Manufacturing Automation

Robotics in Manufacturing
Definition of industrial robots: An industrial robot is defined as an
automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator
programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or
mobile for use in industrial automation applications1.

Motivational factors for using robots in industries:

 Hazardous work for humans: Robots are used in hazardous work
environments, such as die casting, spray painting, arc welding, and
spot welding, to ensure worker safety.
 Repetitive work cycle: Robots are effective in tasks with repetitive
work cycles, providing greater consistency and repeatability compared
to human workers.
 Difficult handling for humans: Robots can handle heavy or difficult-
to-manipulate parts and tools, reducing the physical strain on human
workers.
 Multi-shift operation: Robots are cost-effective in operations
requiring second and third shifts, as they can replace two or three
workers, providing faster financial payback.
 Infrequent changeovers: Robots are easier to justify for long
production runs with infrequent changeovers, as they reduce non-
productive time associated with workplace changes1.
Applications of robots in industries:
 Material Transfer: This includes pick-and-place operations,
transferring parts between conveyors, palletizing, depalletizing,
stacking, and insertion operations.
 Machine Loading and/or Unloading: Robots are used to load and
unload production machines, such as die casting, plastic molding,
metal machining operations, forging, press working, and heat-
treating1.
Robot mechanical gripper types:
 Interchangeable fingers for different parts
 Sensory feedback for presence detection and limited force application
 Multiple-fingered grippers with human-like anatomy
 Standard gripper products for off-the-shelf solutions1.
Robot accuracy and repeatability:
 Accuracy: The robot's ability to position the end of its wrist at a
desired location in the work volume.
  Repeatability: The robot's ability to position its end-of-wrist at a
previously taught point in the work volume. Variations in repeatability
are due to mechanical errors1.
Types of robotic configurations:
 SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm): Used for
insertion-type assembly operations in a vertical direction.
 Cartesian coordinate robot (gantry robot, rectilinear robot, or
x–y–z robot): Consists of three orthogonal joints for linear motions in
a three-dimensional rectangular work space, commonly used for
overhead access to load and unload production machines.
 Delta robot: An unusual design with three articulated arms attached
to an overhead base, used for high-speed pick-and-place operations in
a small workspace1.
Image analysis and understanding in robotics:
 Image analysis involves converting analog signals to digital form,
dividing the image into pixels, and storing the respective grey-level
values in a memory matrix (picture matrix).
 Edge detection is used to locate the edges of an object in order to
construct drawings of the object within a scene, leading to image
understanding

Overview on Automation :
Automation refers to a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes. It has
been achieved by various means including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic
devices, and computers. There are different types of automation including artificial neural network,
human machine interface, robotic process automation, supervisory control and data acquisition
(SCADA), programmable logic controller (PLC), and robotics. Automation can also be classified as: (1)
fixed automation, (2) programmable automation, and (3) flexible automation. Robots exhibit varying
degrees of autonomy. Autonomy means to be independent and able to govern oneself. It is different
from automation, which performs a sequence of highly structured pre-programmed tasks. Industrial
autonomy is where plant assets and operations have learning and adaptive capabilities that allow
responses with minimal human interaction. Some companies are transitioning from industrial
automation to industrial autonomy. The main advantages of automation are:
 Increased throughput or productivity
 Improved quality
 Increased predictability
 Improved robustness (consistency) of processes or product
 Reduced direct human labour costs and expenses
 Reduced cycle time
 Increased accuracy
 Relieving humans of monotonously repetitive work
 Required work in development, deployment, maintenance, and operation of auto
The main disadvantages of automation are :
 High initial cost
 Faster production without human intervention can mean faster unchecked production of defects
 Scaled-up capacities can mean scaled-up problems when systems fail  Human adaptiveness is often
poorly understood by automation initiators
 People anticipating employment income may be seriously disrupted by others deploying automation
 Current technology is unable to automate all the desired tasks
 Many operations using automation have large amounts of invested capital and produce high volumes
of product
Manufacturing Applications
Robotic automation can be applied into many different areas in manufacturing. The most
common ways robotic automation is used in manufacturing include the following:
 Automotive Industry: This is the largest user of robots in advanced nations around the
world. In particular, it is the largest customer of industrial robots. Robots are more
efficient, accurate, flexible, and dependable on production lines. Robotic automation
has allowed the automotive industry to remain one of the most automated supply
chains globally. Different ways that robots are helping automotive manufacturers
improve their automation processes include robotic vision, spot and arc welding,
assembly, painting, sealing and coating, machine tending and part transfer, materials
removal, and internal logistics [12]. A typical automotive manufacturing is shown in
Figure 3 [13].
  Electronics Manufacturing: Electronics manufacturing is increasingly becoming
complex as the size of components and circuits continue to shrink. Robotic
automation has great potential in the manufacturing of today’s sophisticated electronic
devices and products. It applies to almost all the stages in the electronics production
cycle. It delivers a wide range of cost, quality, flexibility, and safety benefits. Typical
functions include material and component handling, assembly lines, etching,
inspections, soldering, and visual and physical testing, component fabrication, pick
and place, assembling miniature components on PCBs, applying adhesives,
inspections, and packaging. Robots with arm-mounted cameras can visually inspect
electronics assemblies. Figure 4 shows how a robot is used in electronic
manufacturing [14].

