It seems that we have been hearing for a long time about how robots could change the world. You may wonder whether this will ever really happen. Could it be that the change is already underway, but that most people haven’t noticed it?
There are some industries in which these machines are making a huge difference. The following are a few of the best examples of this shift to an automated way of working.
Construction sites use a variety of robots
It is easy to think of the construction industry as being one of the least mechanised parts of the economy. However, there have been big changes in construction in the last few years, from 3D printed houses to autonomous vehicles that make building jobs easier to complete.
In terms of robots, a great example comes from Australia, where the HadrianX machine is used to lay bricks faster and more efficiently than humans ever could. The secret to this bricklaying robot is the intelligent control system that lies at the heart of it. This is what allows it to work out exactly how much material is needed for each job, and what movements are needed to complete the work perfectly while taking into account the changing weather conditions.
Robots are also used to move around a construction site and work out how the project is progressing. Machines such as those created by Doxel Inc. use imaging technology to collect information from the site before a deep learning algorithm is used to work out how to proceed.
Financial robots are fast and efficient
While most of the other areas we have looked at so far use robots to carry out manual tasks, they can also be used for their financial skills. This industry has seen the introduction of robotics in various different ways.
Robotics can be used to automate many finance tasks, with some reports suggesting that one robot could do the work of 30 humans in this sector. They can be programmed to follow set rules for tasks like mortgage underwriting, but also learn on the job and become more intelligent as they deal with more cases.
Known as RPA, robotic process automation is used in areas such as fraud detection, automated bank account opening, and credit card reconciliation. If you want to learn more, a great starting point is reading a guide on how RPA works or taking an online course in this topic. This will explain everything from the basics of RPA, to more complex concepts such as machine learning and cognitive automation.
The number of ways that RPA can be used in the financial services sector is increasing all the time. A list of the best Forex trading robots includes applications like Forex Gump and Forex Diamond. They give fully automated trading on areas such as stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, with some suited to professionals and others aimed at beginners.
The multiple ways that healthcare can be improved
It may come as a surprise to some readers that sales of medical robots in 2017 totalled $1.9 billion. This makes it almost 30% of the overall professional service robots market. It is suggested that the industry could reach over $16.7 billion in value by 2023.
There are numerous ways that robots can be used in medicine and healthcare, from precision surgery to therapy and more. Several companies are already producing robots that assist during surgical procedures, with a hospital in Massachusetts one of the first hospitals to successfully use this technology on patients.
Another medical use for robots is in allowing doctors to treat vulnerable patients without them having to go to the hospital. iRobot is one of the companies that is producing these remote presence robots to enhance outpatient consultation.
Farming and food production benefits
The labour-intensive nature of farming, and the repetitive tasks involved in it, make this an industry that is ripe for the move to greater levels of automation. For example, milking robots can carry out this job more effectively than humans. They can also be used to make harvesting time easier and more productive with less human intervention. In a similar vein to Google’s self-driving car, autonomous tractors will free up farmers for other tasks, rather than forcing them to spend long hours on repetitive jobs.
It is predicted that the market for agricultural robots will grow to over $20 billion by 2025. In a similar way, food production will see a large increase in the use of robotics, as new models have proven to be experts at combining ingredients efficiently. Intelligent machines are already used in areas such as packaging, cutting, and lifting, as they are faster, more efficient, and more hygienic than human workers.
Overall, the robotics industry is progressing at a far quicker pace than many of us notice in our normal lives. The prospect of a future where robots make life a lot easier isn’t as distant as you might have thought.
Featured image: Pixabay
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