Automation & Robotics

Across a wide range of industries there is an accelerating shift from manual operations to automated systems, fueled by the drive to enhance productivity and standardize procedures. This transformation has over the past few years been unfolding with remarkable speed in Kalundborg’s industry, where automation is progressively enhancing the manufacturing processes, with new factories integrating high levels of automation from inception. The scope of automation extends to fully automated production lines, deployment of stationary and mobile robots, and collaborative robots, often referred to as 'cobots'. Additionally, vision and sensor technologies are becoming widespread across all facets of production, further driving the technological revolution.

Computer Vision have over the past few years become more and more prevalent in the industry. Among the innovative uses of computer vision in the industry, are the applications in predictive maintenance and product inspection. Together with mobile robotic platforms like drones or quadruped robots (robotic dogs) the applications of computer vision can be greatly amplified, especially when it comes to predictive maintenance.

By equipping the platforms with cameras and specialized sensors they can together with a given route and schedule be used to perform inspection and other duties across a wider area. By levering the versatility of these robotic platforms, the inspection of equipment or machinery in remote, hazardous, or hard-to-access locations becomes significantly less challenging, occasionally even removing the need for a human operator.

While traditional robots have revolutionized the handling and transportation of items within and between factories, the emergence of collaborative robots, also known as "cobots," is reshaping the way workers tackle repetitive, labor-intensive or non-ergonomic tasks. By leveraging the intuitive user-interface provided by cobots, workers can, with minimal training, automate mundane tasks that previously required repetitive movements, extended periods of waiting for the next item in line, or the transport of heavy objects to different locations.

Together with the emergence of more sophisticated AI the way workers are interacting with robotic systems is changing drastically, improving the way they instruct, collaborate and train the new systems to perform increasingly complex tasks. With the rise of advanced language models setting up a task for a robotic system to complete might evolve into a discussion rather that than a lengthy programming task. Moreover, this conversation-driven interaction can open the door to dynamic problem solving and on-the-fly adjustments. Robots enabled with AI could ask clarifying questions when instructions are unclear, suggest alternatives based on previous experiences, or even proactively identify and resolve issues before they develop into bigger problems.