anybody use Ralph's supermarket self checkout?

[ThurzNite]

Here in La Jolla, CA, they have them. I got some of those candy where u bag them yourself and cost 3.49/lb. I put a mix of candies in there. I put it on the weight/scanner and waited about 20 sec, then on the screen it pops up "misc candy" and the weight.
I'm so fascinated how it knew that it was candy and not..say...a chunk of broccoli (sp?) I was thinking maybe it's detecting radiation or scanning it somehow, but can't figure it out. Does anybody know how it works?
Jay

 

[fishy101]

Wow, this is new. Where my parents live, there are bunch of Ralph's, but I haven't heard anything about such a thing. Must be like an experimental thing.

As for how it works, maybe they have special computer chips implanted in all their stuff. Now that would be scary. :Q

 

[astroview]

Tops Supermarkets in Cleveland have them, they use weight expected vs. actual weight on the baggage section to know if you are ripping them off. They are 1 month old here, the u-check out.

 

[ThurzNite]

What's weight expect vs actual? Like my example, how would it know candy from broccoli?
Jay

 

[MooseKnuckle]

Self checkout at Shop Rite is cool, but the store is losing money. People walk out without paying, .

 

[SUOrangeman]

There's one at SuperFresh here in Fairfax, VA. I haven't used it, but I think it talks. Something like "Syrup, $2.19."

-SUO

 

[astroview]

The way it works here is you scan a sku, say 123, which is for product X. Product X weighs 10 oz. After scanning you need to put it in a bag, which is on an electronic scale. If the computer notices there are 20 oz instead of the expected 10 oz it starts telling you stuff is wrong. Same thing if there is less weight than expected. Thats one way of stopping stealing.


They have cameras trained on you all the time too. For produce without a barcode already, they have a book of numbers you need to refer to enter before the produce is in your bag. I assume they watch to make sure you put in the right produce number on the camera.

 

[CyberSax]

Here in La Jolla, CA, they have them. I got some of those candy where u bag them yourself and cost 3.49/lb. I put a mix of candies in there. I put it on the weight/scanner and waited about 20 sec, then on the screen it pops up "misc candy" and the weight.
I'm so fascinated how it knew that it was candy and not..say...a chunk of broccoli (sp?) I was thinking maybe it's detecting radiation or scanning it somehow, but can't figure it out. Does anybody know how it works?

Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain, has had those for about 2 years now. The way the self checkouts work at Kroger, is that there's a camera above each checkout, and that camera is monitored by a cashier. So... If you buy something that doesn't have a barcode label, like donuts, the cashier sees how many you have, and punches the number in. Same goes for identifying fruits and vegetables.

 

[lowtech1]

The system that was used at Scan&Save in Vancouver 7 years ago was by weight & bar code.

The price of the goods was about 20% less than the competitions, but the Scan&Save filed for chapter 11 because its didn't get enough customers...People weren't use to the technology and found it intimidating to deal with machine.

 

[Raspewtin]

ThurzNite,

You live in La Jolla? San Diego is the best, isn't it? I live in Carlsbad, but used to live in La Jolla.

 

[vi edit]

Hehe The Walmarts here in Iowa have them as well. A couple weeks ago I was at one that had a BSOD. That's right, the infamous M$ BSOD! It was an NT version of the BSOD w/ all the hex stuff blasted across it.

I busted out laughing on the spot once I saw it. Unfortunately, I was the only one laughing

I don't think that too many people at walmart at 2:00 AM really knew what a BSOD was

 

[ThurzNite]

Astro: So you're saying there's still human interaction? There's a lady who monitors all 4 checkouts about 10 ft away, but I don't think she was looking over my shoulder at the candy. The candy was placed in an unmarked bag...no sku, nothing to scan. Machine says to put "non scannable food on weight". And then I waited a few sec and it popped up. Oh wait...I did have to press a button saying it didn't have an sku, so that could notify the lady. Hmm...I gotta go back in there and do it again, but observe the lady attendant.
Raspewtin: Well..technically, I live in San Diego. That's according to my addy...but La Jolla is a block away. It's all confusing. Anyways, I live walking dist from UCSD, which's where I attend. Damn high prices of apt here...
Jay

 

[Pretender]

My guess: each type of candy weighs a certain amount...maybe 4oz for type A and 3oz for type B. It checks to see if the weight on the scale is a multiple of one of the types, and if it's not it assumes that you mixed the candies. In reality, though, it probably wouldn't work, because if a piece of candy was chipped and only half of it was in the bag, that'd cause it to error also.

 

[lowtech1]

They also uses infared to scan the goods, that how the machine knows the diff from a vegetable to candy.

Under infared the organic fibers are shown up as a lighter colour than sugar etc...

 

[CyberSax]

They also uses infared to scan the goods, that how the machine knows the diff from a vegetable to candy.

Under infared the organic fibers are shown up as a lighter colour than sugar etc...

My guess: each type of candy weighs a certain amount...maybe 4oz for type A and 3oz for type B. It checks to see if the weight on the scale is a multiple of one of the types, and if it's not it assumes that you mixed the candies. In reality, though, it probably wouldn't work, because if a piece of candy was chipped and only half of it was in the bag, that'd cause it to error also.


WTF? The simplest explanation for something is usually the correct one.

Explanation A) The cashier up front looks at what your scanning on their monitor (via the camera that's perched above the scanner), and punches in non-labeled items accordingly.

Explanation B) They have some kind of magical, space age device that can tell what you're trying to buy.

Take it from someone who used to work in a grocery store: it's probably Explanation A

 

[ThurzNite]

Haha...I'll take explaination A, even though B sounds way cooler. I'll verify this today or tomorrow cuz I got a lil party tomorrow night. I'll have my gf look over the shoulder of the lady while I do my stuff at the scanner.
Jay

 

[astroview]

Yea they had cameras watching what we do, I am pretty sure thats what happened in your case Thurznite.

 

[convex]

i'm sorry dave, that's not candy...