This is a robotics application I’ve never run into before, but it is actually being used in the Netherlands: a gas pumping robot. The video shown makes it look like it works pretty well too, and while it seems slow the article says it speeds things up enough to actually increase their number of sales per pump. I do wonder how much of that is the fact that, to use the pump, you preregister with your credit card number and preferred type of gas (so that you don’t interact with the robot at all, you just pull up and sit while the robot does its thing). The RFiD tag alone would eliminate the time I spend fumbling around with my credit card and receipt and getting everything in and out of my wallet. It may be that the advantage of having the robot fill your tank is just enough to get people to take advantage of the RFiD technology.
Glimpses of the websurfing habits of a computer science professor, obsessive crafter, occasional gamer, and all around geek