Autonomous indoor driving

[Rick Potter]

New to me.

I got chased around the Sam's Club store today by a king sized Roomba. It was a full sized scrubbing wheel / squeegee that had a seat and steering wheel but no driver. The store was open but not crowded, and every time I went down a new aisle, that sucker beat me to it.

Whenever it got to a shopping cart traffic jam, it just stopped and waited until someone moved. It waited patiently, but next time I go, I will not be surprised if it honks and says 'keep moving people, I'm working here'.

[Jim Becker]

The local Giant supermarket uses a robotic janitor for "cleanup in isle 4"...it does a pretty good job at keeping the floor shined up. It fills the same need that we use our robotic vacuum for on the first floor of our home...takes care of general dusting and debris much more regularly than we ever would "manually".

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I “love” posts like these.
Firstly the technology based assistants put mentally disabled people out of the labour force and they need income too or we all pay via the welfare system.
Secondly, while additional technology makes life better for many of us, it contributes to a greater loss of skills. That’s why so many of us are “Neanderthal” woodworkers.
Thirdly, all these technology helpers use …. Electricity. Are we really so flush with “clean” energy that we need these replacements for mops and brooms?
My fourth concern is my privacy. I’m concerned about anything in my home (whenever possible) that reports back to some data farm about my habits/movements/lifestyle. I have a “smart” thermostat, a bunch of computers, a cell phone and a fairly modern TV which probably reports back to some data collector, but that’s it. No Alexa, no smart remotes, etc. And yes, no auto cleaning “learning” my home.
Flush cookies regularly, erase browsing history, and the rest. Technology is fine, data collection bah!

[Myk Rian]

I “love” posts like these.

Do tell.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Local Walmart has had one of theses for about two years now. Only problem is it's programed, and can't detect a problem. "I just cleaned that aisle, so I'm not doing it again till it comes back up in my program."

[Brian Elfert]

They didn’t have workers using mops and brooms before these autonomous floor scrubbers came to be. The same basic electric floor scrubbers were used previously. They just had a human guiding them.

[Brian Elfert]

Somebody who was previously driving a floor scrubber could easily find another job in today's economy.

Should we not allow any new technology that replaces human labor? We would all still be riding horses and heating our houses with coal then. Horses required a lot of blacksmiths, farriers, and so on. Coal heat required a lot of workers to deliver coal and before automatic stokers there had to be workers to stoke the furnaces.

[Mike Henderson]

Somebody who was previously driving a floor scrubber could easily find another job in today's economy.

Should we not allow any new technology that replaces human labor? We would all still be riding horses and heating our houses with coal then. Horses required a lot of blacksmiths, farriers, and so on. Coal heat required a lot of workers to deliver coal and before automatic stokers there had to be workers to stoke the furnaces.

We're seeing the gap between those with an advanced education and those without getting wider and wider. And when I say "advanced education" I'm mainly talking about job categories where there is a demand for people, such as finance, engineering, accounting, computer programming, etc. - not art appreciation.

To me, the basic problem is that many of the jobs that used to be filled by high school graduates are being automated. Manufacturing doesn't need as many people as it used to take to build a product - automobiles as an example. I certainly do not wish to limit automation but I question where those workers are going to be employed in future years.

Mike

[Brian Elfert]

People like to complain that Walmart is not a good place to work then complain when Walmart replaces workers with automation. Walmart keeps claiming they are not reducing total employment numbers with some of these changes. They merely shift workers to other positions that provide more value. They certainly have added a lost of positions for picking groceries for delivery and pickup. I read something that Walmart is going to build warehouses inside stores for grocery pickup and delivery. Employees will pack orders from the warehouse versus on the shopping floor. I would not be surprised if automation enters the picture here too.

Amazon has added lots of automation to their fulfillment centers yet a single fulfillment center still employs over 1,000 people typically. The robots mostly bring the products to the humans so the humans don't have to run all over to pack orders. My understanding is there are not designated spots for products like a traditional warehouse. The computer tracks which product is placed in a bin so they know where all the products are when someone orders that product.