Robotic Refactoring the Workplace

For fifty years, robotics has focused on the 3 D’s: dull, dirty and dangerous. Today, robotics extends beyond the 3 D’s and is now entering our day-to-day lives. What has changed for this to happen?

Key elements driving the advance in robotics are faster computing, cheaper and better sensors, and advances in artificial intelligence. The same sensor technologies, Li-ion batteries, and high-speed/low-power computing that are found in smart phones are what separates the small flying drones available at the local drug store from the balsa wood model airplanes of the past.

Mobile computing has expanded access to IT resources, providing world wide access, 24/7/365, to the virtual world of information. Robots are expanding the reach of IT resources and capabilities into the physical world. The internet of things (IoT) connects everyday devices to the internet to enable remote monitoring and control. Robots extend this to include manipulation of the physical world. New sensors and robot designs allow robots to move from behind safety fences and to work side-by-side with people. Collaborative robots are becoming cost effective and can be trained in natural ways such as training by example rather than needing to be programmed.

Collaborative robots are a pathway to increasing worker productivity. They are proving to be flexible and effective even for low volume applications. This new generation of robots is performing jobs like packing and machine tending, freeing humans to focus on the truly skilled tasks. Automation and robotics are also important elements of the recent return of manufacturing jobs to the U.S. An American worker, enabled by robotics, is more productive and cost-effective than foreign labor at the end of a long logistics chain.

The physical motion of the robots is certainly important, but their data collection capabilities may be even more valuable. The robotics group at Sandia National Laboratories implemented a material handling and inventory robot for the Department of Energy. The original motivation was to automate hazardous material handling. The most valuable aspect, however, proved to be inventory control. A robot does not accidently place something on the wrong shelf or makes a mistake in data entry during inventory.