Had a dream they used ML and a robot to replace humans in stitching baseballs.

[elizafox@social.treehouse.systems]

Had a dream they used ML and a robot to replace humans in stitching baseballs.

Honestly… as fucked as this will sound, as someone who’s done sewing like that before (sewing thick leather):

I feel bad for the workers tbh, that shit wrecks your hands, it wrecks your shoulders, and doing it 8 hours a day for peanuts… sure you could pay them better but you can’t stop the damage because it requires awkward positioning and dexterity. If it’s your hobby, you stop when your hands hurt. If it’s your job, you keep going and live with tendonitis.

I’d be fine with automating this task.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@Elizafox is this not something that can be machine sewn? (Assume I know absolutely nothing about sewing, which is actually true)

[elizafox@social.treehouse.systems]

@oblomov No one has found a good way to do it yet, no. So they are hand-sewn.

[elizafox@social.treehouse.systems]

@oblomov Fun fact! This makes the ball wildly inconsistent and variable, so it varies:

* from seamster/seamstress to eamster/seamstress
* batch to batch
* even the needles can subtly affect things
* it can even be spotted statistically ("juiced balls" were a thing a few years ago, people started hitting a ton of homers, and MLB was forced to admit something was fucky with the ball although they swore they "didn't change anything.")

This is because the seam changes the way the ball flies, DRASTICALLY. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect

Automating this would be a big win for the sport.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@Elizafox that's fascinating, thanks for sharing, and incredible!

One would expect that after all this time someone would have come up with a mechanical solution. I'm guessing as long as there's enough cheap workforce to exploit there's little push to come up with it.