Introduction
Nowadays, a large number of our daily needs are taken care of by robots. With the emergence of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, production processes in factories are increasingly being automated. AI-based robots have sped up the processes in the manufacturing industry, automobile industry, FMCG, electronics industry, medical industry, etc.
What is a Robot?
A robot is a programmable device that is capable of assisting humans or mimicking human actions. A robot may be guided by an external control device such as a remote controller, or the control may be embedded within it.
What is Robotics?
Robotics is an interdisciplinary field that integrates computer science and engineering and involves designing and construction of machines, called robots. Robots are capable of accomplishing various tasks.
How do robots help in manufacturing?
Robots are found in different sectors and industries such as in manufacturing, assembling, production, shipping, handling raw materials, etc. There are more and more manufacturers who are incorporating robotic automation for a wider number of applications.
There are many material-handling tasks such as material transfer, machine loading, and unloading, which are done by robots in the manufacturing industry. Here the robots are designed with grippers that are specifically designed for this purpose.
There are some other fields of manufacturing where robots manipulate a tool to perform a process. Some examples of such applications are spot welding, continuous arc welding, and spray painting. The spot welders in the automobile industry are used to assemble the basic car body. Meanwhile, arc welding & spray paints are applied over the surface.
What are the future applications of robots in manufacturing?
Over the next nine years, robot industries are expected to grow by 175%, which will drive modern technology forward. With time, robots will grow smarter, more capable, and able to handle advanced tasks. With the advancement of technology, robots can currently be programmed to pick up and place items. Collaborative Robots or Cobots are easier to program than industrial robots. They will continue to become safer and their costs will go down as the industry expands and offers more options. The “lights out” production concept and material flows are handled entirely by robots. It is becoming an increasingly common attribute of modern manufacturing.
The increase in the production of robots has made the cost of robots go down. The average robot price has fallen by half and is predicted to go down even further.
How can future robots streamline manufacturing?
Future robots can streamline manufacturing by combining traditional production methods with higher forms of technology, helping factory managers, and business-owners to exponentially increase the production rates and boost their business. There are many jobs that are dangerous and harmful to workers. Robots can power through such perilous work with dexterity and high levels of machine learning-based programming.
As per the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), by 2017, about 2.1 million industrial robots were in various operations worldwide. There are different types of industrial robots: cobots, compliance assembly robots, articulated robots, and automated vehicles, etc.
What is Lights-Out Manufacturing?
It is a manufacturing methodology (or philosophy), which is not a specific process but the industries or factories employing "lights-out manufacturing" are fully automated and require no human presence on-site. These factories are considered to be capable of running with the lights off and only by machines.
The future of robotics
With the passing of time, technology is getting more advanced. The advent of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies is set to make robots more sophisticated and advanced than ever before.
One of the common notions is that more robots will mean less human workforce. Robots taking over various tasks gave rise to this notion. Yes, increased usage of robots will also give rise to 133 million new jobs!
Future of Robotics & Artificial Intelligence
Renowned company McKinsey did an expansive assessment on this topic. They believe that by 2030, one-third of American jobs can become automated. The next generation of robots will utilise AI and automation to streamline processes that were earlier handled by human workers.
Artificial intelligence, digitisation, and automation have already created a disruption in long-standing industries and societies and will keep doing the same. The first and second industrial revolutions were periods of social groups.
The professionals who work in fields looking to automate are still uncertain, but those informed about it will be at an advantage in how they respond to new tech developments. However, those that aren’t going to be replaced in the immediate future will be impacted by others’ jobs being automated.
AI's Impact in Industries
There is no industry that is untouched by AI that performs objective functions using data-trained models and often falls into the categories of deep learning or machine learning. There are some sectors which have started their AI journey but there are others who are still the veteran traveller. Let’s understand these sectors and the effect of AI on them:
Transportation: The feature of autopilot is one such example in aeroplanes but it could take a decade or less to see autonomous cars ferry one place to another on its own.
