Readers of Automation Notebook have their favorite section. For most, that section is The Break Room. This is often the first place many readers go to once they receive the latest issue. But, you have to be careful not to get so caught up into it that you leave the rest of Automation Notebook behind. Take a mental break for a few minutes and see if you can solve these puzzles. Then go to your coworkers and see if you can stump them.
1.) Mirror, mirror, on the wall…
A child once asked about a mirror: Why does it reverse my image left to right, but not up and down?
Can you explain how a mirror works in a way that a child could understand?
[hozbreak]
2.) Rowbots
The owner at the puzzle factory wished to arrange all her puzzle-making robots into 12 rows of 11 robots each, and to position all the rows an equal distance from her circular office in the center of the factory. Her CRO (Chief of Robotic Operations) initially protested that there were only 120 robots in the factory.
Was the CRO able to oblige the owner?
3.) Queue See
The non-automated factory was experiencing quality control problems (again!). After a production run of 1000 widgets, they found a large number with serious cosmetic blemishes – and tossed them out. They ran the remainder through a series of tests. The first test detected problems with one-sixth of the remaining widgets, and they culled those as well. The second test exposed more problems and one-eighth of the remaining widgets were trashed (and then one widget was apparently lost). A final test showed one-fourth of the remaining widgets to be non-functional. The remaining (functional) widgets were grouped in to four equal groups for transport, and sent to the packaging area.
How many widgets were in each of those four groups?
4.) It’s not easy being Green!
What color is Smiley? Would you believe that all the Smileys shown below are the same color green? With this electronic version, you can use your favorite graphics tool to verify the colors.
