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Meet the American who made Easter sweeter, legendary chocolate bunny salesman Robert Lincoln Strohecker

Source image: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/meet-american-who-made-easter-sweeter-legendary-chocolate-bunny-salesman-robert-lincoln-strohecker

First-generation German-American Robert Strohecker dreamed bigger and sweeter than any candy salesman before him.

He’s known in confectioner’s lore as the “Father of the Chocolate Easter Bunny.”

The source of Strohecker’s legend is a massive 5-foot-tall (or perhaps even taller) solid chocolate rabbit he displayed outside Pennsylvania retailers in 1890 to popularize smaller versions of his new Easter sweets born of German tradition

Sales of the chocolate Easter bunnies multiplied like — well, bunnies, in the aftermath of Strohecker’s moment of American marketing bravado. 

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“This man had a profound impact on the food industry,” Phyllis LeBlanc, the president of Harbor Sweets in Salem, Massachusetts, told Fox News Digital. 

Strohecker lived an almost fairy-tale existence of chocolate enchanter.

Robert L. Strohecker was a salesman for W.H. Luden Confectioner in 1890 when he had a giant 5-foot-tall (or perhaps even taller)<strong> </strong>solid chocolate Easter bunny made to promote the company’s new line of smaller Easter bunnies. One chocolate industry expert estimates the massive bunny weighed 400 to 500 pounds and would cost $10,000 to make today.”></source></source></source></source></picture></div>
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Robert L. Strohecker was a salesman for W.H. Luden Confectioner in 1890 when he had a giant 5-foot-tall (or perhaps even taller) solid chocolate Easter bunny made to promote the company’s new line of smaller Easter bunnies. One chocolate industry expert estimates the massive bunny weighed 400 to 500 pounds and would cost $10,000 to make today. (Courtesy Harbor Sweets Handmade Chocolates)

He traveled the hills and hollows inhabited by the Pennsylvania Dutch, hawking cure-alls, confections, and tastes of their Old-World homeland from his mule- or horse-drawn wagon. 

The idyllic image of yester-yore belies a transformative figure in global consumer culture. 

“This man had a profound impact on the food industry.” — Phyllis LeBlanc, Harbor Sweets

Strohecker sold candy and cough drops at a time when American industrial enterprise was modernizing old ways of pitching product.

The buzz around his giant edible chocolate bunny was so great that the bunnies soon became an essential part of the Easter basket — the most beloved part of the Easter basket. Especially the ears, according to numerous surveys and countless squeals of childhood delight on Easter Sunday. 

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LeBlanc, president of Harbor Sweets, is heir to Strohecker’s delicious legacy. 

Her company was founded by Strohecker’s grandson, Benneville Strohecker, now deceased, in 1973 to pursue his own penchant for the chocolate arts and pay homage to family tradition.

Ben Strohecker, grandson of American chocolate Easter bunny pioneer Robert Strohecker, founded Harbor Sweets in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1973. 

Ben Strohecker, grandson of American chocolate Easter bunny pioneer Robert Strohecker, founded Harbor Sweets in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1973.  (Courtesy Harbor Sweets Handmade Chocolates)

LeBlanc estimates that Strohecker’s legendary 5-foot-tall Easter bunny of solid chocolate weighed 400 to 500 pounds and would cost $10,000 today to make.

Harbor Sweets’ signature seasonal product today is the Robert L. Strohecker Rabbit, a tribute to the legend who made American Easter sweeter.

It’s available in both milk and dark chocolates — and shaped to look exactly like the giant bunny that changed American Easter forever in 1890.

Born in the Era of Lincoln

Robert Lincoln Strohecker was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 16, 1864, in a nation — and a state — bloodied by Civil War. 

His middle name was popular around Pennsylvania at that moment in history. 

Robert Lincoln Strohecker's mother was pregnant with the future chocolate pioneer when the Battle of Gettysburg was fought just 35 miles from his birthplace in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was given the middle name Lincoln, apparently in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, who delivered the Gettysburg Address two months before he was born. 

