Never happen for so many reasons it’s hard to know where to start. You are dead wrong on all counts and your software experience confers zero authority on you in this matter.
NONE of the jobs you say can already be done by machines could possibly be done in the cramped confines of a NY/NJ cemetery. Forget moving the stones mechanically because there are OTHER stones flush against their backs. Chip a stone and you’ve bought it.
Forget driving on the graves FORGET IT! Not gonna happen. It is unsafe in terms of grave collapse (I have sunk to my hips in a recently backfilled grave)> AND IT WILL REALLY PISS OFF ALL THE PEOPLE WHOSE GRAVES AND ORNAMENTS YOU CRUSH. Some stones are 500 feet from any road. This monster machine would be off roading on unstable ground.
I don’t care what bike shops have it will not transfer to a cemetery and stone. “Lifting” of the template is a constant problem due to the roughness and contamination of the surfaces. Remediation of this constant problem requires a control so fine and specific NO machine could do it in the field or even in a factory for that matter. But really, putting ALL of the hardware into one unit to do the job would result in a monstrosity that no cemetery would ever let on the property even if it could magically do the job properly.
Sorry but they can. Most of the things I’m pointing out are being already done by machines the machines are shopping cart sized, heavier to be sure, but not that big.
No don’t forget driving on the graves. In relatively short order the whole machine will way less than a thousand pounds, since you can move these 1200 pound stones around clearly that weight won’t be too high. And you won’t be crushing ornaments, we make cars that can park themselves now, avoiding ornaments is another already solved problem. It’s not going to be a monster machine.
Templates won’t actually be necessary, with the stone being carved by a machine the template will be digitized (which is how custom wheels are made in many bike shops now, just draw it in the software, and go have lunch).
Sorry bub, the technology already exists it just hasn’t been put together yet in a way cheap enough and portable enough. Just gotta get this machine:
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/463950505/Gravestone_Laser_Engraving_Machine.html?s=p
mobile and you are replaced. It won’t be a monstrosity. It really is just that easy. sorry this seems to have damaged your ego. The good news is you’ve got at least 5 years probably closer to 10 to learn how to run that machine. Good luck.