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Instrument vending machine

Dear colleagues,

The items you need in everyday engineering work are getting smaller and smaller and its getting more and more difficult to locate them on the lab tables. And I'm getting tired on going around among my 20-or-so co-workers and asking whether they have taken or seen the active scope probes, or U.FL-SMA adapters or this and that. Now, it would be nice to have something like a sandwitch vending machine; you know, the device with a set of lids which can be opened after inserting the proper amount of coins. The scope probes, for instance, would remain under the lid until the engineer Joe Smith comes and opens the lid with his company ID card. The next guy who arrives and finds the compartment empty could then inquiry the machine and find out that the lid was opened last time by Joe, so that he can immediately charge to Joe's throat.

Its unlikely that such a vending machine would be available for the whole variety of the company ID card styles in existence, but a PIN code could serve the same purpose. Each user would have a personal key code which he/she must key in to the machine in order to open the lid. I'm pretty sure that a manufacturer of such devices must exist among the obscure backyard companies somewhere on this planet. I wonder if any of you has heard about such a gadget? RFID tracking is not practical for this purpose (I think).

Regards, Mikko

Reply to
Mikko S Kiviranta
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Mikko S Kiviranta wrote: : something like a sandwitch vending machine; you know, the device with

I mean 'sandwich', sandwitches are something weird and a vending machine for them even weirder.

Reply to
Mikko S Kiviranta

I recently saw a vending machine for small items such as end mills. It looked similar to the type of vending machine that has horizontal spiral coils that rotate to release the product. In this case, the items were held in paper envelopes. The front was metal. It had a bar-code scanner-- presumably for the user and the item code. This was at a bankruptcy sale of a high-end moldmaking shop, and I didn't note the manufacturer, sorry.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Do you have any communication problem with your colleagues? I think your idea will not make you much more popular. It's the business of the R&D manager to organize how to distribute instruments, tools and other resources. You have to find a balance between creative chaos and restrictive order. Disciplining others OTOH is an ugly interest.

--
ciao Ban
Apricale, Italy
Reply to
Ban

Hospitals have machines that do just that for pills-- the nurses have to enter the correct codes to get the bins to open. Makes it easier to tell who's taking what. Probably more expensive than just buying a few more scope probes though.

Reply to
Ancient_Hacker

These are all great ideas, except none of them makes a provision for when the person _returns_ the item.

Maybe tag each item with a little bar code tag or something?

Or stop hiring people who take stuff and don't return it?

Good Luck! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

A much simpler and cheaper solution (if you have an old PC available). Point a webcam towards the storage shelves so that you can see whose taking out what. Run a program like Active webcam with motion detection. This will record a clip any time someone takes or returns something.

Z
Reply to
Zimmy

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