Robert Lincoln Strohecker’s mother was pregnant with the future chocolate pioneer when the Battle of Gettysburg was fought just 35 miles from his birthplace in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was given the middle name Lincoln, apparently in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, who delivered the Gettysburg Address two months before he was born.  (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil War, was fought just six months earlier and a mere 35 miles southwest of Harrisburg. 

Regina (Geissler) Strohecker, the daughter of German immigrants, was seven months pregnant with her son Robert when President Abraham Lincoln rolled through the region to deliver the Gettysburg Address. 

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The Stroheckers surely had friends and family who died at the largest battle in American history. Lincoln’s challenge that followed to preserve a nation “of the people, by the people, for the people” was especially powerful in an immigrant community that had fled oppression in Europe.

Strohecker carried names representing both his ancestry and the hero of his homeland.

“The tradition of chocolate Easter bunnies dates back to 19th-century America, which borrowed it … from Germany.” – Smithsonian Magazine

His father, Herman Strohecker, was born in Baden-Wuerttemberg, moved to the United States and became a stonecutter in Reading.

“He was well-known here and highly esteemed,” read an obituary for the elder Strohecker. 

Young Robert was apparently raised by his father’s second wife, Elizabeth, after his mom died when he was just 2 years old. 

He was brought up in an immigrant community that would have cherished its Easter bunny tradition

Harbor Sweets in Salem, Massachusetts, offers the Robert L. Strohecker edition of its chocolate Easter bunnies, modeled on the giant 5-foot-tall solid chocolate Easter bunny created by Robert L. Strohecker in 1890. Harbor Sweets was founded in 1973 by Ben Strohecker, grandson of the chocolate Easter bunny patriarch. 

Harbor Sweets in Salem, Massachusetts, offers the Robert L. Strohecker edition of its chocolate Easter bunnies, modeled on the giant 5-foot-tall solid chocolate Easter bunny created by Robert L. Strohecker in 1890. Harbor Sweets was founded in 1973 by Ben Strohecker, grandson of the chocolate Easter bunny patriarch.  (Courtesy Harbor Sweets Handmade Chocolates)

“The tradition of chocolate Easter bunnies dates back to 19th-century America, which borrowed it — and the Easter bunny in general — from Germany,” writes Smithsonian Magazine. 

Strohecker graduated from Warrensburg Normal High School in Missouri, where he lived for some time in his youth, before moving back to Pennsylvania apparently while still a teenager. 

He landed his first job in Reading working for Isaac Barrett, who owned a confectionary store on Penn Street. 

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He then became a salesman for W.H. Luden Confectioner — by some accounts its first employee — founded by fellow German-American William H. Luden.

The tandem would soon spread the name Luden around the world, not through chocolate, but through cough drops. 

“Luden launched a backroom candy business in 1879 in the rear of his father’s jewelry shop at 35 N. 5th St., Reading,” local historian Joseph Webb wrote in 2021 on his website, GoReadingBerks.com, noting that Luden’s “factory” was actually the family kitchen. 

A replica of a Luden's Cough Drops tin currently owned by Frederick Edenharter, of Shillington, the grandson of the founder of Luden's Inc. William H. Luden. 

A replica of a Luden’s Cough Drops tin currently owned by Frederick Edenharter, of Shillington, the grandson of the founder of Luden’s Inc. William H. Luden.  (Krissy Krummenacker/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

“An early product was ‘moshie,’ a Pennsylvania Dutch (German-American) candy made with brown sugar and molasses. Luden collaborated with a pharmacist to develop a cough drop formula.”

Luden colored his amber instead of the traditional cough-drop color of red to stand out among consumers. 

They had a knack for making their products stand out among consumers.

Partnered with Strohecker, they would prove to have a knack for making their products stand out among consumers.

A spoonful of sugar

Rohecker’s entire professional life was spent convincing retailers and consumers to buy Luden’s candy and cough drops. Luden’s Cough Drops is a widely recognized global brand today.

The two industries are much closer in origin than people might imagine today. 

Candy comes from medicinal tradition, “The Candy Professor” and Rutgers University scholar Samira Kawash told Smithsonian Magazine in a 2010 interview.

Easter bunnies, and their edible chocolate version, were traditions born in Germany and first popularized in the U.S. in German-American communities. Sandra Jaeckel holds up a big chocolate bunny at Confiserie Felicitas GmbH in Hornow, Germany, March 2014. The company uses pure cocoa butter and produces 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of chocolate every day.