References
[1]. A. Bharadwaj and M. A. Dvorkin, ―The rise of automation: How robots may impact
the U.S. labor market,‖ July 2019, https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-
economist/second-quarter- 2019/rise-automation-robots
[2]. R. D. Davenport, ―Robotics,‖ in W. C. Mann (ed.), Smart Technology for Aging,
Disability, and Independence. John Wiley & Sons, 2005, Chapter 3, pp. 67-109.

[3]. M. N. O. Sadiku, S. Alam, and S.M. Musa, ―Intelligent robotics and applications,‖
International Journal of Trends in Research and Development, vol. 5, no. 1, January-
February 2018, pp. 101-103.
[4]. ―Robotics,‖ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotics
[5]. L. Calderone, ―Robots in manufacturing applications,‖ August 2016,
https://www.manufacturingtomorrow.com/article/2016/07/robots-in-manufacturing-
applications/8333
[6]. ―Automation,‖ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automation [7]. ―IA2IA,‖
https://www.yokogawa.com/us/solutions/solutions/ia2ia/
[8]. ―5 Robots changing manufacturing forever,‖ June
2020, https://www.robotshop.com/community/blog/show/5-robots-changing-
manufacturing-forever
[9]. ―Robotics in manufacturing,‖
https://www.acieta.com/why-robotic-automation/robotics-manufacturing/ [10]. ―How are
robots used in the manufacturing industry?‖
https://www.maderelectricinc.com/blog/how-are-robots-used-in-the-
manufacturing-industry [11]. ―Robotic industry news,‖
https://www.robots.com/articles/arc-welding-101
[12]. ―7 Key robot applications in automotive manufacturing,‖
https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/manufacturing/7-key-robot-applications-
in-automotive- manufacturing/
[13]. ―Robots in automotive manufacturing: Top 6 applications,‖
https://www.genesis-systems.com/blog/robots-automotive-manufacturing-top-6-
applications [14]. A. Kingatua, ―Robots and automation in electronics
manufacturing,‖ March 2020,
https://medium.com/supplyframe-hardware/robots-and-automation-in-electronics-
manufacturing- a77f177585eb
[15]. ―Manufacturing applications of automation and robotics,‖
https://www.britannica.com/technology/automation/Manufacturing-applications-of-
automation-and- robotics
[16]. T. Higgins, ―How robotic processing automation will change in 2021,‖ March

Robotics and Automation Technologies: Robotics and automation technologies are at the
forefront of industrial advancements, transforming various sectors by introducing intelligent systems
and processes. These technologies encompass a range of disciplines and components that enable the
automation of tasks and the integration of robotic systems. Here are some key aspects to explore
within the realm of robotics and automation technologies:
A. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning:
AI in Robotics: The integration of AI enables robots to perceive, reason, and make intelligent
decisions. It includes techniques such as natural language processing, computer vision, and
machine reasoning.
Machine Learning in Robotics: Machine learning algorithms allow robots to learn from data and
improve their performance over time. This includes supervised learning, unsupervised learning,
and reinforcement learning techniques
B. Computer Vision and Perception: International Journal of Research Publication and
Reviews, Vol 4, no 7, pp 1555-1560 July 2023 1556 Computer Vision: Computer vision
enables robots to extract information from visual inputs, such as images and videos. It involves
tasks like object detection, recognition, tracking, and scene understanding.
Perception Sensors: Sensors such as cameras, lidar, depth sensors, and 3D scanners provide
robots with visual perception capabilities, facilitating navigation, object manipulation, and
interaction with the environment.
C. Motion Planning and Control:
Motion Planning: Algorithms and techniques for generating collision-free paths and trajectories
for robots to move from one point to another. It includes methods like sampling-based planning,
optimization-based planning, and probabilistic roadmaps.
Robot Control: Control strategies for precise and coordinated movement of robot joints or end-
effectors. This involves techniques like PID control, adaptive control, and force control.
D. Human-Robot Interaction:
Collaborative Robotics: The development of robots designed to work alongside humans,
enabling safe and efficient collaboration. This involves physical human-robot interaction, shared
workspace planning, and collaborative task allocation. User Interfaces