Manufacturing: There are AI-powered robots as well as cobots that work alongside humans to perform a limited range of tasks like stacking and assembly, and predictive analysis sensors that keep the equipment’s running smoothly.
Healthcare: In the healthcare sector, AI has diagnosed diseases, helped in discovering drugs to speed up and streamline the process quickly and accurately. The virtual nursing assistant’s monitor kept beside patients and big data analysis helps to create a more personalised patient experience.
Education: Gone are the days where books were carried by students as now eBooks have replaced Textbooks. With AI, early-stage virtual tutors assist human instructors even though the COVID pandemic has changed the way the student attends the online classes through MS Teams or Zoom.
Media: Even the media industry is enjoying taking the benefit of AI.
Customer Service: Mostly, the customer service industry has placed AI assistance chatbots to help the customers to take appointments or resolve their queries instantly.
Five Reasons to Use Robotics in Manufacturing
Robots in the manufacturing industry automate repetitive tasks, reduce margins of error at negligible rates and enable workers to focus on productive areas of the operation.
- Robots are often programmed to work 24/7.
- Robots within the producing trade manufactures from material handling to finished product packing.
- Robotic equipment’s extremely versatile and may be customised to perform even complicated functions.
- For nearly each size of the corporate, together with tiny outlets automation are often extremely efficient.
- To stay in the market manufacturers increasingly need to embrace automation to stay competitive.
What are the ways by which Robots Are Used in Manufacturing?
There are following spots where mostly you will find robots performing their tasks in the manufacturing process:
- Material Handling
- Welding
- Assembly
- Dispensing
- Processing
Gripper is an appropriate arm tool fitted to the end of robots. The robots can efficiently and accurately move products from one place to another. Robots can work around the clock beside a small period of downtime on maintenance whereas manual material handling and tending is slow, inconsistent and less productive.
The process of joining the metal piece together with the help of heat and pressure externally is known as welding. Doing this process manually by a technician could lead to serious injury, spoil the metal piece, and disrupt the production process.
The assembling of a mechanical part manually could be tiresome as it is long. Replacing such a system with a robot makes the process streamlined. Moreover, this frees up the human component of the assembly process to focus on quality rather than quantity.
There are processes which require paint, glue, sprays, which need to be applied on the surface of the mechanical parts; the dispensing robots are placed at a strategic point near the path of the product.
There is a certain type of work that needs to be carved by the robots on the finishing products such as carving, polishing, or sawing before being released.
AI Technology
The introduction of fully autonomous bots has improved productivity and reduced production costs.
Advantages of AI Technology
There are various advantages of AI technology in the robotic industry, such as:
- Automatic control
- Demand-based production
- Increased productivity
Types of Robotic Arms
Some of the most popular types of robots or robotic arms used in the manufacturing industries are:
- Articulated
- Cartesian robots
- Cylindrical
- Polar
- Scara robots
- 6-axis robots
- Redundant robots
- Dual-arm robots
- Delta
Industrial Robots
There are different types of industrial robots, based on their usage, such as:
- Welding robots
- Material handling robots
- Palletizing robot
- Painting robot
- Assembly robot
Brands of Industrial Robots
Some of the most popular manufacturers of industrial robots are:
- Fanuc
- Motoman
- ABB
- Kuka
- Denso
- Adept
- Comau
- Kawasaki
- OTC Daihen
Differences between Cobots & Robots
As we have introduced automation to our business, we must know the difference between robots and cobots. Cobots or otherwise known as collaborative robots are designed to work alongside human employees, whereas industrial robots work on their own. A cobot can assist human employees in tasks that can be too dangerous, strenuous, or tedious. Whereas, industrial robots can be used to automate the manufacturing process almost independently without any human help or human intervention.
