From: Bernard Hughes (bjhughes@istar.ca)
Date: Thu Oct 22 1998 - 21:21:09 MDT
Hara Ra wrote:
> I've been on tours of a number of manufacturing plants. There are a lot of
> ways to guarantee that a part is identified by type and properly oriented
> and positioned. For example, with LEGOs, put a steel BB into the center of
> each block. An arm with an electromagnet can pick up blocks and drop them
> into a sorting hopper. Once the Lego Block is lying on its side, the bar
> code can be read by a supermarket scanner which is orientation independent.
> Unidentified blocks go back to the hopper for another try. Identified
> blocks are handled according to their type.
>
Hmm. Maybe Lego blocks have more potential than I thought. Don't have time to try
this out right now though. Pity.
> I did the calculations for nanotech, with micron sized components. At least
> 100x energy savings. Something like a tube about the size of cable tv coax
> can deliver liters per minute to a home. With accelerations of 10 KiloGee
> available in the distribution system, 10 minute delivery from across the
> country. As with many things, 99.999% of the block types will be available
> within 100KM. Some of these can be data blocks, a single block can hold
> several hours of HDTV. Video on demand with a vengance!
>
Could work. I'd prefer a system with more local content though, even if it means
using less block types. The smaller the scope of the physical economy, the easier
it is to break off and head out.
-- Bernard J Hughes bernard@timedancer.com Timedancer Systems http://www.timedancer.com -- Creative Laziness at its best --
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