OVERALL ARCHITECTUAL DIAGRAM

 HUMAN-ROBOT COLLABORATION

Human-robot collaboration refers to the cooperation and interaction between humans and
robots in various tasks and domains. It involves the integration of human skills, intelligence,
and decision-making with the capabilities of robots, such as physical strength, precision, and
computational power. The goal of human-robot collaboration is to combine the strengths of
both humans and robots to enhance productivity, efficiency, safety, and overall task
performance.

Different forms of human-robot collaboration, including:

1. Coexistence: Humans and robots work side by side in the same workspace, performing
different tasks but sharing the same environment. For example, in manufacturing settings,
robots can handle heavy lifting and repetitive tasks, while humans focus on complex
decision-making and fine motor skills.

2. Cooperation: Humans and robots work together on the same task, sharing responsibilities and
coordinating their actions. This requires communication and coordination mechanisms to
enable effective collaboration. An example of cooperation is a surgical robot assisting a
human surgeon during an operation.

3. Coordination: Humans and robots work on separate tasks but need to coordinate their
activities to achieve a common goal. This often requires shared information and synchronized
actions. For instance, in warehouse operations, robots can autonomously navigate and
transport items, while humans oversee the overall process and provide high-level instructions.
Advantages of human-robot collaboration include:

 Increased productivity: Robots can perform repetitive, monotonous tasks with high precision
and speed, freeing up humans to focus on more complex and creative aspects of work.
 Improved safety: Robots can handle hazardous or physically demanding tasks, reducing the
risk of injury to humans. Collaborative robots are designed to work safely alongside humans,
employing sensors and algorithms to detect and respond to human presence.
 Enhanced efficiency: Humans and robots can complement each other's strengths, combining
human intuition, adaptability, and decision- making with the speed and accuracy of robots.
 Flexibility and adaptability: Human-robot collaboration allows for easy task switching and
adaptation to changing requirements. Robots can be reprogrammed or reconfigured to
perform different tasks, while humans can provide the necessary guidance and expertise.
 Challenges in human-robot collaboration include:
 Communication and interaction: Ensuring effective communication between humans and
 robots, including natural language understanding, gesture recognition, and intuitive
interfaces, remains a complex challenge.
 Task allocation and coordination: Determining how tasks should be divided between
humans and robots, and developing algorithms for coordinating their actions, requires
careful planning and system design.
 Ethical and social considerations: As robots become more integrated into human
environments, issues such as job displacement, privacy, and the ethical use of robotic
technology need to be addressed.

References:

Khatib, O. (1986). Real-time obstacle avoidance for manipulators and mobile robots. International

Journal of Robotics Research, 5(1), 90-98. Siciliano, B., & Khatib, O. (2008). Springer Handbook of

Robotics. Springer.

Kim, S., & Kanade, T. (2013). Vision-based localization for mobile robot navigation: A survey. IEEE
Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 35(3), 611-626.

Asada, H., & Slotine, J. J. E. (1986). Robot analysis and control. John Wiley & Sons.

Lee, D. H., & Chang, P. H. (2014). Human-robot collaboration in a manufacturing environment using visual
servoing. International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 15(5), 929-937.

Rocco, P., Aragues, R., & Sigaud, O. (2017). Deep reinforcement learning for robotic manipulation with
asynchronous off-policy updates. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2(2), 500-507.

Xu, Y., Li, X., & Chai, T. (2020). Robotic assembly and automation of printed circuit boards: A review. Robotics
and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 64, 101955.

