Change is a four-letter word

Citation

Derby, S. (2007), "Change is a four-letter word", Industrial Robot, Vol. 34 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2007.04934daa.002

Change is a four-letter word

People say that change is inevitable; that one cannot stop change no matter how hard one tries. But when dealing with robotics for automated assembly, or practically any other robot application, change seems to be feared and held at arms length with considerable effectiveness. This has been true for several decades now, and it is getting a bit tiresome to the author after being active in this field for almost 30 years.

If one were to ask the person in the street about what their life might be like 25 years from now, one only has to look at the US movie series entitled Back to the Future. The second movie made in 1988 was based on the future world of 2015. Though there were few robots involved in the movie, the center of attention was focused on the automobile, and how it would have evolved to a flying vehicle that was powered by a small nuclear reactor that decomposed one's garbage. Any discussion of the movie by young or old was that all were fairly confident that 2015 would bring these new technologies to the consumer, hopefully making life better.

Granted that the automobile in 2007 has fewer emissions and has more sensors and actuators to improve overall driving quality, we are nowhere near to having cars hovering over highways and buildings. The 2007 automobile is too similar to the 1988 version for one to assume that all of us will fly in our cars in only eight more years.

Similarly, the assembly robot of choice, the SCARA design, has evolved very little since the early 1980s. Yes, motors and controllers are significantly improved, but in terms of robot configurations there is little research and development to note. The single true novel robot design of the last two decades, the Delta configuration marketed by ABB and SIG took years to be accepted, first for the licensing of the technology by the manufacturers and then by the automation integrators and customers. The Delta robot has finally reached a level of proper acknowledgement just as its 17 year patent is due to expire.

The four letter word that embodies the movement towards “Change” is in reality “Risk”. Risk aversion, say by letting the other company invest their money and possibly switching to outsourcing as opposed to capital purchases has limited the overall success of robotics. But this is also found in the stagnation of robot designs. People say that acceptable novel robotic solutions should “look like what the current robots look like,” yet this is likely to be overly limiting and impractical.

The author is on a team of robot designers who have configured several new robot designs. Most recently, a multi- head robot that can move product great distances and have an effective throughput 3-4 times greater than traditional robots while moving at the same speeds and acceleration as traditional robots was shown to an existing commercial robot manufacturer. After a reasonable amount of time to evaluate the design's benefits and tradeoffs, the sole reason to not pursue this new design was that the current sales force did not think that they could sell a robot that did not look like today's SCARA design. The sales force could not “get their hands around the concept” in order to sell it.

So how does the robotic industry and the robotic assembly applications market get past this roadblock? I am not sure. It will take people with open minds to look at new robotic solutions that have greater benefits to move us from this spot. Perhaps the push to raise the minimum wage in the USA will inspire the financial decision makers to revisit potential applications, and when new designs are presented, be willing to take the appropriate risk for the improved performance. But when everyone you meet says “it does not look like a robot” and “show me your 10 to 12 current customer sites that have been running for the last year or so,” no one will take the leap to try anything new. Will robotics ever truly fly and not just stay on the road? Not without a four-letter word now then!

Stephen DerbyRensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Flexible Manufacturing Center, Troy, New York, USA