Define the problem:
Manufacturing has been an essential part in building up industries, and has been the main
driver for economies since the industrial age. Over the years manufacturing has evolved from
manual labour into incorporating mechanisation, automation and now heading towards robotics
and artificial intelligence.
However, despite the advancements in technology. The manufacturing industry struggles under
heavy demand cycles, often resulting in higher costs and a loss of revenue. Whilst most
companies would shift to developing nations to build up factories due to a lack of safety laws
and cheap labour. However, this isn’t a concrete strategy as political tensions can cause
disruptions in the manufacturing line as in the case with the US and China, where American
companies were pressured into moving its manufacturing plants either to the US or a US ally
like Thailand.
Robotics and AI in the field of manufacturing has been gaining interest as it can act as a
sustainable alternative to outsourcing.
Existing solutions:
Whilst AI is in its infant years, there are prototypes being developed that incorporate AI into
robotics, specifically in the role of manufacturing. One such robot named YuMi developed by
ABB in China where it was successfully tested, the engineers at ABB used AI vision technology
which helps the robots identify and classify objects with precision. The robots were able to
identify objects with different colors and sort them into the correct box, this is significant as most
robots rely on a fixed program rather than pattern recognition.
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