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Linux-Based Bar-Monkey
An anonymous reader writes "The Bar-Monkey is a bar built around a 486 running linux that can dispense an 8 ounce mixed drink in under 10 seconds. It uses a Matrix Orbital Serial LCD panel with a keypad built into the bar surface for user input. Three Harvey Mudd College students built the bar in their spare time last semester. The bar holds 16 ingredients with which it can currently mix 188 drinks stored in its drink database. Total project cost: $235."
My biggest beef with the interface is you have to enter a numeric code to pick a drink thus requiring some chart of all 188 drinks. Once you've partaken of the Monkey a few times, are you really going to be manage it? A-ha! The interface is intentially difficult to act as a throttle on consumption. Once you're sufficiently drunk, you can't manage to order another.
For v.2 I'd use a bigger LCD and display actual drink names, possibly grouped hierarchically by type or primary ingredient. Drink numbers would remain to act as a shortcut for patrons who remember the number of a drink they order often. A touch screen would kick ass but I think they're less robust and more expensive.
Since each patron has an account, I'd give it a "The Usual" button which could be set for each patron. Instead of a PIN, I'd also consider a card swipe. They're students so they could use their student ID as the card.
How about the fact that it's a server that serves drinks?
Who cares what OS it runs.. It can get you drunk.
Since the user would get all their drinks from the machine, it could generate a report on what a user's BAC is likely to be (x number of drinks over y amount of time, adjusted to body weight). It could flash this info the the user everytime they buy a drink, so they know if they're going to be over the legal limit for driving or if they're getting close to dangerous levels. Hell, the barmonkey could even cut people off.
"I'm sorry, the Monkey says you've had enough, dude."
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
No no, the idea isn't a self-service bar, this machine would be used in addition to the regular bartender. Not sure why noone thought of it before, but since the biggest cost in a bar is (supposedly) alchohol that is given away--freebies to customers, drinks larger than they 'should be,' drinks for the bartender--this machine allows tighter control of the process. Hook it to the cash-register and all of a sudden you know where your alchohol went.
This is awesome! This has plausable commercial implications. How nice would it be to goto a bar and not have to worry about tipping someone, you just slide your credit card or insert your money and select your drink and you get it in 10 seconds. If I owned a bar I would consider it.
You obviously haven't spent enough time in a bar, and have never been a bartender. Bars don't sell liqour - they sell socialization. You already have a self-service bartender, it's called your home liqour cabinet. Most humans go out becuase they want to socialize. They like talking sports with Jeff behind the bar, or flirting with Suzy the cocktail waitress.
Any bar using these would loose revenue quickly. I've been a bartender, and I can tell you this - a good tender, or a good staff can easily double or triple a bar's income. A bad one can drive customers away. A good bartender makes customers feel good... so they stay and spend more money. If that bartender makes a good enough impression, they might keep coming back and doing so on different nights. A bad bartender makes people go elsewhere. So you can have your robot bar, but I'll stick to my old-fashioned, human charisma driven service model. And come Friday night, I bet my bar will be the one that's packed.
Anyone else notice the reference to the Bruce Willis film 12 Monkeys? That logo on the front of the machine is identical to the 12 Monkeys logo from the movie..