Machines may not have risen up to destroy humanity as predicted in films like “The Terminator,” but make no mistake: they are definitely in the process of rising up to steal from our vending machines, with a little help from their human counterparts, too. One enterprising young French citizen has created a bold new type of robot that you should definitely be afraid of if you own, operate or generally depend on vending machines on a daily basis.
The Robot Thief
French YouTube star ioduremetallique has always had an interest in robotics and technology in general, but his recent postings show that he may have finally gone a bit too far. He invented a compact robot that, once inserted into a vending machine through the distribution slot, uses a levitating arm that essentially grabs a can of soda or other items and drops them down the vending machine – completely free of charge. He controls this robot via a gamepad, similar to the way your kids might control their Sony PlayStation.
Before you get too worried, let’s put things into perspective. Based on the sheer amount of time and money that he put into his creation alone, he would have to steal roughly 4,000 sodas (according to the experts at Vice.com) before he even approached any type of return on investment. He has indicated that he mainly started this little project just to see if he could, but the fact that he can is what has many vending machine providers worried.
Vending Machine Solutions
Even though would-be thieves are probably not going to start controlling an army of hugely expensive robots to steal the occasional free soda, it does underscore the importance of vending machine maintenance in general. If a vending machine is allowed to fall into a state of disrepair, it could suddenly be open to exactly this type of loophole. Vending machine repair in general is hugely important, not only to prevent against attacks from these types of robots, but also to close any software-related loopholes that may have been discovered since the machine went online. Inventory control software can also be used to alert you to a problem (like disappearing cans of soda, for example), allowing you to take steps to correct the issue as quickly as possible.
Between protecting your livelihood against people like ioduremetallique and continuing to maintain a high level of service for customers, to say that vending machine maintenance is important is something of an understatement.
