Here, watch this video of a train trapped on a circular track. The track is only made of three pieces of wood, but the train’s route is infinite. That’s because a disembodied robot hand is really in control, forcing the little train to repeat the same journey over and over again without actually getting anywhere.
I wish this toy train stuck on an infinite loop weren’t such an obvious metaphor
As Creators points out, this project, called Robotic Loop, was made by mechanical engineering student Christian Schürch for this year’s Luga Trade Fair in Lucerne, Switzerland. In the video’s YouTube description, Schürch points out that the robot, a FANUC M-2iA/3S, moves in a circular pattern along with the train, although it’s not the most efficient route.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Are we the train, slowly moving in a circle with no clear end goal, or are we the robot, taking the least efficient route to complete a mundane task? Who knows! Happy Monday!
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