ABB is among the world’s big players in the industry of robotics and automation. What are the prospects for the next two years in this sector?
It is evident that the demand for flexible automation is constantly growing. The macro trends of the demand for increasingly customized products, the mismatch between manpower supply and demand in relation to skills, the demographic curve, the uncertainty dominating the geopolitical scenario and the consequent review processes of supply chains: all this leads to an acceleration in the robotisation of production processes. The need for more flexible and reconfigurable robotic systems to meet the challenge of small-batch production and width of product mix, capable of simultaneously ensuring the highest levels of quality and productivity, have forced a paradigm shift in the companies that want to successfully face the challenges imposed by today’s macro trends. Robotics is the answer: whether industrial, collaborative or mobile, robots ensure a significant competitive advantage and increased sustainability.
In a survey conducted by ABB Robotics on 1,610 US and European companies in 2022, 75% of respondents in Europe and 62% in the United States said that they would invest in robotic automation in the next three years and the data recently released by IFR certify this trend.
Which sectors of application are proving to be the most dynamic and investment-oriented in the near future?
The use of robotics is now extended to all major business sectors of industrial automation, optimising flexibility, productivity and production quality, not forgetting the optimisation in the management of production layouts.
The main markets and sectors of application, where robotics is currently fully established, constantly evolving and innovating are: automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, food & beverage, logistics and intralogistics, in numerous application areas, such as metalworking, machine tending, assembly, palletization…
In the near future, thanks to the continuous technological innovation, the integration of different technologies, the implementation of artificial intelligence and the simplification in the use of these advanced technologies, many other markets will introduce robotic solutions into applications and processes that have been only partially automated so far. These will certainly include the construction industry, the agri-food sector and retail.
Many other new markets and applications will implement robotic solutions, even outside of “industrial production,” thanks to the integration of new and innovative technologies that are more and more integrable with each other and easy to manage.
Artificial Intelligence is an increasingly prevalent reality in our lives. In the manufacturing world, how does it show itself? How and how much is it changing the way of designing, managing and operating a robotic automation system?
We can certainly talk about the growing use of systems based on machine learning and reinforcement learning in the industry, both in production processes and in the field of predictive maintenance. Primarily, for example, artificial intelligence is now being applied in industrial computer-vision operations, both in object recognition and for quality control. Another important application is in the prediction of failures in production systems, thanks to the collection of machine status data.
As mentioned, the first-ever field of application is that of computer vision in all its forms. The market already hosts a large availability of software, enabling, for example, to learn about different variants of a family of objects, without the aid of previous data instructing the system. At ABB, we are well aware of the significant impact that the adoption of self-adaptive algorithms will have on production technologies and we think that artificial intelligence will play a key role in the processes where a strong human-robot interaction is necessary (i.e. in collaborative robotics).
New AI-based products with highly innovative character are available, such as in our case, for example, the integration of the Visual SLAM technology in ABB’s new AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots), to combine AI technologies and 3D visions, which will allow our mobile robots to increase their ability to make intelligent decisions for a more autonomous and safer navigation. All major applications of industrial automation can take advantage of AI. For example, AI will make it possible to make predictions by identifying the correct following cycle; integrate different systems; see, interpret and reconstruct an ever-changing environment. With our new Visual SLAM technology, AI allows to maintain a base code, which can however adapt and complete itself, leaving more “freedom of interpretation” for AMRs in completing a defined task. In the next years, the progress of technology will enable AMRs to grow and establish themselves in intralogistics, for example as a connection between machines and stations in distributed production lines, even in SMEs.
| “… alongside the latest technologies at our stand will be proposed demonstration islands with a range of high value-added solutions dedicated to metal, plastic, food & beverage, logistics, automotive, biomedical …” |
After taking part in the debut edition of RobotHeart, which you said it was very successful for you, what do you expect from the next edition? What is the competitive edge of RobotHeart at BI-MU? How is it positioned compared to other trade fairs dedicated to the sector?
In 2022 we joined the initiative with enthusiasm, because RobotHeart, which is the first event in Italy entirely dedicated to the world of robotics, involves all the stakeholders of the sector: manufacturers, integrators, academic start-ups and research centres related to robotics. The past edition undoubtedly attracted large attendance, offering a really positive atmosphere of sharing, participation and interest. For the next edition in 2024, IFR (International Federation of Robotics) has even decided to hold its annual conference at RobotHeart, confirming its importance as a worldwide event. This makes us very proud as Italians and we are sure that it will increasingly give an international character to the exhibition. RobotHeart targets all manufacturing sectors: from mechanical engineering to machine tools, from electronics to automotive, from food & beverage to pharmaceuticals, from logistics to packaging, from biomedical engineering to cosmetics. It is focused on industrial robotics, automation, related technologies, components for robot applications, solutions based on artificial intelligence.
RobotHeart is not “only” an exhibition area for matching demand and supply in the sector, but it is also intended as a laboratory of ideas, a place where to generate culture and know how, where everything is centred on robotics and its applications: from the state of the art to the latest innovations, as well as demonstrations of what is still in research laboratories.
RobotHeart, sponsored by SIRI, the Italian Robotics and Automation Association, and selected by IFR for its annual conference, is indisputably now already an essential reference for those working in the industry and an unmissable appointment.
Have you already thought about how you will present your company and products? Spaces, technologies, application solutions…
Even for the 2024 edition, the presence of ABB at RobotHeart will be characterised by a vertical/horizontal approach: alongside the latest technologies, we will offer demonstration islands with a range of high value-added solutions dedicated to various industrial applications, with a special focus on human-robot interaction. At our stand, there will be solutions targeting the different market segments we follow: metal, plastics, food & beverage, logistics, the automotive supply chain, biomedical engineering….
Therefore, on show, there will be new models of robots, new RobotStudio abilities, new software; the new VSLAM technology embedded in our AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots), which enables them to make intelligent navigation decisions according to the surrounding environment; we will show the potential of our new OmniCoreTM robot control, of the OptiFact platform that centrally collects, manages and analyses data from hundreds of factory devices, saving up to 25% of time in collecting and analysing company data, and the extension of our product offering for the Education field. But we will not add more, so as not to spoil the surprise!
Interview released in December 2023.
