{"id":96259,"date":"2019-03-19T12:04:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T11:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=96259"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:29:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:29:56","slug":"whats-so-special-about-the-machine-in-the-uls-skybridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/03\/19\/whats-so-special-about-the-machine-in-the-uls-skybridge\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s so special about the machine in the UL\u2019s skybridge?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u2018Randtriever\u2019, possibly the most famous book retrieval robot in the world, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary next week. \u201cIt\u2019s the predecessor to the machines used in present-day distribution centres operated by major companies such as Bol.com and Wehkamp.\u201d The machine no longer retrieves books, but Leen Meijboom has now preserved his \u2018life\u2019s work\u2019 in the form of a museum piece. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Does he have feelings for the machine? That would be a bit of an exaggeration, says Leen Meijboom, 70, but he \u2018definitely had a lump in his throat\u2019 when he found \u2018the rubbish\u2019 sitting in a skip in 2016. 2016 was the year in which the University Library underwent a major renovation. The book retrieval robot, also known as the \u2018Randtriever\u2019 (this is its official name, which Leen uses, too), was no longer welcome in the building. It was no longer cost-effective. \u201cThe students weren\u2019t borrowing enough books. The library was increasingly turning into a multimedia resource centre.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As a result, the Randtriever ended up in the skips, except for three metres\u2019 worth of scaffolding and one robot, which are now displayed in the library\u2019s skybridge. Leen is currently reconstructing three metres\u2019 worth of the machine, which is all that is left of the eight times 35 metres it used to be. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be preserved like a museum piece, to give an impression of the large version that used to be in the library\u2019s cellar.\u201d The machine has been put behind glass and looks like a steel shelving unit with transparent \u2018containers\u2019 that look like ring binders and contain books. A long robotic arm on wheels floats in front of it, affixed to a thick light metal pipe. So why is this machine worth being preserved like a museum piece?<\/span><\/p>\n

Listed machine<\/h2>

The easiest answer to this question is the fact that the university was not allowed to renovate its library unless the machine was included in it like a museum piece. \u201cThe building that accommodates the University Library is part of the Woudestein listed building. The buildings provide an important visual image of post-war Rotterdam and have been named listed buildings by Rotterdam\u2019s municipal council,\u201d says restoration architect Gerard Frishert. \u201cThe Randtriever has been listed since 2006, as well. Therefore, a committee especially established for the purpose stated that the UL\u2019s renovation was contingent on the machine\u2019s being preserved like a museum piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee said the following on the Randtriever: \u201cIt is one of the most notable technical innovations implemented in Dutch libraries.\u201d Thanks to the Randtriever, which could hold up to 220,000 books, students needed only wait ten minutes after submitting a request to borrow a particular book. Ten minutes later the book would be ready to be picked up. Through a complicated system involving conveyor belts and containers, a robot was able to retrieve the book that had been requested. \u201cOver the course of the years, people came from all over the world to see it. People from Bordeaux, India, Russia \u2013 they were all amazed,\u201d says Leen. \u201cIt\u2019s the predecessor to the machines used in present-day distribution centres operated by major companies such as Bol.com and Wehkamp [the Dutch equivalents to online giants such as Amazon \u2013ed.]<\/em>. They use this exact same system, except on a much grander scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

50th anniversary<\/h2>
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cOn 28 March it will be fifty years ago that the supplier Remington Rand started building the Randtriever, the only one ever built in Europe. It was a unique machine back in its day, quite progressive,\u201d says Leen. Due to increasing student numbers and the \u2018tendency to stay open later\u2019, automated book retrieval became an attractive option, according to the university\u2019s cultural and historical exploration of the Randtriever. Leen Meijboom arrived at Erasmus University as a twenty-year-old lad, just thirteen days after the Randtriever itself, to install the book retrieval robot, which at the time was a futuristic and ground-breaking piece of engineering. \u201cIn 1977, the library decided it might be useful to hire someone who knew more about the workings of the machine. So I entered into the University Library\u2019s employ.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He never left. Leen \u2013 checked shirt, brown corduroy trousers \u2013 devoted his entire working life (43 years) to the book retrieval robot. He is called the \u2018founder\u2019 of the machine. But when that is pointed out to him, he says in a hush-now tone, \u201cThat\u2019s a big word.\u201d But he does admit that the fact that he spent forty years working on the machine is special. \u201cIt\u2019s my life\u2019s work.\u201d Apart from that, though, it was just work. \u201cDiverse and a bit of a challenge\u201d, Leen calls his job \u2013 the same thing a police officer or university lecturer might say after forty years on the job. <\/span><\/p>\n

Machine almost abolished<\/h2>

The machine certainly didn\u2019t work properly at once. In its early days, many students and academics complained about it, says Gerard Frishert. The university\u2019s magazine, Quod Novum<\/em> (Erasmus Magazine<\/em>\u2019s predecessor), dedicated many sarcastic articles to the machine\u2019s failures. \u201cIt took an enormous amount of maintenance, and service was interrupted all the time. Basically, it required full-time attention,\u201d says Leen. \u201cIt was a great time for me. We had to find ways to improve the system, which required a lot of a creative thinking. But the university didn\u2019t enjoy it quite as much as we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

It got to the point where the university considered, in 1975, to stop using the book retrieval robot altogether. However, EUR\u2019s then Professor of Computer Science, Koos Verhoeff, wasn\u2019t going to let that happen. He \u2018adopted\u2019 the machine and made it his prestige project. \u201cBeing a computer scientist, he was absolutely fascinated with such systems. He put his best people on it, and a special committee \u2013 of which I was a member, too \u2013 was established to solve the problems,\u201d says Leen. The committee managed to get the system up and running properly again, thus saving it. In the end, Rotterdam was the only place where the system continued to perform properly.<\/p>\n

Digitisation and renovation<\/h2>

Over the years, Meijboom and his colleagues kept fine-tuning and updating the machine. A book-requesting system involving punch cards was replaced by a computer, and the conveyor belt system became more technologically advanced. Leen retired in 2012, but the UL soon asked him to come back and further develop the machine and, eventually, to preserve it like a museum piece. These days he is the only person who understands every aspect of the machine. Leen and one other colleague were the specialists keeping it up and running. The two of them developed the robot and maintained it, and cleaned away every speck of dust on it. \u201cThat colleague suddenly passed away in 2001, which was quite a shock. So the machine outlived its handlers.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Years later, when the UL embarked on its renovation, the decision was made to stop using the Randtriever, after all. \u201cDue to digitisation, students hardly borrow books from the library any more. Most scholarly articles can be accessed on line. So it\u2019s no longer cost-effective to keep the machine up and running.\u201d So once the machine has been preserved for posterity, how will Leen deal with the fact that he has really, genuinely retired? \u201cI\u2019m quite busy with my family and extended family. I\u2019m also active in my local church and a member of several choirs, so I\u2019ll be just fine,\u201d he says with a huge smile.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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