Manufacturing Robotics Report: Introduction

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The discussion and focus of the field of robotics have often been closely tied to its manufacturing application origins. However, over the past decade, robotics has exploded to include devices that augment surgery, assist with elderly care, lead search and rescue missions and monitor waterways. This report’s purpose is to enable you to be up to date and understand the complexity and depth of robotics, and to help you gain specific insights into the current status of robotics manufacturing.

Over the next five chapters, we will examine the core technologies that make up a robotics project, and we will shed light on the trends and challenges in getting them created. Specifically, we will look at materials, hardware, and manufacturing and then examine several cutting-edge robotics projects to understand the direction of the industry.

Soft robotics and new materials

One of the most exciting areas of technological advancement is in materials. And of particular note is soft robotics. One early example of soft robotics is soft grippers, they are more flexible and can grip a wider variety of items. This makes robots able to perform even more logistic tasks. They are also able to handle delicate and perishable items. This opens up interesting opportunities in agriculture, where the interest in automation is growing fast.

Iterative design and plug-and-play systems

Developing and manufacturing robots for these emerging markets presents new challenges and requires creative thinking. A key factor for consideration is that the users will be much more diverse, as will the situations the robots will be used in. The low-cost factor drives the need for more focus on keeping up with the latest manufacturing methods and to design with them in mind. Here, good support from suppliers and partners are essential as they know their methods best.

The introduction of ecosystems of products that work together around common standards will be incredibly significant in the long term, as it was when the same thing was introduced to computer peripherals. Nowadays everyone expects that whatever they buy and plug in to their computer will just work. Plug and play has indeed fulfilled its destiny. The same thing is about to happen in robotics, automation, and IoT. The trend is moving towards a time when a task can be automated with a solution that "just plugs into" your operation. Even if this is achievable, automating complex production will always be much more complicated.

To sum up, this report will give you key knowledge about the current state of robotics, covering opportunities in new materials, and innovative ways of designing and manufacturing robots. Trends that are expected to be significant are also discussed in this report. Examples of the wide variety of new systems that are currently being developed are also included.