INNOVATION LABS
Introducing
Leica BLK ARC : Autonomous Reality Capture for Robots
drive innovation and , ultimately , augment human capabilities . “ It ' s a truly exciting time to be in technology ,” he adds .
Robots in the workplace In the space of just a year , workplaces of all kinds have had to transform and adapt their operations to navigate ever-changing Covid restrictions . Michel Spruijt , SVP International Business at robotics company Brain Corp , believes that an urgency to find solutions able to protect and assist overstretched workers , while also increasing operational efficiency and sustainability in the face of staff shortages caused an accelerated introduction of robots – or , more specifically , ‘ cobots ’ – designed to work side-by-side with human teams across multiple industry sectors .
According to Spruijt , it ’ s a shift that looks set to continue , with Gartner predicting more than 70 % of global enterprises will have hyper-automation initiatives in place by 2024 .
“ Cobots do what robots do : they carry out tasks with a view to increasing efficiency and / or sparing humans from work that is dull , dirty or dangerous . But , whereas conventional robots are meant to operate in isolation from humans – imagine the stereotypical , robotic arm on a factory floor , for example – cobots are designed to work among them .
“ To achieve this , they rely on intelligently-designed hardware , from cameras and sensors to actuators and grippers , all of which are coordinated by powerful software . In recent years , this software has benefited from advances in artificial intelligence to facilitate rapid , real time learning . Compared with static workplace robots , cobots are quicker to deploy , easier to reprogramme without specialist skills , and able to respond to their surrounding environments ,” says Spruijt .
54 June 2022