Bounties attract serious brainpower to the challenge.
Joystick-operated robotic street vending stands that people with disabilities can operate from the comfort of their homes.
Why?
People with disabilities have few opportunities to earn money.
Feeling useful is a wonderful feeling which I imagine people with disabilities rarely experience.
People with disabilities have fewer opportunities to talk to new people in a comfortable setting.
How it works
Remotely controlled, robotic food or beverage vending, designed to prepare and serve a specific item.
The stand would be personalized, so that the customers can appreciate the effort behind it and the fact that it's being operated by a real person from the other side. Depending on severity of the vendor's disabilities (and comfort level), there could be a two way or one way video communication link between the vending stand and the vendor.
The vendor would prepare and serve the food remotely as if playing a video game. They would have to put in a lot of training hours to get good at it. The hardware doesn't have to be this complex, but this video demonstrates the possibilities:
Depending on the vendor's agility and speed, the stand can be placed in a more or less frequently visited area.
Rather than the robot's software performing everything itself, it would be a joint effort. Depending on the vendor's disabilities the software would help as much as necessary.
Business chain
This could grow into an international business chain that employs people with disabilities worldwide.
The idea is great! What I am worried about is the fact that certain disabilities are just too limiting. For these people, jobs could be automated up to a level that they only need to talk to a customer and click the product/ingredients for them. They would also report problems with the vending machine, so no vending machines would sit broken until someone who lost 5 euros trying to get a KitKat reports the issue :D
Darko Savic Oct 21, 2021