Chemical Technology November 2015

Rethinking automation

The automated factory environment was envisioned and built decades ago to meet the needs of manufacturers producing high volumes of mass-produced products. Today, unprecedented change is taking place.

W orkforce shortages and consumer demands for customised products mean manufacturers need to rethink their processes, their met- rics, and even their automation technology strategies. Take the traditional industrial robot, for example. Fast and efficient, these fixed automation solutions deliver the speed, payloads and mechanical repeatability needed for high-volume, low-mix environments. Although they have obvious advantages, they have very real disadvantages for manufacturers with lower-volume, higher-mix environments. While fast and precise, high speed robots are also fixed, expensive, and inflexible. To meet these unmet needs, a new breed of automa- tion has emerged that provides an exciting alternative to fixed automation. This new category is called ‘collaborative robotics’, and it’s changing what’s possible for manufactur- ers of all sizes. This new class of robot has several distinct advantages over its fixed industrial counterparts, allowing it to: • Work safely side-by-side with humans • Perform the simple, repetitive tasks that in the past were difficult and expensive to automate • Allow anyone on the factory floor to quickly train it without needing any programming knowledge • Moveable to enable quick deployment and changeover • Interact with its human co-workers and adapt ‘on the fly’ to changes in its environment • Be incredibly affordable. • If that sounds too good to be true, then it’s time to rethink your idea of production robots.

Baxter: Collaborative, and more Within the automation industry, the term ‘collaborative’ is used to define robots that can operate safely outside of a cage. But, to be truly collaborative, a robot must have the ability to work safely side-by-side with humans, adapt to changes in its environment, and interact with the very people it works beside. Meet Baxter Built from the ground up to address the challenges of to- day’s manufacturers, Baxter is a new breed of collaborative robot that integrates safety, flexibility and interactivity. A smart, collaborative robot unlike any other, Baxter is: • Flexible enough to fit into humanworkspaces. With traditional and other ‘cage-free’ robots, any slight misalignment can wreak havoc on a production line. Baxter is different. With its integrated Robot Positioning System™ and cameras, Baxter responds intelligently to changing workforce condi- tions, whether that’s stopping when coming into contact with a person or adapting to a table being bumped out of alignment. Traditional robots require building expensive work cells. Baxter works with existing workspaces and fixtures designed for human hands by ‘feeling’ its way into a tight fixture. • Programmable ‘ on the fly ’ . Traditional robots require weeks of programming by highly skilled engineers. With Baxter, factory employees ‘train’ the robot by moving its arms and pressing a few buttons. Baxter performs the set task and then can be redeployed for another task. • Continuously innovative. Traditional robots are dumb and inflexible. They perform the same task repeatedly until

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Chemical Technology • November 2015