Page 15 - Automated issue 14 - Maintenance matters

MAINTENANCE MATTERS
maintenance
"The ambition is that the robot will be able to decide what the technician's intentions are and chip-in as appropriate at the right point in time," explains Graham Deacon, robotics research team leader at Ocado Technology. This will assist technicians in maintaining the automated warehouses the company relies on to complete orders.”
“As cobots experience more, they will be able to recognise and anticipate issues, alerting humans of any potential breakdowns”
The future
Robots like the ARMAR-6 are changing how we interact with machinery. In the future, this relationship has the potential to grow even more. Artificial intelligence and machine learning allows robots to learn as they work and make their own decisions.
As cobots experience more, they will be able to recognise and anticipate issues, alerting humans of any potential breakdowns. Employees or robots could then carry out maintenance on the machine before it impacts production. This is one of the many ways that manufacturers can improve preventative maintenance in the factory, without the extensive costs of fitting the facility with complete suite of new equipment.
In future, it may be possible to program a cobot to independently complete maintenance tasks across the factory floor. As they are lightweight and cage-free, manufacturers could mount a cobot onto an automated guided vehicle (AGV), so it can freely move around the factory without disrupting human workers.
More technology in the factory could just mean more machines that are at risk of breakdown. However, the growing capabilities of automated technologies such as collaborative robots can improve maintenance processes to ultimately optimise productivity. One day, a robot may be able to fix itself.
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