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Adam Crockett πŸŒ€
Adam Crockett πŸŒ€

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Unusual applications for programming 🐹

Every time I step into a lift (elevator πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡²) I wonder how might this be programmed? Is it mechanical or is there maybe some c microcontroller, maybe it's hamsters? 🐹

What are the most unusual programming jobs and how do you get involved in them?

Top comments (5)

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ghost profile image
Ghost • Edited

Nowadays we have computers beating humans in GO and chess in the news, influencing humans in FB, folding proteins and making your toaster collect data and transmitting it through internet. IoT sexdolls and hair dryers. Unusual is hard this days.

Unless is a very, very old elevator probably a *PLC, or hamsters.

  • PLC is an industrial microcontroller, a small CPU with a lot of basic IO and very robust. Usually 8bit, no OS, think Arduino pro, but not FOSS and much expensive.
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pinotattari profile image
Riccardo Bernardini • Edited

I am not a expert in elevators, but definitively it is not an hamster.... I believe it is a chinchilla :-)

Seriously, I think that nowadays elevators and other devices are controlled with a microcontroller that (I expect) is usually programmed in C or similar... I never looked into the cost detail, but I think that inexpensiveness and the flexibility of a software solution are much superior to a pure hardware solution.

About the most unusual programming jobs... Honestly, I do not know. I guess you can find many peculiar jobs in the field of "embedded" stuff, possibly in many household appliance: ovens, microwaves, kitchen robots, ...

Oh, wait! I know! If you want something really unusual in a market that many believe will mushroom in the near future, give a look to the Sex Tech field. Sex Tech is the field of technology applied to sexual life, in the widest sense: it includes sex toys, but also medical devices, pregnancy facilitator/avoidance, sex robots (that can do a decent conversation, too...), 3D movies with VR... There is also a field called "Teledildonics" (yes, the name makes your eyebrow to raise... nevertheless, this is the name, I did not invented it)

BTW, I hope neither you nor any other reader get offended... I am serious, no innuendos. Yes, it is a bit embarrassing because it touches something deep inside, but it is also part of our life (and the main responsible for the existence of 7.5 billions of individuals...) and it is a very wide (the whole world population) and unexplored market.

Of course, some of those applications could be borderline with someone ethics, nevertheless on the medical side there is ample room for maneuver.

You could think that it could be embarrassing to tell your friends what you do for a living, but it is OK... I guess you'll be using C and not PHP (with ref. to an old joke)

If you think this field can interest you, I know that there will be in September (modulo virus) an event in Berlin I have never been there, so I cannot say if it is good or not, but I plan to go.

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adam_cyclones profile image
Adam Crockett πŸŒ€

Embedded gets a hole new meaning.

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amiceli profile image
amiceli

When I was in high school (ten years go), I worked on an elevator project.
It was very fun !
We programmed an elevator in C++ with a Motorola controller, maybe a 6800 or something like that (it's bit old lol).

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adam_cyclones profile image
Adam Crockett πŸŒ€ • Edited

I find them really interesting, how does an elevator prioritize and all that stuff.

You have to visit the pen to get the full experience.