here is simplistic example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YguSl_IekQ

Of course device should be made having in mind handling.

By the way application probably has a lot of sense for small dealers, or jewelries,

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#225

Post by BiteCode_dev »

D-Coder wrote: post #218
anoncake wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The reason is cultural: american can't seem to do without superlatives. They didn't eat good carrots yesterday, there were AMAZING carrots. They don't introduce me to their friends, but to their VERY BEST friends. They are always EXCITED to do X and SO something about Y. It's INCREDIBLY annoying.

Selection bias, perhaps? They're not telling you at all about the regular carrots, the okay friends, because why should they waste your time with "It's just the same old same old."

Oh they are. Their stuff are regular stuff.

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#226

Post by BiteCode_dev »

WindyLakeReturn wrote: post #139
freddie_mercury wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Southeast Asia and am in a Facebook group where foreigners often post asking for recommendations. Americans always phrase their questions as, "What's the BEST pizza?" or "What's the BEST sushi?" As if they would die (or could even tell the difference) if they had the fourth or tenth best option in the city instead. And if you recommend a place too expensive or too far away it becomes immediately clear they…

Perhaps it has to do with different interpretations of what is meant by best? If I told you the best Thai place around where I live, I would tell you a place that is best not just because of its food, but also its price, parking, distance to travel. It is the best in that it is the most optimal given my own value judgment of those factors.

But unless you list those factors such adjective is meaningless.

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#227

Post by 6510 »

Clewza313 wrote: post #23
6510 wrote: post #10

terrible example. You can just make a square from pearls and multiply. If you need to do a lot of it make a box with numbers on the side, tilt it then count and add the remaining row. The weight is probably not irregular enough to justify the tool. There are better examples on the website. Pricing is just silly. I'm sure it is worth that much to some 0.001% of the potential market.

Natural pearl sizing varies widely and they aren't perfect spheres either.

You are going to have to sort them eventually.

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#228

Post by 6510 »

6510 wrote: post #10

terrible example. You can just make a square from pearls and multiply. If you need to do a lot of it make a box with numbers on the side, tilt it then count and add the remaining row. The weight is probably not irregular enough to justify the tool. There are better examples on the website. Pricing is just silly. I'm sure it is worth that much to some 0.001% of the potential market.

The example with pipes on a truck is that much better. From my experience if you have 100 people count those by hand at least 10 will get it wrong.

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#229

Post by 6510 »

j7ake wrote: post #110
6510 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

who is responsible now?

In this case, it would be reasonable that the person who uses the app would be responsible. The app takes the image and labels every pearl with a number. So the person just needs to check there were no missing or mislabeled pearls, which is much easier than counting.

In the example I would expect the app to get it right every time. In a more fuzzy setting it would still be faster (thousands of times) and [generally] more accurate but a person can account for how important accuracy is.

I guess the numbering added to the image is brilliant. A human can gaze over that and see something wrong right away.

Re: A Japanese company cut 80% of the time needed to manually count pearls

#230

Post by matheweis »

vgel wrote: post #187
matheweis wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly right. Before I lived in Seattle, I was told (moving from the southwest), that there was no good Mexican food in Seattle. Of course after I moved there I found quite a number of excellent Mexican food restaurants, and for a few years I wondered what strange definition they were using. I eventually figured out that they meant that there was no good Mexican food within walking distance of downtown

Do you have any recs in North Seattle? Me and my wife live in Lake City and have been looking for a good (need not be the best ;) ) Mexican place.

Hello former neighbor. :-) (Lived in Lake City for four years)

Casa Del Mariachi (off 125th) has great breakfast burritos. Haven’t tried the rest of their food, only came across them recently. Should be good though.

Azteca by Northgate is only okay if you don’t want to go far, you could do a lot better.

Plaza Garcia is your classic southwest Mexican food and one of our favorites. It’s in Kirkland but worth the drive.

Acapulco Fresh Mexican Grill in Kenmore is pretty good.

Taqueria El Sabor in Shoreline is also pretty good.

Anita’s Food Truck on Aurora also has good burritos. Wouldn’t classify them as typical southwest fare though.

And if you’re up for driving, the list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Jumbo Burrito in Oak Harbor. Take the Ferry to Whidbey, do a day trip across Whidbey, stop at Jumbo and try the carnitas before you cross Deception Pass on the way back. You’re welcome.

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