Agile, flexible and easily re-programmable robots will soon replace sturdy industrial robots enabling more human-robot interaction and transforming manufacturing processes in a way never imagined before.
 |
| Baxter Robot |
Decades ago, industrial robots enabled automation and heralded a new age of productivity, efficiency and less labor. But these robots were bulky, costlier and inflexible. It was dangerous for humans to work alongside these robots. The human-robot interaction was minimal and robots worked in isolation. But now, a new breed of robots are changing that.
Baxter robot is a humanoid robot introduced by Rethink Robotics. Unlike, industrial robots which were used for a dedicated task, Baxter is very adaptive and can perform a number of varying tasks. For example, Baxter packs boxes of different sizes at Rodon Group, a plastic injection molding company. Depending on its application, Baxter can be easily reprogrammed by fellow workers itself in a couple of minutes. Such adaptability will enable robots to perform a number of varying tasks just like a human worker does. Humans can easily work alongside this robot. And it costs only $ 22000 which can be recovered within less than a year.
BMW has already employed this new generation of robots in its automobile manufacturing facility. The factory uses flexible robotic arms manufactured by Universal Robotics and works alongside with humans. Watch the video above to see how flexible, safe and easy to program it is.
In today's business scenario where product life cycle is shrinking and new products are introduced in shorter periods, it becomes to difficult to change production line settings and reprogramming industrial robots can take days or even months. But, this new generation robots can potentially result in companies manufacturing in their home country and reducing outsourcing to economies where labor is cheap.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Speak your mind here.