Software and a robotic machine called mGripAI from Massachusetts-based Soft Robotics sorts artificial chicken pieces into packaging trays on the Association for Advancing Automation’s automation conference in Detroit.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
DETROIT – Robots aren’t any strangers to the automotive and logistics industries.
They’re probably the most invested corporations in automation within the US economyusing robots to sort packages, transport goods and help construct vehicles.
But other industries where robotics has yet to take off may be potential investment opportunities and areas of expansion for automation corporations in the approaching years.
These latest areas intrigue Jeff Burnstein, automation industry guru and president of the Association for Advancing Automation. Its trading group represents over 1,000 global corporations in robotics, machine vision, motion control, and motors and related technologies.
Burnstein, who recently received a prestigious award for more than 40 years within the industry, believes that automation and robotics can go a good distance in helping you do “boring, dirty and dangerous jobs” that folks don’t necessarily want to do.
Jeff Burnstein (center right), president of the Association for Advancing Automation, after receiving the Joseph F. Engelberger Award in Robotics for over 40 years within the industry.
Image courtesy of the Association for Advancing Automation
“For those who take a look at what’s driving quite a lot of automation in lots of industries, it is a shortage of individuals,” he said on the sidelines of last week’s automation convention in Detroit.
He said labor shortages, led by the manufacturing industry, are a key driver of automation growth.
Listed below are the three industries that Burnstein says will be next in automation:
Agriculture
The agricultural industry is already testing or using various automated, if not autonomous, technologies to make operations more efficient and safer. It also serves to cut costs
Tractor manufacturer Deere & Co., for instance, offers a collection of automated support features akin to turning and crop line guidance. Deere is working on an autonomous tractor that “sees, thinks and works independently, giving farmers time to do other tasks at the identical time,” according to its website.
Other automated technologies for agriculture include drones that may spray pesticides on crops, remote-controlled tractors, automated harvesting systems, and other data processing and logistics applications.
The Deere 8R autonomous tractor
Deere
Food processing
Picking and sorting chicken parts is strictly the style of boring, dirty, and dangerous task where automation will help, says Burnstein.
At an automation convention, at the least two corporations showcased food sorting robots whose skills included identifying the forms of notches that fit right into a tray for packaging.
Proponents indicate that there are health and safety advantages as well as to performance advantages.
“The machine must not sneeze. He cannot rub his face. Hair cannot run into anything. So it’s really secure. representative of corporations from Massachusetts Cognex Corp. and Soft Robotics, certainly one of the food and chicken parts sorting corporations that also attended the convention.
Tyson Foods employees
Greg Smith | Corbis SABA | Getty’s paintings
in 2021 Tyson’s food has announced it should invest more than $1.3 billion in latest automation capabilities by 2024 to increase efficiency and reduce each labor costs and associated risk – and ultimately provide savings for the meat processor.
Tyson CEO Donnie King told investors last month that the corporate continues to “put money into automation and digital capabilities with opportunities to improve our efficiency.”
He said the corporate has 50 chicken boning lines which are fully automated.
Pilgrim’s Pridecertainly one of the world’s largest chicken producers, has also announced significant investments in automation, including over $100 million it announced in 2021.
Healthcare
Automation in healthcare can be profitable in quite a lot of cases, from transporting goods and private medications to someone’s bed, to cleansing and disinfecting tools.
“You’ll be able to do it with a robot,” Burnstein said. “For those who’re having trouble finding people, this could be a very good solution. There’s quite a lot of stuff like that, after which in fact drug discovery and other applications.”
One notable company currently operating in space is Aethon, a Pittsburgh-based robotics company that has made strides within the healthcare sector with an autonomous mobile robot called TUG. Robots are able to move across the hospital on their very own, According to company website.
According to the corporate, TUG can be programmed to avoid obstacles and even operate elevators.
That is one example of an AMR, or autonomous mobile robot: a style of vehicle that may perform several different delivery tasks, which Burnstein has now called “hot at automation.”