Next generation robots

March 11, 2014 6:45 am

Tarun Khurana, Sr. General Manager, Yaskawa India Pvt. Ltd. (Robotic Division) explains why the Indian manufacturing sector needs next generation of robots
A new generation of lightweight, smart and high-speed assistive robots to provide small to medium enterprises with new options for improving their competitiveness and meeting the challenges of high costs and shortage of skilled workers. In today’s world industrial manufacturing robots provide many benefits that companies require to remain competitive. The speed, repeatability and efficiency that industrial robots provide can increase productivity and profits, reduce costs.
The robots are not going to create unemployment but work as intelligent tools which work together with human workers. New generation robots assistant for picking, lifting, handling systems, welding, gluers, assembly, painting etc. to enable automation of short-run production processes, and provide a flexible solution to increase efficiency in manufacturing processes. More importantly robots now can work at hazardous workplace such as high-radiation and high-temperature areas which otherwise is difficult and dangerous for human being.Robots are being applied in new projects and in existing manufacturing plants. They provide advantages in terms for improving existing plant efficiencies since they can easily be added to improve operations without redesign of machines and production lines.
The automotive industry has been the leader in use of robots for a number of years but applications are expanding to other industries. Food and beverages is fastest growing industry to increase productivity, lower worker injuries, and meet more stringent hygiene conditions and FMCG for box palletising. The pharmaceutical industry is another industry that has been slow to adopt robots but has pressure to decrease costs, increase production accuracy, and achieve flexible manufacturing.  The worldwide demand for pharmaceutical products is on the rise making this another fertile industry for the use of robots. Another trend driving robot sales is the requirement for flexible manufacturing to satisfy requirements of mass customisation and make to order manufacturing where speed and agility are required.Industrial robots are widely applied in the manufacturing of automobile parts, electrical and electronic appliances, chemicals, machinery, metal processing, of which half are used in the manufacturing of auto parts, electrical and electronic appliances.
The next generation of robots can “see” the workplace using advanced vision systems (including stereo and infrared cameras and multi-modal imaging), high-precision sensors and perception algorithms. In manufacturing it’s going to be a really good collaboration, using the knowledge of people and new generation smart industrial robots.