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Picture the fulfillment warehouse
of the near future. Much like what
is already happening today, robots
will traverse the aisles, picking and
packing goods for shipment. What’s
different in this world is, when one
of the robots detects that it has a
deficiency, it will be able to ask its
mechanical colleague to take over
its tasks while it either troubleshoots
and repairs itself or flags a human co-
worker for service.
This futuristic scenario is quite similar
to what is envisioned for self-driving
cars. In the automotive world,
technologies for vehicle-to-everything
(V2X) communications could enable
cars to communicate with each
other, with traffic signals, and with
other elements in the world around
them. In the industrial environment,
field. Will Industry 5.0 continue these
trends?
A Fresh Perspective on
Industry 5.0
A prevailing perspective of Industry
5.0 paints a picture of environments
where robots and humans are
working together side by side,
each contributing the best of their
abilities. We see some of this now in
our fulfillment warehouse example.
Amazon, for instance, uses more than
100,000 robots in its warehouses
worldwide to move stock and
build orders. The retail giant has
noted that the robots are there to
enhance efficiency in fulfilling tens
of thousands of simultaneous orders.
The machines have the stamina,
but they lack the common sense,
When Robots Can Communicate with Each Other
What Industry 5.0 and Machine-Vision Systems Mean for Industrial Automation
Jeff DeAngelis, Managing Director, Industrial Communications, Maxim Integrated
underlying technologies such as
sensors, processors, power ICs, and
advanced algorithms are paving the
way for factory automation equipment
to do the same.
Industry 4.0 heralded the convergence
of connectivity and intelligence with
manufacturing equipment. On the
one hand, factory automation has
shifted the balance between human
workers and machines. On the other
hand, the resulting boost in factory
uptime and productivity is also giving
manufacturers the choice to re-shore
production facilities closer to their
customers rather than being forced
to place facilities in traditional low-
cost manufacturing environments. In
other words, countries that gave up
on manufacturing now are afforded
the opportunity to re-level the playing
32 l New-Tech Magazine Europe