6 ms·

Oh, so you mean like a big box that could fit XYZ items inside it and capture something like 10,000 per day? I mean, to me it's kind of hard to believe nobody's

Oh, so you mean like a big box that could fit XYZ items inside it and capture something like 10,000 per day? I mean, to me it's kind of hard to believe nobody's tried making a "conveyor belt" like process inside a closed system (a shipping container?) with the right optics and resolution to pull it off. Fidelity plus speed plus software consistency. Considering what I saw the gaming industry doing with static models about 10 years ago I kind of thought it'd be a lot further along now, but I guess not. Sounds like a good project for a few Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute grads that otherwise would've been destined for Kodak. I was musing another kind of 'real world capture' with videogames, because I want to race around my neighborhood in Forza. https://hackernoon.com/dashcam-google-maps-dev-kit-custom-neighborhood-race-tracks-e0094f0749cb#.idu5isvk5 https://hackernoon.com/dashcam-google-maps-dev-kit-custom-ne...

AndrewKemendo 10y ago
Oh, so you mean like a big box that could fit XYZ items inside it and capture something like 10,000 per day? Maybe but I actually think that's the wrong approach. I mean, to me it's kind of hard to believe nobody's tried making a "conveyor belt" like process inside a closed system Yea they have - kinda. None of it works well or fast enough though. We put up a patent for one a year ago before I thought there was a better way to do it. The manpower required to move items onto/off of a line is a big part of the problem.
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  Well yeah the human element is exactly what I'd want to eliminate as much as possible; I'm thinking of it more along the lines of what I've seen on How It's Made: Dream Cars in the sense that to get the various layers you're going to want - basic dimensions, surface features, coloration, reflective properties - aren't going to happen in one quick grab I don't think, and I get the feeling the process would work best in "absolute darkness" and isolated as much as possible for vibration. Taking that 10k number - assuming disparate types of items that might be part of a series like "Bathroom" (toothbrush, hair brush, toilet brush, plunger) - in 24 hours that means cycling each item through in about 8 seconds. The only way I remotely see that possible is essentially having a robot hand pick up the item at the entry point, hold it for the capture sequence (perhaps have a custom-designed 'mount' that can allow for true 360 via a couple positions), and then drop it out the other side. It's the scale part I'm wondering about, re: one size machine fits all doesn't seem to make sense. One machine for items under a certain dimension (e.g. "hand held") then another for items where the machine has to essentially have super-powers to pick up and rotate objects to complete the imaging process (e.g. a couch, a dresser, a motorcycle, etc). I think trying too hard to accommodate outliers ends up tainting the balance of operations a little? Just thinking out loud, really cool puzzle.

AndrewKemendo 10y ago

Oh, so you mean like a big box that could fit XYZ items inside it and capture something like 10,000 per day? Maybe but I actually think that's the wrong approach. I mean, to me it's kind of hard to believe nobody's tried making a "conveyor belt" like process inside a closed system Yea they have - kinda. None of it works well or fast enough though. We put up a patent for one a year ago before I thought there was a better way to do it. The manpower required to move items onto/off of a line is a big part of the problem.

6stringmerc 10y ago
Well yeah the human element is exactly what I'd want to eliminate as much as possible; I'm thinking of it more along the lines of what I've seen on How It's Made: Dream Cars in the sense that to get the various layers you're going to want - basic dimensions, surface features, coloration, reflective properties - aren't going to happen in one quick grab I don't think, and I get the feeling the process would work best in "absolute darkness" and isolated as much as possible for vibration. Taking that 10k number - assuming disparate types of items that might be part of a series like "Bathroom" (toothbrush, hair brush, toilet brush, plunger) - in 24 hours that means cycling each item through in about 8 seconds. The only way I remotely see that possible is essentially having a robot hand pick up the item at the entry point, hold it for the capture sequence (perhaps have a custom-designed 'mount' that can allow for true 360 via a couple positions), and then drop it out the other side. It's the scale part I'm wondering about, re: one size machine fits all doesn't seem to make sense. One machine for items under a certain dimension (e.g. "hand held") then another for items where the machine has to essentially have super-powers to pick up and rotate objects to complete the imaging process (e.g. a couch, a dresser, a motorcycle, etc). I think trying too hard to accommodate outliers ends up tainting the balance of operations a little? Just thinking out loud, really cool puzzle.