A gesture-based robot program building software

With the advent of intelligent systems, industrial workstations and working areas have undergone a revolution. The increased need for automation is satisfied using high-performance industrial robots in fully automated workstations. In the manufacturing industry, sophisticated tasks still require human intervention in completely manual workstations, even if at a slower production rate. To improve the efficiency of manual workstations, Collaborative Robots (Co-Bots) have been designed as part of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. These robots collaborate with humans in safe environments to support the workers in their tasks, thus achieving higher production rates compared to completely manual workstations. The key factor is that their adoption relieves humans from stressful and heavy operations, decreasing job-related health issues. The drawback of Co-Bots stands in their design: to work side-by-side with humans they must guarantee safety; thus, they have very strict limitations on their forces and velocities, which limits their efficiency, especially when performing non-trivial tasks. To overcome these limitations, our idea is to design Meta-Collaborative workstations (MCWs), where the robot can operate behind a safety cage, either physical or virtual, and the operator can interact with the robot, either industrial or Collaborative, by means of the same communication channel. Our proposed system has been developed to easily build robot programs purposely designed for MCWs, based on (i) the recognition of hand gestures (using a vision-based communication channel) and (ii) ROS to carry out communication with the robot

Importance and applications of robotic and autonomous systems (RAS) in railway maintenance sector: a review

Maintenance, which is critical for safe, reliable, quality, and cost-effective service, plays a dominant role in the railway industry. Therefore, this paper examines the importance and applications of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in railway maintenance. More than 70 research publications, which are either in practice or under investigation describing RAS developments in the railway maintenance, are analysed. It has been found that the majority of RAS developed are for rolling-stock maintenance, followed by railway track maintenance. Further, it has been found that there is growing interest and demand for robotics and autonomous systems in the railway maintenance sector, which is largely due to the increased competition, rapid expansion and ever-increasing expense

Human-Robot Collaboration as a new paradigm in circular economy for WEEE management

E-waste is a priority waste stream as identified by the European Commission due to fast technological changes and eagerness of consumers to acquire new products. The value chain of the Waste on Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has to face several challenges: the EU directives requesting collection targets for 2019–2022, the costs of disassembly processes which is highly dependent on the applied technology and type of discarded device, and the sale of the obtained components and/or raw materials, with market prices varying according to uncontrolled variables at world level. This paper presents a human-robot collaboration for a recycling process where tasks are opportunistically assigned to either a human-being or a robot depending on the condition of the discarded electronic device. This solution presents some important advantages; i.e. tedious and dangerous tasks are assigned to robots whereas more value-added tasks are allocated to humans, thus preserving jobs and increasing job satisfaction. Furthermore, first results from a prototype show greater productivity and profitable projected investment

AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs

This report is the latest in a sustained effort throughout 2014 by the Pew Research Center's Internet Project to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee (The Web at 25).The report covers experts' views about advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and their impact on jobs and employment

Humans, robots and values

The issue of machines replacing humans dates back to the dawn of industrialisation. In this paper we examine what is fundamental in the distinction between human and robotic work by reflecting on the work of the classical political economists and engineers. We examine the relationship between the ideas of machine work and human work on the part of Marx and Watt as well as their role in the creation of economic value. We examine the extent to which artificial power sources could feasibly substitute for human effort in their arguments. We go on to examine the differing views of Smith and Marx with respect to the economic effort contributed by animals and consider whether the philosophical distinction made between human and non-human work can be sustained in the light of modern biological research. We emphasise the non-universal character of animal work before going on to discuss the ideas of universal machines in Capek and Turing giving as a counter example a cloth-folding robot being developed in our School. We then return to Watt and discuss the development of thermodynamics and information theory. We show how recent research has led to a unification not only of these fields but also a unitary understanding of the labour process and the value-creation process. We look at the implications of general robotisation for profitability and the future of capitalism. For this we draw on the work of von Neumann not only on computers but also in economics to point to the {\em real} threat posed by robots

Automated construction of lightweight, simple, field-erected structures

The feasibility of automation of construction processes which could result in mobile construction robots is examined. The construction of a large photovoltaic power plant with a peak power output of 100 MW is demonstrated. The reasons to automate the construction process, a conventional construction scenario as the reference for evaluation, and a list of potential cost benefits using robots are presented. The technical feasibility of using robots to construct SPS ground stations is addressed