Easter bunnies, and their edible chocolate version, were traditions born in Germany and first popularized in the U.S. in German-American communities. Sandra Jaeckel holds up a big chocolate bunny at Confiserie Felicitas GmbH in Hornow, Germany, March 2014. The company uses pure cocoa butter and produces 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of chocolate every day. (Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“An apothecary in the 18th century would prescribe you sugar candy for things like chest ailments or digestion problems,” said Kawash. 

“Back then, the ‘spoonful of sugar’ idea was literal — if you had some sort of unpleasant medicine to take, usually a concoction of herbs that might not taste very good, the apothecary would suspend it in sugar.”

“Candy of the sort that you might recognize today really took off emerged after the Civil War, after the price of sugar has fallen” — Professor Samira Kawash

Strohecker and Luden were at the right place at the right time — when apothecary and confectionary grew into separate businesses in a nation with rapidly evolving transportation infrastructure and consumer wealth. 

“Candy of the sort that you might recognize today really took off … after the Civil War, after the price of sugar [had] fallen,” said Kawash. 

“And then the new industrial machines of the late 19th and early 20th centuries made it possible to produce candy in a whole new way.”

The area around Reading, Pennsylvania, rich in German heritage, remains the center of the American Easter bunny business. 

A copy of a photo of a Luden's wagon taken on Jan. 29, 2007. Original photo from Frederick Edenharter, of Shillington, Pennsylvania, grandson of the founder of Luden's Inc., William H. Luden. Robert Strohecker, who sold Luden products throughout the region and popularized the chocolate Easter bunny in America, traveled in a similar wagon (man in photo not identified).

A copy of a photo of a Luden’s wagon taken on Jan. 29, 2007. Original photo from Frederick Edenharter, of Shillington, Pennsylvania, grandson of the founder of Luden’s Inc., William H. Luden. Robert Strohecker, who sold Luden products throughout the region and popularized the chocolate Easter bunny in America, traveled in a similar wagon (man in photo not identified). (Krissy Krummenacker/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

Reading native Richard M. Palmer served in World War II and returned to the region to a nation that had to find ways to enjoy chocolate in limited quantities. 

During World War II, “rationing forced chocolate makers to get creative – [and] the hollow chocolate Easter bunny was born.” — Harbor Sweets

“World War II played a role in the evolution of the chocolate Easter bunny,” Harbor Sweets reports on its website. 

“They were typically solid, but wartime rationing forced chocolate makers to get creative — the hollow chocolate Easter bunny was born.”

The returning veteran launched R.H. Palmer Candy in 1948, specializing in hollow chocolate Easter bunnies.

Four people are dead, three are missing after an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania.

Four people are dead, three are missing after an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania. (WTXF/Screengrab)

R.H. Palmer made international news for unfortunate reasons just last month: An explosion killed seven employees, leaving the beloved local company and the community in shock. 

An employee told Fox News Digital this week they still had only two phone lines working and were struggling to recover in a city where chocolate Easter bunnies have been a tradition for over 130 years.

“We are committed to continuing to giving back to the communities that have given us so much.” — Chocolate maker R.M. Palmer of Reading, Pennsylvania

“R.M. Palmer has been part of the West Reading community since 1948, and while the tragedy has affected us all, it has not shaken our resolve,” the company said in an online statement. 

“The strength and support of our employees has been inspiring, and we are committed to continuing to giving back to the communities that have given us so much.”

90 million happy children can’t be wrong

Robert L. Strohecker died of a heart attack at his home at 737 North Fourth St. in Reading on March 31, 1932. He was 68 years old. 

He worked for most of his adult life at Luden, retiring four years before his death.

Robert L. Strohecker, born in Pennsylvania, in 1864, is credited with popularizing chocolate Easter bunnies in America while working for W.H. Luden Confectioner. He also helped popularize menthol cough drops, which Luden's still sells today.

