Chalkbot Has Some Problems
July 21st, 2009
We told you about the Chalkbot earlier in the month. It’s purpose is to leave messages with chalk at the Tour De France. Sadly the bot has run into some problems. According to the Post Gazette, the little bot is up against all kinds of red tape. It’s a whole ball of wax, or should I say chalk?
The Chalkbot staff has to first check every single message for profanity, then they pass them on to a Tour de France staff person who also has to approve the message. It gets even more complicated:
Additionally, in order to paint the messages on the pavement, Equipe Chalkbot must get permission at every stop from both local Tour de France officials and the mayors of each city on the route. It is a process made more difficult by the fact that no one on the Chalkbot crew speaks French.
This is human bad planning and communicating at it’s finest. It proves that there’s one thing that really can kill robots. Red tape.
