Slick Silicon Keeps Big Iron Turning
'Lights Out' is a new concept in production, whereby so much has been automated that very little human oversight is required.
Robots have been uses in car factories for many decades for repeated routine procedural work on identical components, programmed directly by a human controller.
Now, advances in robotics in recent years have made robots much more flexible in how they respond to situations. They can now assess a situation and act dynamically, thanks to machine vision systems, as well as machine learning.
For example, robots might provide basic Quality Assurance on a component it receives, with an ability to sort, paint, or fold something based on a range of parameters. Robots have also been miniaturised, and provided with sophisticated manipulators (hands) so that they can work at a range of scales (such as picking up or fitting an individual nut).
Such technologies can help to safeguard human beings from many of the most hazardous and challenging aspects of production labor.
Such systems may run a live simulation as part of their operations. Digital twins are simulated copies of a system located within a virtual environment. Such model versions can be used to explore different scenarios and predictions, thereby increasing efficiency and reliability. Digital twins also enable new ways of troubleshooting difficult problems, to hunt for reasons why a failure or degradation of service may have occurred.
Digital twins could be houses, factories, hospitals, cities, or perhaps eventually the human body.
The pandemic has made formerly benign activities much more dangerous. For example, bus drivers and food processing workers are at tremendous risk of infection, due to working in enclosed spaces, or at low temperatures. Individuals working in such environments have frequently become superspreaders, passing infections caught on the job on to the families and the wider community.
Robotics can help us by taking humans away from dangerous activities, and by providing new ways of doing things remotely. Robotic Avatar technologies are emerging, which can enable one to remotely pilot a robot using a Head Mounted Display, in order to explore or perform work in another location.
The transportation of products is also changing rapidly thanks to these developments. The first autonomous cargo ships are now in operation in canals in Germany, and are coming soon to international waters. On the far ends, ports are now planning to become increasingly automated. Automated Warehousing technologies are already in significant deployment, at least for moving goods ahead. Picking and packing of products is more challenging, but is also beginning to be automated.
Management of inventory and shipping is a significant expense for organizations. By switching to lights-off model, warehousing activities can be done cheaply and efficiently at all hours, enabling greater efficiency and a smaller geographic and energy footprint. Indoor autonomous activities within a predictable and bounded layout, away from the public, are also a great deal safer and more easily controlled than those where a machine might encounter the public.
We are now a entering an age where products will be created, quality checked, packing, shipped, and delivered entirely without any direct human aid or intervention.