The Messages of Mute Machines: Human-Machine Communication with Industrial Technologies

This essay argues for the designation of industrial and manufacturing machines as technologies of communication. Within communication scholarship, ICTs are synonymous with the word technology. Many of our theories regarding technology are based on human interaction with and through ICTs. However, ICTs are not the only technologies involved in communication. Drawing on scholarship from media studies, human-machine communication, and science and technology studies, I demonstrate how people’s interactions with “mute” technologies constitute communication. Industrial processes could not occur without the exchange of information between human and machine, and these industrial “rituals” between human and machine produce a particular reality for the worker and the organization. I argue that to understand communication in a machine culture in which people are constantly interacting with a variety of technologies, communication scholars must begin to study the multiplicity of machines and devices that are part of our lives

Intelligent Robots

There is an increasing need for integrating sensory feedback into the robot system. This will provide better flexibility and will improve the capacity of the robot to reason and make decisions in real time. This report discusses the current issues related to the development and application of intelligent robots. The report surveys the essential features of an intelligent robot. These features are sensing, off-line programming, task level programming, adaptive control and knowledge representation. Such a robot should be knowledge driven. It should know about objects and work plans, this knowledge should provide the capability for the robot to handle uncertainty in sensory data and to arbitrate between sensors in the event of conflicts

Unconventional cognitive enhancement options addressing structural unemployment in the technological context of the fourth industrial revolution

El objetivo de esta contribución es analizar los efectos en la automatización del trabajo derivados de la implantación de las tecnologías asociadas con la cuarta revolución industrial, y las oportunidades que abren para ciertos programas de mejora cognitiva no convencional. La metodología desarrollada parte de una caracterización del potencial tecnológico asociado con diversas fases del proceso de mecanización y automatización hasta el presente, revisando la literatura que considero imprescindible para entender el potencial diferenciado del ecosistema actual de innovaciones tecnológicas. El interés del enfoque adoptado consiste en integrar tres elementos que suelen encontrarse dispersos en la literatura: 1) el potencial ligado a las tecnologías de la cuarta revolución industrial; 2) diversos análisis del desempleo estructural como fenómeno y tendencia característica de las sociedades contemporáneas; y 3) estudios recientes sobre el progresivo desfase entre desarrollo tecnológico y las dinámicas de adaptación/transformación de los sistemas educativos durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Asumo como hipótesis de trabajo que el desfase aludido se ha acentuado como efecto de la digitalización y la incorporación de inteligencia artificial en el desarrollo de sistemas robóticos, cuyas capacidades compiten ya o sobrepasan a las de trabajadores especializados en muchos tipos de actividad. Descartados ciertos proyectos de mejora cognitiva por los riesgos en su actual fase de desarrollo, considero que la evolución de los indicadores de eficiencia de los sistemas educativos públicos y privados durante la última década justifica el interés por determinados programas de mejora cognitiva no convencionales –intento esbozar uno–, como complemento de los programas de reforma en curso.In this contribution I analyze the effects on the automation of work induced by technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution, and the opportunities they open for certain programs of unconventional cognitive enhancement. The methodology applied starts with a characterization of the technological potential associated with several stages in the process of mechanization and automation to the present day, reviewing the basic literature in order to better understand the specific potential of the last innovations. This approach allows a more consistent integration of three elements often found scattered in the literature: 1) the potential linked to technologies of the fourth industrial revolution; 2) some studies and reports about the structural unemployment, as a phenomenon and trend that characterizes contemporary societies; and 3) recent studies on the progressive gap between technological development and the dynamics of adaptation/transformation of educational systems during the second half of the twentieth century. As a working hypothesis, I consider that the gap referred has increased as a result of digitization and incorporation of artificial intelligence in the development of robotic systems, in some cases with capacities that compete or exceed those of skilled workers in many activities. Discarded certain attempts of cognitive enhancement for the risks in its current phase of development, I argue that the evolution of indicators of efficiency in public and private educational systems over the last decade justifies the interest in unconventional cognitive enhancement programs -and I try to outline one-, as a complement to the ongoing reforms.- Grupo de investigación Antropología y Filosofía (SEJ-126). Universidad de Granada. - Área de Antropología Social. Universidad de Jaén. - Laborarorio de Antropología Social y Cultural (HUM-472). Universidad de Almería. - Departamento de Filosofía II. Universidad de Granada

