It’s no secret that robotics have changed industries vastly since their introduction into manufacturing plants over the last eighty years. General Motors, one of the leading innovators in industry robotics, introduced robots into their manufacturing facilities in 1962. Since that time, the technology has seen monumental breakthroughs in capability, efficiency, and adoption. However, we are at a pivotal stage in development where we must take a look at the current state of technology to see where improvements can be made. In this ever-evolving world of technology, one must stay ahead of the competition.
Industry 4.0
In this digital age, data collection has become an incredibly valuable tool for assessing efficiency. Efficiency directly impacts profits, so manufacturers are keenly aware of the constant need to improve their current systems. Data is the key to understanding where and how these improvements need to be implemented. Currently, one of the biggest problems with robot in industries are the regular, unscheduled downtimes of integral robotics equipment. It’s been estimated that an unscheduled downtime costs GM around $20,000 per minute. GM, Cisco, and FANUC have developed new cloud-based software, ZDT (Zero Down Time Solution), that uses machine learning to be able to accurately predict mechanical failures before they happen, as well as preventing unnecessary scheduled downtime on machines that are not in need of service. This is saving GM from losing obscene amounts of money. ZDT has proven so effective, they are exploring new ways to revolutionize robotics efficiency in their plants that have never been possible before.
“For example, robots might be designed to have routine scheduled maintenance at 1,000 hours. So we would plan to maintain it at that time,” says Linn. “But it might actually last 1,250 hours before it needs maintenance. So we’re working on getting away from fixed maintenance schedules to instead schedule as needed. This is one of the major ways you can find significant savings going forward.” -Marty Linn, Manager of Advanced Automation Technologies and Principal Engineer of Robotics at General Motors Co.
Fact or Friction?
With a focus in robotics and AI, Kambria’s approach to frontier technologies encompasses every aspect of hardware development, the logic that runs it, manufacturing, and the materials used in that process. All of these separate, but vital, ingredients in the innovation process can be directly developed, sold, shared, and applied directly within Kambria’s Open Innovation Platform. Our open-source approach is designed to significantly reduce the additional effort required in the lengthy process to get from concept to finished product. This includes nearly every aspect of the development process, including where roboticists source their materials from. Removing friction plays a huge role in efficiency, and time is money. That is what robotics in industry 4.0 is all about: efficiency, time, and cost reduction.
While the Kambria vision is quite complex in nature, the goal is very simple: Kambria is building the “go-to” platform for developing new innovations. In an open collaborative environment, many of the difficulties in creating a new product are drastically diminished, if not eliminated completely. Kambria’s approach to industry 4.0 is providing the right tools for the right job, an infrastructure to support it, a global community of innovators to work alongside. This allows innovators to do what they do best: #BUIDL. There truly is no limit to what we can achieve together, so our question to you is: what will you build? #Kambria
The Kambria Team
Telegram (ENG) Telegram (KOR) Telegram (VIE)
Email: info@kambria.io
KAT is sold to be used on the Kambria platform.
