basictraining
Bot or not?
WHEN YOU CONSIDER HOW THE ROBOT HAS BEEN PORtrayed in pop culture through the years, it’s no wonder we can’t
seem to agree on the exact definition of a robot, never mind whether
it represents a boon or threat to society. For instance, the “B” movies
of our misspent youth informed us that robots were mechanical
persons, humanoids rather, that contained enough embedded intelligence to turn on—and destroy—their masters and creators.
The core concept actually originated with the Czech proto-science
fiction writer Karel Capek and his 1921 play, “R.U.R.,” which fea-
tured androids that could think for themselves and supplanted the
human race. The word “robot” itself is based on a Czech word
meaning “serf labor.”
Later, the film “2001” by Stanley Kubrick reinforced the notion of
latent evil with the malevolent computer HAL. Still later, George
Lucas and “Star Wars” turned that perception on its ear, introducing
the likeable, even loveable, C3PO and R2D2.
Definitions of “robot” and “robotics” vary widely. Some purists insist that robots resemble human
beings and perform tasks normally undertaken by
humans. Other pragmatists concede that a robot
might sometimes resemble a human, but is essentially defined as being a reprogrammable machine,
able to perform repetitive tasks with precision.
It’s easy to get excited about the possibility of
mechanical “people” with some level of circuitry
that acts like intelligence. After all, if we can have
robotic pets, can robotic playmates be far behind?
Then, it’s only a matter of time until automaton
maids, cooks, handymen, and distribution center workers join the
work force.
An anthropomorphic day may dawn at some future point, but
today’s workaday world is different. In fact, it’s not easy for us to distinguish between productivity tools and “robots.”
WHO’S IN CONTROL?
Many early machines were built to perform tasks better and faster
than any person—or gang of persons—could possibly do. Think
steam shovels, steel rolling mills, cranes, bench presses, and the like.
But in those cases, human beings have to operate—guide, direct,
start, and stop—the machines. On their own, the tools, however
complex, are merely so much industrial statuary.
We, collectively, became more aware of “robotics” in manufacturing, as machines were invented and installed to perform specific, and
traditionally human-executed, tasks, such as spot welding in automobile assembly. They worked (or were intended to work) quickly,
flawlessly, and repeatedly, as directed by programmed—and reprogrammable—control systems. The human input was no longer continuous physical control, but one-time, or periodic, mental content.
BY ART VAN BODEGRAVEN AND
KENNETH B. ACKERMAN
As time passed, even a last bastion of the manufacturing arts, the steel rolling mill, began to operate itself, programmed with knowledge, practices,
and processes extracted from the minds and psyches of the humans who had previously directly
controlled them. Does that constitute “robotics”?
We think it does, despite the enormity of scale
involved.
A WHIRRING SOUND IN THE DC
In the supply chain arena, most of what we call
robotics has been focused on movement, human
movement being generally the most expensive
component of distribution center costs. And the
definitions get trickier.
So far, our robots and robotics don’t look at all
like actual people. And many
productivity/movement tools
can’t be considered robotics.
Simple gravity-feed roller con-
veyor can save enormous amounts
of expensive human labor toting,
walking, and riding. But it has no
intelligence of its own. Contrast
that with motorized conveyors,
sorters, and recirculation loops,
driven and directed by complex
warehouse control system (WCS)
logic—programmed and reprogrammable.
Robotics? However simplistic the execution might
be, we think the answer is yes.
Then, there are carousels, which move products
to people rather than requiring people to travel to
the products. These are clearly mere productivity
aids, requiring an operator to activate them and
keep them in motion. But AS/RS (automated storage and retrieval system) mini-load installations
that are controlled by WCS logic, and frequently
interfaced with WCS operation of other technologies within the same overall system, are, in our
book, robotic—and actually look and “feel” more
robotic than conveyors might.
There may be a parallel in wheeled movement.
Vehicles propelled by in-floor tow lines are (or, in
truth, were, in times of old), no question, productivity aids. Advancing through wire-guided vehicles to laser-guided movement seems, to us, to take
this application into the realm of robotics.
