CSIRO says a new breed of industrial robots and ICT systems could transform Australia’s manufacturing sector, making it safer and more efficient.
The new CSIRO whitepaper, titled “An initiative to enhance SME productivity through fit for purpose Information and Robotic technologies” launched at the National Manufacturing Week.
The paper highlights the applicability of Lightweight Assistive Manufacturing Solutions in manufacturing. Unlike earlier robotic systems, these technologies are designed to enhance the workers skills, actions and tasks, not to replace them.
Current tools available to manufacturers are built for high volume mass-manufacturing, but the Australian focus on IP-rich, low-volume, highly customised, and high value-add products call for a new set of solutions.
Lightweight Assistive Manufacturing systems would see an increased application of ICT in advanced manufacturing, including virtual reality headsets, smart robots which can be taught to multi-task and tele-supervised robots which can be controlled over the internet.
“Australian Manufacturing is shifting away from large-volume production to mass customisation, and companies are telling us they need more flexible systems to deliver these more customised products,” said CSIRO business development manager Dr Peter Kambouris.
“Industrial automation used in manufacturing today is limited, but developments in ICT and robotics present Australia with an opportunity to change the way we manufacture.”
The industry is already trialling a virtual headset called ReMote. Using a head-mounted camera the wearer (worker) is able to beam what they can see to anyone (expert/helper) in a remote location.
The helper is then able to project their hand gestures onto whatever the worker is looking at and virtually show them how to fix an issue or conduct a repair.
Systems like ReMote have been designed with safety in mind and allow workers to operate in hazardous environments and safely execute complex tasks.