Without Human Help – Artisan Robots With AI Smarts Will Juggle Tasks, Choose Tools, Mix And Match Recipes And Even Order Materials
Glenn S. Daehn, The Ohio State University
Failure of a machine in a factory can shut it down. Lost production can cost millions of dollars per day. Component failures can devastate factories, power plants and battlefield equipment.
To return to operation, skilled technicians use all the tools in their kit - machining, bending, welding and surface treating, making just the right part as quickly and as accurately as possible. But there’s a declining number of technicians with the right skills, and the quality of things made by hand is subject to the skills and mood of the artisan on the day the part is made.
Both problems could soon be solved by artificially intelligent robotic technicians. These systems can take measurements; shape, cut or weld parts using varied tools; pass parts to spe...