Positioning and trajectory following tasks in microsystems using model free visual servoing

In this paper, we explore model free visual servoing algorithms by experimentally evaluating their performances for various tasks performed on a microassembly workstation developed in our lab. Model free or so called uncalibrated visual servoing does not need the system calibration (microscope-camera-micromanipulator) and the model of the observed scene. It is robust to parameter changes and disturbances. We tested its performance in point-to-point positioning and various trajectory following tasks. Experimental results validate the utility of model free visual servoing in microassembly tasks

Robótica e inteligencia artificial: impacto en los nichos de empleo y en los sistemas de formación

Conferencia invitada. Semana de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (19/03/2018). CEIP Tínar, Albolote (Granada).En esta conferencia se hace un recorrido por las tecnologías que determinaron el impacto social de las tres primeras revoluciones industriales y su relación con la evolución de los sistemas de formación hasta finales del siglo XX. Tras analizar su impacto en los nichos masivos de empleo, se destacan los elementos que caracterizan la cuarta revolución industrial y se valoran las conclusiones de diversos estudios e informes que coinciden en pronosticar transformaciones importantes que determinarán la evolución del desempleo estructural en las sociedades tecnológicamente avanzadas. La conclusión destaca el progresivo desfase entre la evolución tecnológica en sectores estratégicos y la que cabe esperar de los sistemas de formación en todos sus niveles.This talk is a brief version of a more extensive analysis focused on technologies with significant social impact in the first three industrial revolutions, in association with the evolution of educational systems during the 20th century and its impact on the massive employment niches. Some characteristic elements of the fourth industrial revolution are considered, under the perspective of several reports in which those elements could determine the evolution of structural unemployment in technologically advanced societies. The conclusion highlights the progressive gap between technological developments in strategic sectors and the expected transformation of educational systems

Synchronization of optical and robotic coordinate system

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá synchronizací souřadného systému průmyslových robotických manipulátorů od společnosti KUKA a optického systému od společnosti Keyence. V první části diplomové práce se věnuji teoretické rovině této oblasti. Ve zbylé části práce popisuji konkrétní návrh aplikace s použitím průmyslového robota a optického systému včetně analýzy navrhnutého řešení a ověření stability aplikace.This diploma thesis deals with the synchronization of the coordinate system of industrial robotic manipulators from the company KUKA and the optical system from the company Keyence In the first part of the diploma thesis I deal with the theoretical level of this area. In the remaining part of the work I describe the specific design of the application using an industrial robot and optical system, including the analysis of the proposed solution and verification of the stability of the application.638 - Katedra automatizace a počítačové techniky v průmysluvýborn

Design of Protocols for Task Administration in Collaborative Production Systems

Customer-focused and concurrent engineering service systems process tasks more effectively as a result of the power of collaboration among multiple participants. In such environments, however, complex situations might arise that require decisions beyond simple coordination.Task Administration Protocols (TAPs) are designed as a control mechanism to manage complex situations in collaborative task environments. This article presents the design of TAPs for collaborative production systems in which tasks are performed by the collaboration of multiple agents. Three component protocols are found to constitute TAPs and are triggered at appropriate stages in task administration: 1) Task Requirement Analysis Protocol, 2) Shared Resource Allocation Protocol, and 3) Synchronization & Time-Out Protocol. A case study with TAPs metrics for task allocation in a collaborative production system is investigated to compare performance under TAPs, and under a non-TAP coordination protocol (which is considered to be simpler). In terms of task allocation ratio, the case study indicates that performance under TAPs is significantly better (up to 10.6%) than under the non-TAP coordination protocol, especially under medium or high load conditions. The advantage of TAPs can be explained by their design with relatively higher level of collaborative intelligence, addressing more complex control logic compared with non-TAP coordination protocols