Circa 2014(15?), I spent a couple of weeks working on reducing a Universal iOS App's(Trapster) payload size. This was before Asset Catelogs, so everything was in a fat binary. We converted the audio to be monoaural. We did PNG-crush. Gzipped embedded dynamic data that was preloaded. Optimized SVGs. All the hoops, they were jumped through. It only reduced binary size from 60Mb to 50Mb.
Taking another look at the payload showed that the otherwise innocuous launch images were 32ish Mb in size. The background of the images wasn't a solid colour. The background pattern was more of grayscale static similar to an unwatchable terrestrial TV feed. It was intended to resemble the initial sound of a CB radio used by truckers. (The "Chshhh" in "Chshhh 10-4 Good Buddy")
Since "staticy" audio/imagery like that is inherently random, each launch image(1 per device resolution) was composed of primarily uncompressable data. Switching out of the "staticy" background for a plain gray reduced the payload size to ~20M, a savings of ~30Mb. That change took approximately an hour.
The takeaway here is to take a good inventory of the payload before tackling size reduction. Otherwise you end up fighting the hard fight just to be pennywise
Also, uncompressable launch images for iPad Retina displays are stupid huge.
I take the same approach, listing the (non technical) area of study and years of attendance. People tend to assume this resulted in a BA, which is not the intent. I've struggled with whether this is duplicitous on my part. Generally I feel that listing no education would be a lie of omission and not relay the story of my professional career properly.
Amazing setup and even better write up. It shames my tiny 2x 4tb setup.
My only suggestion would be to try out gaffer tape instead of the duct/masking tape combo. I started using it about a year ago, and haven't looked back. No residue and no dry flaking over time.
The Starship Robots are really cool. The sort of stuff I dreamt of as a child after staying up too late reading Asimov by flashlight. If I found myself working on a project like that, I would be more than thrilled. I probably came off too negative in my first post. When presented with a machine out of a childhood dream, I was suddenly laden with the fear of reality.
It is a great idea, and I hope they execute it perfectly. The path they choose around the roadblocks will be the real magic.
> This should be a great input for this company making these, actually solves the issue of theft. One robot, one person to follow it from a distance and make sure it does not get lost or, ehem stolen.
A one to one relationship doesn't seem like it would scale. They could make their operation centers mobile by outfitting vans or buses. That would allow for visual monitoring as needed, and quick responses to breakdowns/thefts/vandalism. As an added bonus, they could see a net savings on downtown office space as well!
As long as the items are low value like groceries, the other 5% probably wouldn't bother. They might be wise to impose a value or insurable limit, at least initially.
I would be very excited to receive items from one of these robots. However, I don't know if I could bring myself to send anything of import. The risk of en route damage/theft seems really high. The trapping or taunting of them seems like a surefire activity for children. Their contribution to already congested pedestrian routes in urban areas seems like a perfect catalyst for sidewalk rage induced kicks. If they were to commonly transport high value goods, theft would be a huge issue. A few hours to build a serviceable faraday cage and you have a drop and lift job that nets significant gains. Not advocated theft, but it seems a rather obvious risk.
Also, dogs rejoice! You finally have a catchable, chewable mail courier.
Edit: There also seems to be some potential security risks here. Some cities may not be keen on unmanned, arbitrary payload carrying robots driving through throngs of pedestrians. They are going to have vet the store operators and detect if a recipient fills a unit with unexpected items. Maybe that is just paranoia.
I had an issue with my local UPS operation marking packages as 'Undeliverable as Addressed' at 20:00 the day they were supposed arrive, to meet their obligation. They would then arrive the next day without issue. I ended up calling Amazon, and they got the local UPS office on the phone and asked for the exact problem with addressing. There was none, and they issue did not reoccur.
This is a very exciting project, and it opens the door for quite a bit of analysis and hopefully better city planning/services.
For a few years I worked for a company based in Chicago, and had to travel there often. I would stay a particular hotel on Kinzie St. I learned quickly that you never wanted a room on the second or third floor, especially facing the alley. Almost every night, 5 or 6 separate trash companies' garbage trucks would ramble down the alley to empty one or two dumpsters. These were acoustically, vibrationally, visually and atmospherically noxious events. It wouldn't have been as bad if it was one truck, but the temporally spaced parade made for fitful sleep. Hopefully this project will bubble issues like this to the surface.