Take a closer look at the impact of artificial intelligence on industrial robots

Robotics technology has a crucial impact on industrial applications. Industrial robots typically help human workers by performing complex tasks. These robots are programmable, mechanical devices that are used to perform tedious, complex, and repetitive tasks with a high degree of accuracy. They are also being used to thwart a worker from perilous work and areas. Despite numerous advances in robotics, the ability of robots to navigate complex environments is somewhat limited. Equipping them with greater levels of intelligence would be game-changing for industries. Artificial intelligence can do this possible.

There numerous industrial robot categories, including Cartesian robots, Gantry robots, SCARA robots, Articulated arm robots, and Human-assist robots.

With the advent of artificial intelligence, many business processes are now becoming automated. Companies across industries using AI technologies in a certain context, making the most of their digital adoption. The arrival of industry 4.0 has prompted a new wave of automation and digitization that will bring far more intelligent and smart ways of doing business, particularly in manufacturing and other industrial environments.

Artificial intelligence can be used to train industrial robots. It has the potential to train several robots at once, reducing the time being spent on training. AI-enhanced robots will be especially supportive to industries experiencing labor deficiencies. For example, in bin-picking, a robot can pick objects out of a bin. This helps human workers to dodge tedious, time-consuming tasks such as sorting bulk orders of parts. With the help of simple annotations and sensor technology, artificial intelligence eliminates the training process required to train industrial robots on how to pick the correct objects out of a bin.

With evolving robotic applications, robots are needed to design adaptable yet robust control algorithms. Through this, they can able to address all possible system behaviors while also the necessity of behavior generalization. This means they can react to unforeseen situations effectively. Deep learning and reinforcement learning are the two most impactful AI types that can address such requirements for robots. These technologies allow robots in an industrial environment to cope with uncertainties, learn behaviors through interaction with their surrounding environments while also enabling them to generalize to new situations.

Companies realize the value artificial intelligence delivers and are now starting to looking over integrating it with robotics. A leading global robotic manufacturer FANUC, for instance, has been leveraging greater connectivity and AI in their industrial robots on multiple fronts. The company, since 2016, has been utilizing their FANUC Intelligent Edge Link and Drive (FIELD) industrial IoT platform for manufacturing. FANUC is continuously introducing new ways of improving businesses’ productivity.

One another robotic company KUKA offers tailor-made automation solutions for businesses. The company applies AI and machine learning in its collaborative robots that make these Cobots more capable of safely working alongside humans. With these technologies, these Cobots can easily be reprogrammed for new tasks.

Above all, artificial intelligence can enhance robots’ capability and intelligence. AI-enhanced robotics can make decisions on their own and fit into the scenario where machines interact with other machines, humans, and the environment.