Saturday, January 26, 2008
Making the Case for Robotics
Modern Woodworking: Nearly 50 years after it was inveted, the six-axis robot has had a profound effect on manufacturing processes worldwide. Today's generation of robots offers manufacturers a powerful and precise solution for an infinite number of manufacturing applications from automobiles to plastics and pharmaceuticals to food processing
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5 comments:
I"m really interested to see where the robotic industry goes. I'm really curious as to whether we will ever use them in any kind of theatrical environment. Maybe eventually all the fly systems will be operated by robots and all we'll have to do is program them. Show control is the way of the future! Whooo!
Just to piggback on Chapel's comment, I feel that robots have the potential to be a very important in live theatrical productions, but Murphy's law would butt in and ruin everyone's life. I have dreamed of the possibility of helping with the latest technological innovation in theatre, but I have the feeling that I won't be around long enough to see robots fully integrated into the theatrical process.
This kind of stuff is really cool to read about and it really is awesome when you can tell a machine exactly what you want and get exactly what you asked for. It's a great way of quality control but on the other hand there are things that don't need to be done exactly the same way every time, arguably so, like the work we do in the theatre. It's just hard to accept a robot taking a person's place in such creative environment.
When I volunteered at the Carnegie Science Center, we had a Robotics exhibit that I got to learn about/present for a while. One of the main points of the exhibit is that a robot is able to sense think and act - that it can interact with its environment with some form of intelligence. I think this is very important for show control. As more and more systems in the theater become automated, there are more dangers to the cast and crew, making a system that is intelligent within its environment necessary.
We are already using a robotic device in our shop today and it will only be a matter of time until there are more CNC routers popping up in shops. The major problem with any robotic device is it can be very expensive to purchase and then it must be programmed by someone who know how to use it, which may or may not be easy. Once the robotic technology becomes cheaper, it will be more common in shops and theaters.
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