Influence of AI on our Lives
Let’s understand more about the influence of robotics and AI on our lives from various perspectives. We shall discuss:
- Impact of AI and Robotics on workplaces
- Impact of AI and Robotics on industries
- Impact of AI and Robotics on private lives
Different Types of Industrial Robots
These are the robots that are used in manufacturing as they are automated, re-programmable, and capable of movement along three or more axes. The robots used in manufacturing industries include:
- Cutting Tools
- Fluid cutters
- Milling machines
- Grinding machines
- Power saws
- Presses
- Turret lathes
- Gang drills
- Production millers
Use of Robots
- Manufacturing
- Logistics
- Home
- Travel
- Healthcare
Research Areas in AI
The common research areas in the domain of artificial intelligence are: -
- Expert Systems
- Neural Networks
- Robotics
- Fuzzy Logic
- Natural Language Processing
Trends Shaping the Future of Manufacturing in 2021
Advancement in technology is changing at a fast pace nearly in every industry. Incase of manufacturing industry there are following trends:
Accessible Automation : The trending technologies have made automation more accessible to manufacturers. With the help of manufacturing automation organisations are reducing costs, optimizing workflows, and increasing their productivity.
Mobile Robotics: One of the primary drives is autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Here the robots use mean ultra-sophisticated technology that requires trained roboticists.
Internet of Things (IoT): This helps manufacturers to connect and monitor the various components of their manufacturing units or processes, gaining the insight which was never before possible. This process gives manufacturers valuable data by which they could make a decision to change, optimise, and improve every facet of their manufacturing process.
Enterprise Resource Planning: This technology was in the manufacturing industry for years but now with cloud these are easier to deploy. The ERP system has made different areas of operations to work under one comprehensive system, which helps manufacturers.
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning: AI and machine learning not only means talking robots or walking robots but also a computer system’s ability to identify trends and make logical conclusions to help manufacturers make data-driven decisions.
Supply Chain Technology: Manufacturing trends have seen companies invest in technologies that look after the inventory, procurement, logistics, assembly, transportation, and sale etc. Example, using barcodes, sensors or QR codes to the items allows companies to scan and track parts throughout the process, helps companies quickly to track and check where improvement can be made.
What are Universal Robots?
Since 2005 universal are manufacturing robots that are making a difference in the lives of the customers in ways that matter most to them. Cobots from Universal Robots give the manufacturers an edge over the other manufactured robots as these give advanced robotic automation benefits without any extra costs associated with traditional robots. Although these are difficult to program, they are long set-up, and have shielded work cells.
Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence robots while transforming the world
The pros and cons of making the machines smart and intelligent are:
- AI being a machine doesn't get tired or worn out too soon
- Rational decision-maker
- Applications in the medical industry
- Accurate decision making
- Selfless with no breaks
- Incurs high cost
- Leads to unemployment
- No improvement with experience
- Lacks in creativity
Conclusion
As we have seen, robots have contributed and are working alongside human beings in various industries, factories, warehouses, and laboratories. For businesses, there has been a boost in the economy because they need to stay efficient to keep up with the competition. Therefore, having robots helps employers or business owners to be competitive because robots can do jobs better and faster than humans can.
For example, robots can build, assemble a car, assist in industry and research. With the advancement in technology, there will be new ways to use robots, which will bring out new potential in business.
To conclude, the use of AI and robots in our life improves the way we think and how we explore new horizons, whether it’s space or the ocean. By the next decade, things will happen so rapidly that we will see major changes and innovation. So, hold your horses and fasten your seatbelts to observe the mega innovations coming up.
FAQs
- Will robots increase people's quality of life?
Robots do improve the quality of life and our living standards but at the same time make us dependent on them and also increase unemployment in some cases.
- Will there be robots in 2050?
Yes, it may happen that by 2050 artificial intelligence and smart assistants may dominate the workplace. Everything will be connected to the internet, be smart, and could be controlled by robots.
- What things will the future robots do?
In the near future, virtual reality will enter our homes and robots could be more personalised, interactive, and engaging than ever. We will be able to interact with our home entertainment systems as well.