Robert L. Strohecker, born in Pennsylvania, in 1864, is credited with popularizing chocolate Easter bunnies in America while working for W.H. Luden Confectioner. He also helped popularize menthol cough drops, which Luden’s still sells today. (Public Domain)

“He sold the first box of candy manufactured by Mr. Luden … and for many years traveled about Berks and adjoining counties with a large wagon drawn by a team of mules, disposing of the products of his concern to the various stores,” reads his obituary in the Reading Eagle, published on the day of his death. 

“He was responsible for the preparation of the menthol cough drop formula, which later became internationally known. He devised the extensive advertising methods, which placed cough drops in practically every country in the world.”

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His obituary remembers him mostly not for his work in candy and cough drops, but for his commitment to church, community and children of Reading. 

His wider legacy is found today in the wide-eyed children across the nation who will awake on Easter morning to find their most delicious gift of the season: a chocolate bunny. 

Trays of chocolate rabbits sit in the factory area at Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York, on April 7, 2009.  

Trays of chocolate rabbits sit in the factory area at Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York, on April 7, 2009.   (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Americans consume about 90 million chocolate bunnies each year, according to industry data, almost all of them at Easter.

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“We love the story. I think a lot of people love the story,” said Phyllis LeBlanc of Harbor Sweets, who took over the company in recent years following the death of its founder, her mentor and Strohecker’s grandson Ben Strohecker.

“Ben wanted to commemorate his grandfather’s work and his legacy. He was proud of his grandfather.”

To read more stories in this unique “Meet the American Who…” series from Fox News Digital, click here.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/meet-american-who-made-easter-sweeter-legendary-chocolate-bunny-salesman-robert-lincoln-strohecker

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Ohio firefighters find 118-year-old time capsule buried in fire station: Here’s what was inside

A team of firefighters has uncovered treasure hidden in their fire department that’s nearly 12 decades old.

Captain Ryan Redmon and a group of six firefighters from the City of Marion Ohio Fire Department were on a mission to retrieve an old department cornerstone from a retired fire station that was about to be demolished, but they ended up finding something truly unexpected.

The Marion Fire Department (MFD) has recently been researching the history of their department, going back to 1848, by digging up some information — both figuratively and literally, Captain Redmon told Fox News Digital.

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On May 25, Redmon and the firefighters went down to the old Marion Fire Department Station No. 2, which was built in 1905, to excavate their department’s cornerstone for preservation purposes before the building was scheduled to be torn down.

MFD cornerstone 2

Captain Ryan Redmon and a team of six firefighters from the Marion Fire Department in Marion, Ohio, discovered a hidden time capsule dating back to 1905. Firefighter Andrew Niles is pictured above removing a brick. (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

After spending nearly 30 minutes on the excavation, Redmon and his men quickly realized the cornerstone was deeper into the building than anticipated, so they called in professionals to complete the removal.

As Redmon and his team were about to leave, they pulled out one last brick and saw a copper box fall out of the sandstone, Redmon shared.

Redmon and the other firefighters on the scene took it back to the station excited to show everyone their new discovery.

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“Obviously, everybody wanted us to open it right away, and we wanted to, trust me. It was killing us to see what was in there,” Redmon commented.

copper time capsule

The 118-year-old time capsule was hidden near the cornerstone of the retired fire station building that was set to be demolished. (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

The MFD has been working on the written history of their department, but nothing in their prior research led them to believe there would be a time capsule hidden in the 1905 fire station.

“We’ve done so much history work around the station and I feel like we’ve got a pretty good grasp on our past and where we’ve been, and [to] discover something like [this], there’s no written record of it,” Redmon stated.

“We scoured newspapers, we scoured old records [and] there was never any mention of a time capsule in there, so it was very exciting,” he added.

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The time capsule was placed near the cornerstone of the old MFD station on July 20, 1905, according to a letter found in the capsule written by the fire chief at the time, Redmon added.

men opening time capsule

Chief Chuck Deem (left) looks on as Captain Redmon (center) and Andrew Niles (far right) pry open the time capsule during a public ceremony on May 31.   (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

“Firemen aren’t exactly known for being gentle, delicate creatures with things,” Redmon joked. “So we took it to the historical society in town.”

The copper box had been soldered shut on the edge and wasn’t easy to pry open, according to Redmon.

