Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots'

Re:Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots' by Animats on Wednesday May 25, 2016 @05:14PM (#11773160)

Logging today: [1] No muss, no fuss, just a machine on an articulated chassis that neatly cuts off trees, picks them up in one motion, shears off the branches, cuts the trunk into convenient log lengths, and stacks the logs. About two trees a minute. From Ponsse, which essentially owns this industry, after beating out Komatsu and Deere.[2] Although you don't see it, the log was scanned for defects during the cutting process, which determined where it was cut and whether it becomes boards or chips.

No more lumberjacks.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luygMuoFnXs [2] http://www.ponsse.com

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Re:Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots' by douche on Wednesday May 25, 2016 @05:34PM (#11773308)

It's really ridiculous with logging. My grandfather cut wood as part of a 100 man crew, with axes and hand saws, horses, and all of the logistics involved in running a camp to house and feed that many men and animals, to cut a few hundred cord of wood a season. My father was a subcontractor who worked on a team of four, between the chopper with the chainsaw, the cable skidder driver, the guy on the landing slashing and piling, and the truck driver, and they cut a couple hundred cord a week. Now one guy with a cut-to-length system can cut a few hundred cord a day, if he's in good wood.

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