Purdue University researchers are focused on developing new technologies and platform simulations before they happen to benefit manufacturers and educators.
Purdue researchers are developing technology that would allow workers to easily instruct robots to perform tasks involving objects, machines and other robots. (Image courtesy of Purdue University image/Karthik Ramani.)
A team of researchers from Purdue University, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Indiana University, has received a $2.5-million grant by the National Science Foundation’s Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier program. The team is developing technologies and an associated platform to help prepare factories for the next decade by providing realistic virtual simulation interactions among workers, robots and machines.
“The idea is to create and serve future manufacturing, rather than just trying to fix problems in the present,” said Karthik Ramani, project lead and mechanical engineering professor.
The team plans to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to better connect machines with humans and robots for enhanced communication and collaboration. The simulated factory setting has the potential to help manufacturers assess risks and gains, reduce costs and provide reliable training before the technology hits the manufacturing floor.
“Augmented reality and the Internet of Things would allow robots to extend the mind and hands of a worker, so workers could do much more challenging tasks that robots cannot do, like repairing a compressor, with minimal training,” Ramani said.
The options for these simulations could be far-reaching. The team believes it could include an entire factory, a specific department or even a new workflow process, especially those introducing a robot into the process. Besides helping with processes, these simulations have the potential to pre-train workers on working with robots.
The researchers believe this project could result in developing new kinds of workers who are ready for the smart factories thanks to being taught about design and prototyping with electronics and coding. Eventually, the goal is for what the team develops to not only be introduced into the workplace but also educational settings.
“The hope is that a new generation of technologies, powered by artificial intelligence and augmented reality, can both generate greater productivity growth and complement rather than replace workers,” said Daron Acemoglu, MIT professor of economics.
Besides working on developing technologies, the team is incorporating a broad range of elements that can affect the success of introducing new technologies. Researchers will also study different aspects of how the platform will work including the ways human could collaborate with robots and how skills and labor are transferred with the system.
Interested in learning more about the changing face of manufacturing? Check out Design for Additive Manufacturability and Dreaming & Doing – 5 Trends from IMTS 2018.