On May 31, the MFD invited the residents of Marion to be a part of a public opening of the time capsule.

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Inside the 118-year-old copper box were dozens of well-preserved memorabilia referencing the department including: nine MFD badges from the “turn of the century,” an invitation to the 1878 “Northwestern Ohio Volunteer Fireman’s Association Fireman’s Games” (which is still held today), four newspapers from July 1905 and so much more, according to the City of Marion Ohio Fire Department Facebook page.

Redmon took note of the differences between the “turn of the century era” badges that had been found in the time capsule, detailing the difference in style and size.

“There has been talk about trying to back to that style now that we know that’s our history and that’s kind of where we came from. In the future, maybe we can go back to that,” Redmon commented.

One of Redmon’s favorite discoveries in the box was the letter from Chief McFarland, the department’s fire chief for almost 40 years, he added.

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“He has kind of got his touch on everything. To have an actual letter from him was very [exciting].”

Ohio time capsule split FINAL

Redmon is looking forward to making a new time capsule for the new fire station which will include an item from the newly found 1905 capsule. (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

Redmon gave a lot of credit to Andrew Niles, a firefighter on his team, who has been heading up the department’s historical research and was the one to open the time capsule.

One of the biggest takeaways for Redmon is knowing that he now has a tangible place in the history of the MFD.

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“I was becoming a part of history because I was involved in this opening and this finding,” he shared.

The MFD is planning on taking an item from the 1905 time capsule, most likely one of the badges, and placing it in a new time capsule that will be buried in the construction of the new fire station, Redmon added.

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The hope is that another 118 years will pass by before the new capsule is opened and someone will be able to discover a 236-year-old badge, paying homage to the history and legacy of the Marion Fire Department, Redmon said.

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On this day in history, June 7, 1942, Battle of Midway ends in decisive US victory

On this day in history, June 7, 1942, the Battle of Midway — regarded as one of the most decisive U.S. victories in its war against Japan — came to an end.  

The Battle of Midway was an Allied naval victory and a major turning point in World War II. 

The battle was fought between Japanese and American carrier forces near the Midway Atoll, a territory of the United States in the central Pacific, from June 4-7, 1942.

On June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway began. 

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Midway Island is a fairly isolated atoll, so named because it is midway between North America and Asia in the North Pacific Ocean, according to National Geographic.

Midway’s importance grew for commercial and military planners, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Battle of Midway

In this June 4, 1942, file photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Astoria (CA-34) steams by USS Yorktown (CV-5), shortly after the carrier had been hit by three Japanese bombs in the Battle of Midway.  (William G. Roy/U.S. Navy via AP, File)

In the 1930s, Midway became a stopover for Pan American Airways’ “flying clippers” — seaplanes crossing the ocean on their five-day transpacific passage, the same source indicates.

Midway was an incredibly strategic location, multiple sources say. 

“The Imperial Japanese Navy planned to use it to secure their sphere of influence in the Pacific theater of the war,” according to National Geographic. 

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“The Japanese had not lost a naval battle in more than 50 years, and had nearly destroyed the American fleet just six months earlier in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.” 

The American success at Midway was a major victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy. 

Pearl Harbor is about 1,300 miles east of Midway, says the same source.

In preparation, American military and intelligence forces worked together to defeat the Japanese. 

Battle of Midway Island

The Battle of Midway Island, which resulted in a major victory for the U.S. fleet. The USS aircraft carrier ‘Yorktown’ received a direct hit from a Japanese plane, which got through despite the heavy barrage put up by American destroyers.  (Keystone/Getty Images)

Code breakers were able to decipher Japanese naval code, allowing American leaders to anticipate Japanese maneuvers, notes National Geographic. 

Because of this, the U.S. Navy was then able to launch a surprise attack on the larger Japanese fleet in the area and the Battle of Midway turned the tide of the war, says the same source. 

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The American success at Midway was a major victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy as all four Japanese carriers — Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga and Soryu — had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, says the National WWII Museum.

The Battle of Midway is often referred to as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

“Sinking those Japanese carriers represented a resounding defeat over the enemy fleet which had wrought such destruction only six months before,” the same source says.

