According to robotics experts, robotics have replaced former automation technology. Automation is low tech automation while robotics is high tech automation. The assumption is, that in the 1970s the term automation was used and with advanced computers it was replaced in the 2000s with the term robotics.
Unfortunately, this definition has nothing to do with the reality but it is wishful thinking in which the technological progress never has stopped. What we see in reality is, that automation is everywhere while robotics was never introduced in the factories. Let us take a closer look how a modern factories is working. What we can observe is, that nearly all factories are proud owner of a cnc machine and they have bought the last machine one year ago. Usually the arrival of a new cnc machine is celebrated as an important event for all the employees because it helps them to become more productive. A modern CNC machine has the size of a container and costs a lots of money. From a technical perspective, it's a movable tool for drilling, milling and welding. A CNC machine is the logical extension to an assembly line, it allows to increase the automation level of a factory.
It's important to know that a CNC machine is working different from a robot. A robot is working with algorithm which were developed by Artificial Intelligence experts, while a CNC machine doesn't need software nor algorithm. A CNC machine is located in the same category like a refrigerator, a sewing machine and a fork lift truck. It's primarily a mechanical device.which was invented before the advent of computer technology. Basically spoken from the perspective of microcomputers and software engineering a CNC machine is outdated. In contrast, the factories doesn't think so because CNC machines are used for producing goods and there is no plan to change anything in the workflow.
What is outdated are not CNC machine but the assumption that robotics have replaced CNC automation technology. Robotics is something which is not available today. Robotics is equal to academic robotics in which synthetic challenges are created as an end it itself. Famous example of modern robotics are Nao robots who are playing soccer in the Robocup challenge. This kind of academic competition has no practical purpose but it's used in the curriculum of computer science education.
It's important to make clear, that all the knowledge what students of computer science have acquired about pathplanning, deeplearning and the robocup challenge can't be transfered into the real life. A factory and the capitalism in general have no demand for Artificial Intelligence. What they are preferring are CNC machines.
The only place in which robots were introduced into a factory are marketing videos from robotics company. Rethink robotics has made a lot of clips in which robots were introduced into a factory. They are used to pick&place objects and the Baxter robot helps human employees. The reason why these clips are produced is not because it's a realistic vision for the next 10 years, but a certain plot should be told to the audience. In summary the plot is about successful engineers who have developed robots which increase the productivity in the real world.
Robots have not only failed to enter the production line in a factory but they have failed in other domains like self-driving cars, delivery drones and household robots. The problem is very similar to replacing CNC machines with robots. An objective calculation will come to the conclusion that low tech automation from the 1970s is superior to modern robotics. That means, a human controlled normal car is more cost effective than a self-driving car which runs by a computer. The most obvious proof for this hypothesis is, that all the commercial robotics companies who are trying to sell household robots and dellivery drones have become bankrupt or will so within 2 years. The problem is that today's robots are working different from the expectation. If a customer buys a delivery drone he expects that the drone will increase the productivity. Exactly this feature isn't available. A robotic drone is at foremost an academic project which has no purpose except that phd students can test out new AI algorithm on the device. It's not possible to transfer the technology into real world applications.
The main problem is not, that robotics won't increase the productivity but the problem is, that the awareness for this fact is missing. The first attempt in using robotics for commercial application was made in the 1960s with the Unimate robot. It was obvious after a short period, that the Unimate project failed. No customer was motivated to buy such a robot. They have tested it out and recognized fast, that the costs are too high. Instead of learning from the failed experiments, many repetition of introduction robotics at the workplace were made since the 1960s. Today's engineers are optimistic similar to George Devol that they can handle the technical problem and use robotics to bring automation to the next level. Robotics in the year 2020 works similar to robotics in the 1960's. The engineers have developed and programmed a new robot device, they have printed some marketing information but they didn't understand why nobody likes to buy these robots. They are not able to see, that robots have a social role which can't be overcome. This social role prevents that a robot can be utilized as a tool, but it's always a challenge.
The term challenge means, that a robot helps phd students at the university to develop new AI algorithm and write a dissertation about artificial Intelligence. A robot allows also to create robotics competition in which different teams compete for the best robot control software. The problem is, that a real factory has no demand for a challenge but they are interested in the answer. And exactly this isn't provided by robots. They have much in common with a power machine in the gym. The power machine doesn't provide added value but it forces the athlete to invest something of his own energy into the machine. This makes the athlete stronger.
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