Back in the summer I saw a highway worker with a remote and a robot lawn mower mowing the steep side of the hill by the bridge. Didn't save any labor but it was much safer than the guy on the tractor doing it.

That kiosk at McDonald's hasn't got my order wrong yet.....

It would be tough for a robot to take my job. I think all the cookies and milk would rust him out and he couldn't sleep near as good as I do in the afternoon

 

Moving towards universal income for people , I guess.

 

I promise on my mother this is what happens when I order from a person..... Me: I'd like a biscuit just egg and sausage only. Cashier: So that's a biscuit with sausage and cheese. McDonald's has actually put in a special button for a biscuit with only egg and sausage and it STILL confuses the cashiers! I have to tell them there is a special button for it.

If I go to Jack In The Box.... Me: I'd like a biscuit with just egg and sausage only. Cashier: So you would like a breakfast Jack? ..... I don't even know what the hell a breakfast Jack is. Me: No, I just want a biscuit with egg and sausage. Cashier: Can you point to which one you want.

I've started going to Burger King sometimes during the day just so all I need to order is..... Can I have a thing of Chicken Fries to go please.... order done, no screw ups..... out the door.

 

Saw some of those this summer as well. Kinda looked like on of those Robot Wars robots. Imagine sitting around on your terrace, having a cold drink and playing around with one of those. Fun and utility in one

 

I currently work in automation in the Ag industry. Just released a new product last week. The precision automation industry is only going to get bigger.
HandsFreeFarm.com

 

I have had thoughts about what it would take to enter the space. The barrier to entry is high for labor automation because it takes teams of engineers and a lot of money and testing to get equipment like this working well. That means deep pockets.

I recently have seen adds for irobots mopping robot for the home.

One thing I am really surprised isn't way more widespread is automated lawn mowers. There are a few on the market for $2,000-5,000.

With understanding of machine learning becoming more proliferated I expect to see an uptick in automation.

Another industry making waves is 3D printing methods. This is going to lower the cost of hardware by orders of magnitude and make any shape one can dream of possible.

 

My buddy is the largest farmer in Nebraska and he has had a lot of automation for years. He can move his large irrigation sprinklers from his computer. He just sits in his air conditioned tractor cab and waits to see if it buzzes. If it buzzes, that means x went wrong so he fixes it and moves on. He doesn't steer it, the tractor has a gps and he said most times by the time it gets to the end of the field it's less than 1 inch off of being perfect.

 

Chances are he's running some version of our older systems.