Quigley, M., Gerkey, B., Conley, K., Faust, J., Foote, T., Leibs, J., ... & Ng, A. Y. (2022). ROS: an open-
source Robot Operating System. In ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software.

Zhang, Q., Liu, Q., Jiang, A., & Zhang, Z. (2021). Mobile robot path planning for industrial applications: A
survey. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 144, 103700.

Yang, C., Zhang, D., Lu, Y., Wei, X., & Luo, Z. (2021). An intelligent robot for industrial automation: A
systematic review. Robotics and Computer- Integrated Manufacturing, 49, 215-225.

THE NEED FOR FASTER PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH

The global economy is in need of a technology “shot in the arm”—of the kind the world
experienced in the 1950s and early 1960s with electromechanical and materials innovations
(steel, chemicals, plastics, etc.), and again in the 1990s with ICT innovations (personal
computing, the Internet, broadband, etc.). Indeed, the global economy is in a productivity slump.
The Conference Board found that change in gross domestic product (GDP) per person employed
 has slowed from 2.6 percent per year from 1999 to 2006 to around 2 percent per year from 2012
to 2014.3 Most of this decline has occurred in developed economies: Productivity growth in the
EU, Japan, and the United States fell by more than half after 2007, compared with the period
from 1999 to 2006. And from 2005 to 2015, the world’s poorest nations (with gross national
income per capita of less than $9,000 seeing labor productivity growth of just around 3 percent
annually, a relatively low rate given productivity catch-up is easier for lagging economies).
Faster productivity growth in many functions and industries that involve moving or transforming
physical things will be spurred by better and cheaper robots. Robots are already driving
productivity.4 Investment in robots contributed to 10 percent of GDP growth per capita in
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1993 to 2016,
and there is a 0.42 correlation between a country’s wage-adjusted manufacturing robot adoption
(see below) and growth in productivity between 2010 and 2017.

PATTERNS OF NATIONAL ROBOT ADOPTION

Even with these challenges, these next-production-system technologies are being developed and,
in a growing array of cases, are already in use. One of these is robotics. As such, a critical
question is how nations compare in robot adoption. The most commonly used metric is the
number of industrial robots as a share of manufacturing workers. According to IFR, the global
average for industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers grew from 66 in 2015 to 85 in
2017.15 South Korea was the world’s most advanced adopter with 710 robots per 10,000 workers;
Singapore, Germany, Japan, and Sweden followed. The United States ranked seventh with 200
industrial robots per 10,000 workers. Russia and India ranked last with just 4 and 3 robots per
10,000 workers, respectively. (See figure 1.)

There is a stronger economic case for adopting robots in higher-wage economies than in lower-
wage economies because investments in robots are often justified by how much they save in
labor costs. This is why the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimated labor cost savings from
robotics are considerably lower for developing nations.16 So, the more germane question is:
Where do nations stand in robot adoption when taking wage levels into account? 17 To assess this,
the estimated time of payback (in months) from installing a robot must be calculated. 18
Comparing the ranking of expected robot adoption given differences in compensation levels to
actual rates, several patterns emerge. First, East Asian nations lead, occupying six of the top
seven positions in the ranking: Korea leads with 2.4 times more robots adopted than expected,
while Singapore, China, Thailand, and Taiwan follow. Japan ranks seventh. In contrast,
Commonwealth nations lag behind significantly, with Canada ranking 14th (44 percent below
expected adoption rates), the United Kingdom 23rd (73 percent below), and Australia 24th (80
percent below). (See figure 2.)
 Figure 1: Robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers, 2017

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
Austria

UK
Slovenia
US
Korea

Australia
France
Japan

Netherlands
Taiwan

Canada

Switzerland
Belgium

Finland

Thailand
Denmark

Average
Italy
Singapore

China
Germany

Czech Rep.
Sweden

Spain

Mexico
References:

