The path in front of you looks open, but you [always wind up on the same old track](https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/your-daily-reminder-that-were-all-tiny-and-insignificant). Whether you're coasting [from Tindate to Tindate](https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/two-sides-of-a-tinder-date) or [Monday to monotonous Monday](https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/this-short-will-make-you-quit-your-job), this train kept on a neverending loop by a robot surely gets it. Mechanical engineer [Christian Schürch](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQn9HmROKWqQagnVxk15MQ) brought _Robotic Loop_ to [Lucerne's Luga Trade Fair](http://www.tradefairdates.com/Luga-M5375/Lucerne.html) as an "eye-catcher," demonstrating his school's FANUC M-2iA/3S robotic arm. After reading the [demo video description](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ItWevaF2Ag), the machine's specs are certainly impressive, but it's hard not to empathize with the plight of that poor train.

The metaphor is obvious for anyone who's ever been given the run-around. It's not lack of support, internal flaws, or lack of perspective&#x2014;it's an unseeable, unknowable robot arm picking up the past and laying it down directly into the future. Check out Schürch's 10-hour video of the proxy existential crisis, which you can watch while re-thinking every poor decision you've ever made, below.

Crash Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZZCOa9Mhw4

Now some answers for questions I saw a lot:

The gripper stops over the train to detect its current position. It does that with a reed switch on the gripper, which closes when too close to the magnet attached to the train. Basically the robot moves along a circular path while continuously waiting for the switch to close. When that happens it interrupts its current movement (skip function) to evaluate it's current position and set the speed for its next movement. Maybe you could do that without stopping somehow, but since I don't really know what I'm doing, I'm already surprised that I got this far. I don't have any other sensors, so I rely on the tracks to stay at the place I want them to be.

It's completely unnecessary to move over the train like that, but I liked the challenge of doing it this way. I also think it looks better. It's also ridiculous and unnecessary to rotate the gripper 180° after placing a track. But again, because the speed of those rotations is still very fascinating to me, I wanted to have more of them. At first I always detected the train with the outer reed switch by just waiting at a predefined point. That was a loooot safer and better for my nerves. But yeah, the goal wasn't to be as efficient as possible.

Then. I realise now that I could probably do it with 3 tracks and I think I'll try that after the exhibition. Because I'm still learning what's possible by doing it, I wasn't sure if it can be done when I started programming the thing.

The robot being used is a FANUC M-2iA/3S and it belongs to my school. The only thing I constructed myself are the gripper fingers.

And finally, WHY???
For a school project, I had to make a toy train go in a circle.
Uhm I mean I had to make an "Eye-Catcher" out of this robot, which shows what it is capable of! That loop is one part of the application I came up with. 
I study mechanical engineering at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

If you have more questions, just ask!

I do have a lot more videos, so I'll definitely upload some more stuff to here in the next few weeks. :)

To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please email licensing@storyful.com

Robotic Loop - 10 minutes

See more of Christian Schürch's videos [on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQn9HmROKWqQagnVxk15MQ).

[_Watch Robots Being Built and Broken in a New VR TV Series_  
](https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/a-robot-challenged-a-sword-master-to-a-battle-of-blades)

[_A Robot Challenged a Sword Master to a Battle of Blades_](https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/a-robot-challenged-a-sword-master-to-a-battle-of-blades)

[_Think Your Job Sucks? Wait Until You See These Robots_](https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/Michael-Marczewski-repetetive-robot-jobs-short-film)

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Watch a Robotic Arm Keep a Toy Train on an Infinite Loop

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Watch a Robotic Arm Keep a Toy Train on an Infinite Loop

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