Way OT - Why machines won't replace man (plus my bragging)

This is way off topic, but is something I'll really proud of. After 34 years of league bowling, on Wednesday night I rolled a perfect game (300) - twelve strikes in a row.

This got me thinking about an article I read recently in a bowling publication. The topic was about bowling testing equipment. I did something no machine could be programmed to do. Here's why:

The governing body of bowling has a robot-like piece of equipment that is a combination of grippers, arms, servos, etc. This device tests balls, lane conditions, etc. It can be programmed to roll the ball with various combinations of topspin and sidespin, even backspin. However, the author of the article stated that the machine has never, and can never, bowl a perfect game. Everyone involved in its design admits it, too.

Unfortunately, I couldn' tell by the article what kind of control it had, PLC I presume...

Anyway, a bowling lane is NOT a dry, smooth, surface. The bowling establishment has automated equipment that is used to apply "lane conditioner" (an oil-like substance) in various pre-defined patterns across and down each lane. Since this substance "moves around" over the course of several frames based on who is rolling their bowl where, minor adjustments are constantly necessary. This adjustment cannot be done by a machine, it's just TOO consistent and could never analyze where the conditioner has moved. Like me, the robot has to stay behind the foul line and cannot touch the lane itelf beyond that point.

This reminds me of a similar topic about golf. I read somewhere years ago that you don't need to construct a very lengthy putt on a golf green that a machine cannot make. This is due to the fact that the grass lays differently each time the ball rolls over it. Set up a twenty footer, and after about ten successful "putts" by the machine, the ball rolls over that grass differently and now misses the hole. Probably why the game is so challenging!

Anyway, knowing I accomplished something that no machine can ever do makes me extra proud. I can't wait to get my ring, plaque, prize money, etc.

Add to the chaos, the fact that each bowling pin weighs a different amount and the location is random from any set to the next. Pinsetters are not exact every time. The list is long.

Now, you need to try it nine more times yourself!! Good luck.

Congrats, 10 years of league (mixed,fun) and the best I bowled was a 298. How do you keep it together on the last ball and the whole alley has gone dead silent as the crowd presses in 5 deep behind you? I sometimes have trouble peeing beside someone else in the john sometimes for cryn out loud. (too much info?) Thats performance anxiety!

Good Job,

Brian.

Machines will never replace man....


but they will give man more time to do things like bowl (or whatever winds your clock.)

As popular as bowling is, and I've tried it many times.....It just never really caught my interest.....I grew up playing 3 cushion billiards and snooker. I had a knack for the physics and angles in those two games...still love them but just don't have the time. They did finance quite a portion of my schooling however...


Greg