1. International Federation of Robotics, “Robot Density Rises Globally,” news release, February 7, 2018,
https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/robot-density-rises-globally.
2. Scott Kennedy, “Protecting America’s Technology Industry From China,” Foreign Affairs, August 2,
2018, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-08-02/protecting-americas-technology-industry- china.
3. The Conference Board, “The Conference Board Total Economy Database,” accessed March 9, 2016,
https://www.conference-board.org/retrievefile.cfm?filename=The-Conference-Board-2015- Productivity-
Brief-Summary-Tables-1999-2015.pdf&type=subsite.
4. For example, see George Graetz and Guy Michaels, “Robots at Work” (Centre for Economic
Performance, 2015), http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1335.pdf.
5. Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), “The Impact of Automation” (CEBR, 2017),
https://cebr.com/reports/new-study-shows-u-s-is-world-leader-in-robotics-
automation/impact_of_automation_report_23_01_2017_final/; The Conference Board International Labor
Comparisons Program, https://www.conference-board.org/signin/?page=https percent3A percent2F.
6. Graetz and Michaels, “Robots at Work.”
7. Ibid.
8. Institute for Employment Research, CEPR, and Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics,
“German Robots–The Impact of Industrial Robots on Workers,” 2017.
9. Michael Koch, Ilya Manuylov, Marcel Smolka, “Robots and Firms” (working paper, CESifo, April
2019), https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp7608.pdf.
10. Daniel Castro and Josh New, “The Promise of Artificial Intelligence” (Center for Data Innovation,
October 2016), http://www2.datainnovation.org/2016-promise-of-ai.pdf.
11. Stephen Ezell, “Why Manufacturing Digitalization Matters and How Countries Are Supporting It”
(Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, April 2018),
https://itif.org/publications/2018/04/12/why-smart-manufacturing-matters-and-how-countries-are- supporting-
 it.
12. Daniel Bentley, “Why Ford Won’t Rush an Autonomous Car to Market,” Fortune, December 6, 2017,
http://fortune.com/2017/12/06/ford-autonomous-cars/.
13. Rodney Brooks, “My Dated Predictions,” Rodney Brooks, January 1, 2018),
https://rodneybrooks.com/my-dated-predictions/.
14. Ibid.
15. International Federation of Robotics, “Robot Density Rises Globally,” news release, February 7, 2018,
https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/robot-density-rises-globally.
16. The Boston Consulting Group, “The shifting Economics of Global Manufacturing,” February 2015,
https://www.slideshare.net/TheBostonConsultingGroup/robotics-in-manufacturing.
17. This was from both the International Labor Organization and the Conference Board; “Labour Costs,”
accessed October 23, 2018, https://www.ilo.org/ilostat/faces/oracle/webcenter/portalapp/pagehierarchy/
Page3.jspx?MBI_ID=443&
_afrLoop=2316899372413622&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=ovyeuluap_1#! percent40 percent40
percent3F_afrWindowId percent3Dovyeuluap_1 percent26_afrLoop percent3D2316899372413622
percent26MBI_ID percent3D443 percent26_afrWindowMode percent3D0 percent26_adf.ctrl-state
percent3Dovyeuluap_57; “International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing, 2016
- Summary Tables,” The Conference Board, accessed October 23, 2018,
https://www.conference-board.org/ilcprogram/index.cfm?id=38269#Table2.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SERBIA?

According to the WEF’s survey [3], by 2020 five mil- lion workplaces could be lost due to using
digitalization in industry of modern countries. Also, it will quickly stop the market demand for the
products created by out- dated technologies due to lack of quality and such pro- duction would have to
be shut down due to high costs and inefficiency. If applied, the digitization will have a significant
impact on the industries of developing coun- tries like Serbia. First of all, there must be a change in the
“way of thinking”, followed by education of all employ- ees, from managers to the production line
workers. Ac- cording to Mrs. Mocan [17] there are four main reasons why developing countries need
digitalization:
1. Government inefficiency and poor service delivery;
2. Increasing the digital skills gap between modern and developing industries;
3. Decrease of corruption - A study by Suffolk Uni- versity found that as the use of information
and communication technology by governments in- creases so corruption decreases;
Digitalization is not the possibility anymore; it is the necessity of the modern world.
 WHAT MAKES INDUSTRY 4.0 HAPPEN?

1. Networked systems provide connectivity for local decentralized information processing;

2. Progressive miniaturization allows for small, low- cost and high-performance sensors
and actua- tors;
3. Auto-ID for customized product manufacturing creates unique identification and links
to the vir- tual world;
4. Intelligent field devices using software that allows for the global dynamic distribution of
functional- ity is an integral part of the system integration;
5. Mobile Device Management (MDM): man-ma- chine interfaces for intuitive
operation of com- plex systems without special training.

