So, while this is uhhh, off track, Legolands and such have some kind of automation, though, presumably, those are bespoke solutions and are not available to regular consumers.
> Legolands and such have some kind of automation, though, presumably those are bespoke solutions
I can vouch for that! I can say - with great confidence - that the best job I ever had was in Legoland, Billund while I was in high school. The job: keep the outdoor small models running from 15:30 when the real engineers left, until park closes. Then leave a note about the stuff I couldn’t fix myself.
The electronics were industrial PLCs wired to a control computer, and the mechanics inside the models were made from industrial type stuff that you might see on a robot, conveyor belt or the like.
Most of the models (trains, cars, cranes etc.) were built on a metal chassis or skeleton.
Fond memories of getting paged by the system with “ALARM: Cars, Norway” to discover that a kid had dropped her soft ice on the highway ;)
Wow, that's not much... my kid would probably hit that within a month. (I just replaced the motor in a Bachmann Thomas that wore out in about the same amount of time.)
That's why they're not fussy about replacing the few that wear out, the average use is frequently after the first purchase and then it drops off sharply so I guess they decided it wasn't worth designing around long usage. In the older trains you could replace the little motor easily, with the newer ones (starting with the infamous 'red' motor a long time ago) that practice ended and you have to replace the entire unit.
I can vouch for that! I can say - with great confidence - that the best job I ever had was in Legoland, Billund while I was in high school. The job: keep the outdoor small models running from 15:30 when the real engineers left, until park closes. Then leave a note about the stuff I couldn’t fix myself.
The electronics were industrial PLCs wired to a control computer, and the mechanics inside the models were made from industrial type stuff that you might see on a robot, conveyor belt or the like.
Most of the models (trains, cars, cranes etc.) were built on a metal chassis or skeleton.
Fond memories of getting paged by the system with “ALARM: Cars, Norway” to discover that a kid had dropped her soft ice on the highway ;)