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Robotic Short Order Cook
MAXOMENOS writes "I found this in the Chicago Tribune: A robotic short-order cook. So far it makes burgers and pancakes to order, as long as you want them only one way." At least it's more useful than Twiki.
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That's the one. Same haircut as the LEGO people, and carried a more intelligent computer round it's neck like an oversized medallion.
PigPog.
I really do. There's no reason that humans -- big, dexterous, highly adaptable creatures with a one and a half kilo universe in their crania -- should be reduced to burger-flipping automata. For years I've wondered why McDonald's(TM) is still staffed entirely by human beings, when surely frying the fries and wrapping the burgers takes no more discretion or insight than a robot could muster.
I can only think of a few possibilities, all of them bad:
1) People are so isolated (or so eager to abuse someone) that their brief interaction with the counter-person is significant.
This has little to do with automating preparation, though.
2) We need to employ all those teenagers and uneducated people.
But a few decades ago, those teenagers wouldn't have been expected to work! Do we really want to create an environment in which every high school student is expected to waste valuable learning and socialization time on a meaningless, tedious job? Furthermore, do we really want these jobs to exist as a band-aid for a society in which decent trade-school education is vanishing?
3) People who can do no other work need a job to give structure to their lives.
This has merit, but what if the existence of these jobs is creating the people who can do no other work? Isn't it possible that if the high school students had more time and a better educational system, and the unemployed people got training instead of threats to go find some kind of work, no matter how menial, that there wouldn't be so many people who need to flip burgers to earn their bread?
As technology improves, we need to start looking past the "work gives humans value" paradigm. Moderate me to "-1 crypto-socialist" if you will, but at some point perhaps it will become more efficient and cheaper -- not to mention more humane -- to take care of people rather than keeping around jobs that could just as easily be done by Flipper the burger-bot.
- Michael Cohn
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Go ahead, blame me... I voted for Nader!
Too bad they couldn't make a decent hamburger -- they kept putting the damn patty on top of the bun, like an olive on top of a sandwich.
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"McSoilent Green ... is McPeople!"
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
The problem with this century is that we want robots to do our work, but refuse to build a society where -- if all work was doen for us -- we would be happy. Robots that buld cars or make candy bars should have made workers at Ford or Leaf able to spend time with their kids, relax at the park, etc. Instead they're homeless and unable to find work to pay for food, cars, candy bars, etc.
I'm all for developments in robotic technology that allow for a culture of leisure, but not one where owners of robots make money at the expense of humans.
Really the only future of a robotic society is one where everyoneworks to buy a robot as a proxy worker, which would be leased to factories and employers.
bugger.net | MunkAndPhyber.com
Oh thats exactly what fast food needs, less thinking. So who do you bitch to when it screws up the order? How would you like to be behind every bored teenager trying to order a bun-less quarter-pounder dipped in mayo and feeding a photocopy of a ten dollar bill into the machine?
Not to mention those robots better be good at cleaning out bathrooms.
Those who would have been autoworkers (or other facory workers) in the US 20-30 years ago are generally worse off today, although "globalization" has probably had more of an impact than robots.
Yes unemployment is low, and the economy is strong. But most of the gains in employment are temporary and part-time work - which makes basic benefits (medical, pension, vacation) difficult to attain and maintain. In fact, last year a temp agency was the fastest growing employeer. And while some of us are doing extremly well, the median US income has dropped since the 70's, if you account for inflation.
So while I wouldn't wan't to work in a factory, there are pleanty of folks who would be far better off with steady, secure, well-paying, factory jobs with full benefits.
Of course there are other outcomes that would be even better than facory jobs, but since those would require cluefulness and concern all around, I'm not holding my breath.
- bridgette
Sure you could make a machine that cooks hamburgers, but could you make one that cooks hamburgers, then cleans the grill at the end of the night? It makes no sense to have a robot if you still have to have a human clean up after it. An articulated arm is versatile because restaurant work is sometimes difficult, and there are a wide variety of things to do in a restaurant. Even making different burgers would require different machines, but a single arm could be programmed to do it. You also forget that the operation of putting the mustard, ketchup, onion, pickle, and cheese on the toased sesame seed bun is something that requires a dexteritous arm to accomplish.
My experience qualifies me to talk about this: 3.1 years as a McDonald's grunt. Working for for the clown was OK for high school.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
An articulated arm is an extremely flexible tool that can be repurposed for the evolving needs of say, a car factory, where new vehicle models require that the same tools adapt to manufacturing new products. I don't think that the same requirements apply to a fast food restaurant.
The real value of the robot would be as a 'hook' to attract customers to see it work, not it's raw savings in labour cost.
I don't know about you, but I'd actually pay extra for a burger that was prepared "untouched by human hands". I once walked into fast food place (that shall remain nameless) during a slow part of the day, when I was the only customer. Right in front of me, two employees were flinging burgers at each other. The manager stood just a few feet away, watching the pair and laughing.
You'll never have to worry if the machine has hepatitis, or maybe forgot to wash it's hands after going to the bathroom.
Imagine it - you could go to the drive-thru window and your order would be right every time!
Now, looking at this, how far away are we going to be from a 100% robotic restraunt? Near where I live we have a gas station that has no employees - just pumps. You can use either credit cards or cash at it and the gas is usually $0.10 cheaper than if you go into a station with human employees.
So what is keeping, say, McDonald's from doing this same thing?
They call him Flipper, Flipper, Flipper/
he's faster than lightning/
no one you see/
flips burgers like he.../
Couldn't resist.
--KMM
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