When Things Work
Ah to be a research engineer. Challenging problems that seem impossible at first. Then after weeks of work… they still seem impossible. Damn. Idea after idea is had. Each one seems easily more correct than the last. Thinking, scribbling math onto a page, talking with peers, scribbling more math, programming, drinking coffee, more programming, testing, disappointment… back to thinking (hopefully with some added insight). It’s a cycle that plays out daily in the lives of many (see comic).
Then, one fine day there is an idea which seems somehow more precious than the others. Although I remain skeptical this idea seems special and delicate. I take it through the regular motions of thinking, scribbling, and programming and… low and behold! It works! It freakin’ works!
Woah… that’s the rush. That’s why we do it. When that first correctly segmented image comes on screen… when the robot makes that first turn that it should have been making all along… when the simulation finally fits the model. To anyone else its a line around a gray blob, an unimpressive right turn, or a red line and a squiggly blue line that line up, but for us… It’s the ultimate high. Engineers pay dearly for those moments in currency of sweat, frustration, and sleep deprivation, but they are totally worth it.
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