Image 9. The Industry 4.0 factor organizes itself based on a network of communication-capable com-
ponents [9]

REFERENCES

[1] Industrie 4.0, 31.03.2016. http://www.converting- systems.com/en/content/42-

industrie-40
[2] Robotai gamyklose formuoja ketvirtosios industri- jos principus, 31.03.2016.
http://robotika.lt/robotai- gamyklose-formuoja-ketvirtosios-industrijos-prin- cipus/
[3] Industry 4.0. How to navigate digitalization of the manufacturing sector, 31.03.2016.
https://www.mckinsey.de/sites/mck_files/files/ mck_industry_40_report.pdf
[4] “Industry 4.0” ili reindustrijalizacija Evrope, 31.03.2016.
http://www.novimagazin.rs/ekonomija/ industry-40-ili-reindustrijalizacija-evrope
[5] Industry 4.0. Opportunities and challenges of the industrial internet, 31.03.2016.
http://www.strateg- yand.pwc.com/media/file/Industry-4-0.pdf
[6] DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY
DEPARTMENT A: ECO- NOMIC AND SCIENTIFIC POLICY Industry 4.0,
31.03.2016. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/570007/IPOL_STU (2016)570007_EN.pdf
Automated robotic handling:

A key factor in automated handling for forges is the use of robots and the following
section places this in context.
The British Automation and Robot Association (BARA)
[11] publishes an annual review on robot use based on feedback from 40 leading suppliers
[12] which reports that the market is dominated by automotive applications, and recent
statistics sug- gest there are 25,000 robots in service though the international federation
suggests that only half of these are less than 12 years old. Even though the market is
dominated by automotive appli- cations, trends since 2005 indicate that other sectors are
becom- ing progressively more important. However the use of robotics in forging and is
one that is increasing from a relatively low level depending on category definition (see
Figure 1) and the non-automotive applications have continued to grow.
It is estimated that 75% of installed robots are of the 6 axis type (BARA-2009) figures,
although these can also be mounted on rails or hang from a track with over 90% of the 460
instal- lations in 2009 being priced at between £10,000 and £50,000 although there is an
increasingly active market in robot refur- bishment, which on average is about 50% of the
cost of a new installation.
A recent review by Rimrock Corp on forge shop automa- tion [13, 14] describes an
approach to adopting automation by subdividing the process (of handling) into the
following operations:

d billet loading,
d trim press loading, d parts transfer robot, d spray
robot.

A conventional approach is to apply these to a pre-existing press situation in order to

improve the process and the benefits as listed can be substantial though there is cost
associated with redesign of the process and part which is often difficult to quan- tify at the
outset though can provide substantial benefits in suc- cessful installations. This approach
could be described as

OPEN ISSUES FOR THE FUTURE OF INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS:

The fourth industrial revolution, which is going to take place in the next years, is
expected to deeply change the future manufacturing and production processes, and
lead to Smart Factories that will benefit from the main design principles of Industry 4.0
[25]: interoperability, decentralization, real-time capability, virtualization, service
orientation, modularity. Robotics will play a key role: innovative technologies and
solutions, traditionally associated with the service robotics sector, are going to migrate
to industrial smarter robots that will draw on a much broader range of technology,
allowing higher levels of dexterity and flexibility, the ability to learn tasks without
formal programming, and to autonomously collaborate with other autonomous
devices and human operators, thanks to the enhanced capabilities offered by
advanced communication networks.
In the academic world, smart robotic applications are being developed and tested every
day, but often only through experimental setups built within laboratories, not fully
coping with real industrial requirements. On the other side, in the industry world the
demand for new, advanced robotic solutions is constantly growing, aiming at smart
robotic cells hosting collaborative robots, able to directly cooperate with the human
operators, connected through an efficient communication network to intelligent mobile
agents, and integrated in an optimized management of the whole production process. At
the same time, new application fields are envisaged for mobile and aerial autonomous
agents, thanks to the new technological potentialities, e.g., in agricultural and food
production scenarios.
The factory of the future scenario relies on the presence and cooperation of both
manipulators and mobile agents, sharing spaces with the human operators, directly
cooperating with the robots, integrated in an overall communication architecture,
allowing an overall optimized handling of all the production processes. Such a factory
can be treated as a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) [26], in which robotic systems play an
important role, being involved in large productions facilities with different tasks. As
discussed in [27], the fractal paradigm can be applied to the factory seen as a complex
system of systems, but with relevant self-similarities across the several layers of

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