{"260261":{"#nid":"260261","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robots are on the move, next stop \u0027agile manufacturing\u0027","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EImprovement is the status quo in manufacturing. Craftsmanship was replaced by mass production in the early 1900s with the advent of the assembly line at Ford Motor Company. Later, lean manufacturing came into vogue via Toyota, which sought to cut costs and streamline production. Now, said Dr. Chih-Hung Aaron King, R\u0026amp;D Manager at DTI Robotics, \u201cAgile manufacturing is the next phase. Agile manufacturing means having the ability to quickly change manufacturing to meet the demands of customers \u2013 demands which are becoming unpredictable.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo make agile manufacturing a reality, he explained, manufacturers are utilizing a robot coworker platform. But robots are expensive and the cost to install and support them increases the costs. For small to medium-sized (SME) manufacturers, especially in the United States, that is a hard pill to swallow. According to Dr. King, U.S. SME production is 50 percent compared to 58 percent in the European Union, and \u201crobots are part of the reason the EU is outpacing the US,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nature of SME manufacturers is to have a low to medium production volume, but with a high product mix and customization. Because of their smaller size, SMEs have limited money for equipment investment and limited engineering staff. This explains why SMEs have not typically incorporated robots into their manufacturing processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDTI Robotics wants to encourage adoption of robots in SME manufacturing. To do this, they are focusing research on developing robots suitable for SMEs. That means the robots must be:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAffordable\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EFlexible to perform a number of tasks\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEasily programmable for factory workers rather than engineers\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey should also require lower set up times and reduce costs related to operation changes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAffordability is a key hurdle for SMEs. To address this issue, DTI has identified three key areas that can greatly reduce the cost of robot deployment: the robot itself, the auxiliary equipment for stabilizing the robot when it is installed, and the software integration. \u201cA company may be able to afford the cost of the robot but not to deploy it,\u201d said Dr. King. \u201cTo work in the factory, it requires an additional 40 percent for the software and another 30 percent to make sure it is stabilized and installed properly.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately, for now, there is \u201cno abstraction of knowledge to translate work into robot language,\u201d added Dr. King. DTI Robotics has developed a Robot Operating System (ROS) for industrial purposes. The ROS pulls data from hardware, provides real-time control, offers simulation and visualization tools, and supports a developers\u2019 community with vast libraries of data. Of course, the ROS has its challenges. \u201cNetwork security is a question,\u201d said Dr. King. \u201cAnd robustness is also an issue. If the system works 90 percent of the time, that means manufacturing is down for 13 minutes. You need at least 99 percent robustness.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlexibility of the robot is also crucial. DTI research has targeted haptic manipulation, reactive grasp vs. planned grasp, and flexibility vs. performance vs. cost. \u201cWe need to look at it holistically to really reduce the costs,\u201d said Dr. King. \u201cIf it costs $100,000, is it plausible to deploy it? Probably not. You have to look at the amount of flexibility versus the cost.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFlexible configurations being studied by DTI will allow users to replace \u201cattachments\u201d on the robot to pick up various types of parts. In addition, users will be able to use a tablet to change the program for particular parts and actions. DTI is also trying to develop a three-finger robot, which typically costs $20,000, for a mere $5,000. Other improvements include using 3D scanning technology on the robot to allow it to conduct random bin picking. This means the robot can scan the contents of a bin to find the part it needs and retrieve it from the bin although there are other types of parts in the same bin.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to reducing costs and increasing flexibility, bin picking \u201chas been consistently identified as a key process for agile assembly robots,\u201d said Dr. King.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. King\u2019s presentation was part of the GTMI Brown Bag Seminar Series, which takes place each Monday between noon and 1 p.m. in the Manufacturing Research Building, Room 114. Students and faculty are invited and are welcome to bring their lunch to the meeting. If you have questions or you want to be added to the reminder list for these events, please contact Tina Guldberg at \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tina.guldberg@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etina.guldberg@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDTI Robotics highlighted robot coworker platforms and the move toward agile manufacturing at a recent Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute Brown Bag Seminar.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"DTI Robotics highlighted robot coworker platforms and the move toward agile manufacturing at a recent Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute Brown Bag Seminar."}],"uid":"27857","created_gmt":"2013-12-11 11:40:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:33","author":"Tracy Heath","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"81951","name":"Chih-hung aaron king"},{"id":"81941","name":"dti robotics"},{"id":"81901","name":"GTMI"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"81931","name":"robot coworker"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETracy Heath\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-5562\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tracy.heath@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etracy.heath@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tracy.heath@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}