211–220 of 283 posts
I really dislike this writing structure of "before I get to the point, let me tell you a story about my life" Edit: I'm not alone, https://style.mla.org/dont-bury-the-lede/
You will not be a fan of recipe blogs anywhere on the internet.
That is where it’s at.
I really dislike this writing structure of "before I get to the point, let me tell you a story about my life" Edit: I'm not alone, https://style.mla.org/dont-bury-the-lede/
To me, this is robot vs process - how much do we need clever robots and how much do we need to change the job. There is an old saw about the transition from steam powered factories to electrical power. Initially the large steam engine was in one location, and basically its power was delivered by belts running off one central location. The factories initially tried to replace the steam engine with one big electric mot…
Lots of grocery delivery services do use purpose built warehouses. Stores like Walmart aren't doing that because it would cost a bunch extra vs picking from the stores they already have. The furniture assembly thing probably doesn't make sense for huge runs, but you could stick one in front of a modest warehouse and build 200 different products on demand.
On suoermarkets, yes Walmart and Tesco made a sensible decision to use their existing stores as feeders for delivery. But as the number of people taking food deliveries goes up, that starts being a commercial disadvantage - there are things you can do to improve a warehouse that you can't do if customers are walking around in it, there are car parks that aren't needed now, smaller stores in expensive locations. It's not like Walmart's going bust next week but the world is changing. Even Amazon will feel this - a fleet of international transit and drivers designed to drop one package off randomly is going to find that model under threat if I get a food delivery every three days - 99% of the time I will just have the other stuff i order come in the same box.
For every house, it makes sense that only one delivery company visits that house. If they are delivering every couple of days anyway just roll it in together. Place tour order and it will be with your regular Tuesday drop off - that's convenient mentally for most people, whereas "expect a knock on the door anytime in the next 36 hours" is less easy to manage - especially now we are not all locked indoors.
I think i have wondered off the point but it's always much simpler to change the process than to build a human-analogue robot.
We all have huge shifts in how we will live in the coming decades - to stave off climate change, to take advantage of what software can really offer. Making already efficient factories more efficient is the equivalent of looking for your keys under the lamppost- the big wins lie elsewhere.
Edit - the big five future changes
- urban planning (see Tokyo, or StrongTowns) - Buikding energy efficiency (solar panels, heat exchangers) - Transoortation (Food and people) & transportation (other) - ?
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This is really boring pedantry, that does not further the conversation. Do you have anything to reply to from the rest of my comment?
It’s not pedantry. Those companies have effectively nothing in common when it comes to HW.
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I don’t think is true at all. CAM is dramatically more advanced than it was in the 70s - easier to use, and better algorithms mean much faster pathing. Costs are way down. Tooling is cheaper and more reliable.
Of course there's been quantitative improvements, but fundamentally everything that can be designed and machined today could be designed and machined in late 1970s using very similar tools, processes and control systems.
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I can understand why the style may seem offputting, but the thing to understand is that it has been traditionally very hard to engage with the public on this topic of robotic advancement. In fact, I know a bit about this myself, having been in the robotics space for over a decade. But my own struggles in the field only reflect a longer trend, which I can even trace back to my grandfather. Growing up in a strict Luthe…
Ah, it’s refreshing to see some comedy in this politically enraged atmosphere. Thanks for the laugh on a rather dim Friday for me.
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Half of automating tomato harvesting was breeding a tomato that could survive the harvesters. (Granted they also taste relatively horrible, but now we all eat them because they are cheap and ubiquitous.)
That sounds fascinating. Do you happen to have some details, sources, videos, lectures about this?
https://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/news/how-mechanical-to...
on edit: I also went ahead and made that article a seperate post here:
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This is really boring pedantry, that does not further the conversation. Do you have anything to reply to from the rest of my comment?
It’s not pedantry. Those companies have effectively nothing in common when it comes to HW.