New-Tech Europe | February 2019

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

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,

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

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,

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