🚀 go-pugleaf

>In article <RSLAU.91Apr24132134@tarazed.usc.edu> rslau@usc.edu (Robert Lau) writes:
>>April issue of Discover, page 12...
>>
>>excerpt:
>>
>>  PizzaBot was developed by engineers at Carnegie-Mellon to help disabled
>>  people become entrepreneurs. [...]
>>
>>  The result is a robotic arm placed in front of a semicircular counter,
>>  with ingredients and tools within easy reach.  After the disabled
>>  manager calls out an order, a simple voice-recognition system decides
>>  which of two possible sizes and 12 condiments it just heard. [...]

I saw this system on some science television show, on the Discover
channel I think. It was interesting but it got me wondering:
Why do so many people/companies/universities try to throw robotic
arms at every application, when a gantry style system would seem
a better choice. I think this is the case with the pizza robot.
The application of the sauce and cheese would have been simplified,
the system would then be able to handle sliced pepperoni and other
non-bulk toppings, and it would have cost a lot less.

The point is not how to build a pizza, but I wonder why many engineers
use expensive and complicated systems when simpler ones will work.
For example, I have seen systems use an imbedded microcontroller, a
driver module and a stepper motor in an application where a standard
Bimba cylinder and an electronic valve would have worked fine.

John


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John Schuch - Motorola Inc., Computer Systems Division (602)438-3008
All opinions expressed are mine and not Motorolas,        their loss.
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