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The Imperial Japanese Navy would not be capable of overcoming the loss of four carriers and over 100 trained pilots — and with the loss at Midway, the Japanese offensive in the Pacific was overturned and the United States began offensive action in the Pacific, says the National WWII Museum.

The Battle of Midway is widely considered the most decisive U.S. victory of that period.

It is often referred to as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

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Midway Atoll has since been designated as a National Memorial to the Battle of Midway, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Invisible AI’s ‘intelligent agent’ cameras can see what autoworkers and machines are doing wrong

Tesla CEO Elon Musk often refers to the automobile factory as “the machine that builds the machine,” but there are plenty of human workers involved in even the most highly automated plants.

They remain a key part of the exceedingly complex process that is automobile assembly but need to operate as efficiently as their mechanical counterparts to keep cars and trucks coming off the line with a combination of quality and speed.

Weeding out issues and making sure everything is running smoothly has traditionally meant sending quality control personnel up and down the lines to get eyes on the action. But now there’s a way to automate that job with better results than ever before.

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Palo Alto-based Invisible AI was founded by veterans of the autonomous car industry who saw an alternative for the artificial intelligence-driven machine vision technology they were working on that could come to market long before the mass acceptance of self-driving cars.

invisible ai

Invisible AI’s cameras have two terabytes of storage, enough to capture two months of data. (Invisible AI)

The company designed a network of cameras that can monitor an assembly line in real time and spot even the smallest things going wrong.

“Productivity, safety and quality are always top of mind in manufacturing, especially auto,” Invisible AI CEO Eric Danzinger told Fox News Digital.

The self-contained units are equipped with stereoscopic vision and onboard processing that allows them to be easily set up in a factory without having to tap into the facility’s own networks.

Invisible AI workers

The cameras use stereoscopic vision that can monitor how workers are moving. (Invisible AI)

“Our AI is not just about watching one workstation but about getting that view across the line about where you’re hitting production bottlenecks, where you’re seeing deviations from how the work is supposed to be done and where you’re seeing issues like bad reaches that can cause physical issues for your workers,” Danzinger said.

The cameras don’t need to be programmed with the assembly process. They only have to scan a single, correct cycle, and then the system can determine if anything deviates from it later.

“Our AI system analyzes the video, from raw pixels, to understand the pattern of work that’s happening and then compares those patterns so we can tell if someone is following a standard,” Danzinger explained. “All of that is being done by an intelligent agent in the cameras so a person doesn’t have to.

“If you have 100 cameras on one section of an assembly, you are actually seeing in 3D the living, breathing line.”

invisible ai paint gif

The system can tell if a worker’s movements are deviating from the ideal process. (Invisible AI)

Pricing varies by application, but Danzinger said the cost is far less than bringing in a consulting team or trying to accomplish the same work manually, which really can’t be done given the scope of what the system is capable of. 

Since they’re self-contained, installing all the cameras can be done in a couple of days between shifts.

“Our system has become the place you can go to help frontline employees understand the work being done,” Danzinger said.

“There are a million things happening. People are sick, bad parts are coming from suppliers, machines are broken down. … To be able to know what’s going on, what’s the most crucial component to fix, how do I meet my numbers? That’s the most important thing.”

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Invisible AI has collected a roster of a dozen automotive parts suppliers and four original equipment manufactures as clients, including Toyota, which uses the system at a factory in Indiana.

Toyota declined to provide comment for this report, but Senior Engineer Jihad Abdul-Rahim said when the project was announced last year that “Invisible AI is not only helping us find opportunities for improvement on the assembly lines, but we’re also constantly finding new use cases for their technology, such as ergonomics analysis to proactively prevent injuries.”

Invisible AI dashboard

Users can use an app to get an overview or check the status at a specific point in the assembly process. (Invisible AI)

Danzinger said details about its other customers and how they are using the system is confidential and that Invisible AI can’t provide details on their behalf.

As far as privacy is concerned, the system doesn’t have facial recognition technology, and it can blur faces captured on video. But the point of it is to offer direct feedback, so it is not an entirely anonymized analytical tool.

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“Most of what we see is helping workers have a voice and raise their hand to say, ‘This is broken. We need help fixing it,’ and actually getting a response,” Danzinger said.

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