China's Robot Revolution
China’s robot revolution
China’s robot revolution
The world’s largest economy has embarked on an audacious
effort to fill its factories with advanced manufacturing robots. The government
of China hopes this will help the country retain its vast manufacturing
industry as workers’ wages rise, and manufacturing becomes more efficient and
technologically advanced around the world. The project will require robots that are
significantly more advanced and cost-efficient, and the economic and
technological ripples could be felt around the world. China is no stranger to technology-driven upheaval, of
course, and it has already invested heavily in robot technology, however,
the scale of its new robot revolution will be remarkable. The province of
Guangdong, the heartland of Chinese manufacturing, has already promised to
invest $154 billion in installing robots. The founder of Foxconn, a company
that employs vast armies of workers who make devices such as Apple’s iPhone,
has said that his company will install more than a million robots in the next
few years. Expect to see signs that this bold endeavor is either
working or faltering, and clues to what it might mean for the rest of the
world, in the coming year.
Smarter learning
Robots have always been very effective for precise,
repetitive work, but for the most part they’re also dumb as rocks. This is why
robots are traditionally used only in carefully designed settings. It also
explains why they cannot easily adapt to a new task, and cannot cope with an
unfamiliar or uncertain situation. Things are changing, however, thanks to new
techniques and algorithms that are enabling robots to learn much more quickly
and effectively. There are various methods for enabling robot learning, and
some are already producing very promising results in research labs around the
world. One approach in particular could be poised to have a big
impact in industrial robotics. Deep learning, which uses large simulated neural
networks, has already proven indispensable for training robots to understand
the contents of images, video, and audio. Some companies now aim to use the
approach to train robots how to see, grasp, and reason.
Knowledge sharing
Another trend to look out for this year is robots sharing
the knowledge they have acquired with other robots. This could accelerate the
learning process, instantly allowing a robot to benefit from the efforts of
others. What’s
more, thanks to clever approaches for adapting information to different
systems, even two completely different robots could teach each other how to
recognize a particular object or perform a new task. Several projects are underway that are aimed at providing
simple, efficient ways for robots to combine their know how via the Internet.
And it isn’t hard to imagine how this could be applied in industrial settings,
for tasks such as identifying and grasping different objects.
Robots get more personal
Several “personal” robots are set to debut this year, and it
will be interesting to see how well they are received. With hardware becoming
cheaper and software becoming more capable, it isn’t hard to see why some
believe the time is right for robotic home companions and helpers. However, giving a robot a genuinely engaging personal touch
isn’t easy. Some prototypes have been disappointing, while the ones that have proven successful have had
only limited roles, such as meeting and greeting people in stores. And even in
limited scenarios these robots will need to be designed and programmed very
carefully in order to push the right social and emotional buttons.
Droning on
2016 seems likely to be the year that autonomous drones
finally, well, take off. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration released
regulations for registering drones at the end of 2015, and it is testing
technology that could help automate air traffic control for automated vehicles. While you might not see the skies filled with drones
immediately, expect increasingly smart and autonomous drones to be tested in
many industries, especially ones where automated surveillance and inspection is
useful. And if
companies like Amazon, Google, and others have their way, then perhaps some of
next year’s holiday gifts might even be delivered through the air.
The
world’s largest economy has embarked on an audacious effort to fill its
factories with advanced manufacturing robots. The government of China
hopes this will help the country retain its vast manufacturing industry
as workers’ wages rise, and manufacturing becomes more efficient and
technologically advanced around the world (see “China Wants to Replace Millions of Workers with Robots”).
The project will require robots that are significantly more advanced
and cost-efficient, and the economic and technological ripples could be
felt around the world.
China is no stranger to technology-driven upheaval, of course, and it has already invested heavily in robot technology (see “Robots Rising” and “Migrant Workers in China Face Competition from Robots”).
However, the scale of its new robot revolution will be remarkable. The
province of Guangdong, the heartland of Chinese manufacturing, has
already promised to invest $154 billion in installing robots. The
founder of Foxconn, a company that employs vast armies of workers who
make devices such as Apple’s iPhone, has said that his company will
install more than a million robots in the next few years.
Expect to see signs
that this bold endeavor is either working or faltering, and clues to
what it might mean for the rest of the world, in the coming year.
Smarter learning
Robots have always
been very effective for precise, repetitive work, but for the most part
they’re also dumb as rocks. This is why robots are traditionally used
only in carefully designed settings. It also explains why they cannot
easily adapt to a new task, and cannot cope with an unfamiliar or
uncertain situation. Things are changing, however, thanks to new
techniques and algorithms that are enabling robots to learn much more
quickly and effectively.
There are various
methods for enabling robot learning, and some are already producing very
promising results in research labs around the world (see “Robot Toddler Learns to Stand by Imagining It, “Robots Learn to Make Pancakes from WikiHow Articles,” and “A Master Algorithm Lets Robots Teach Themselves to Perform Useful Tasks”).
One approach in
particular could be poised to have a big impact in industrial robotics.
Deep learning, which uses large simulated neural networks, has already
proven indispensable for training robots to understand the contents of
images, video, and audio. Some companies now aim to use the approach to
train robots how to see, grasp, and reason (see “A Supercharged System to Teach Robots New Tricks in Little Time”).
Knowledge sharing
Another trend to
look out for this year is robots sharing the knowledge they have
acquired with other robots. This could accelerate the learning process,
instantly allowing a robot to benefit from the efforts of others (see “Robots Quickly Teach Each Other to Grasp New Objects”).
What’s more, thanks to clever approaches for adapting information to
different systems, even two completely different robots could teach each
other how to recognize a particular object or perform a new task (see “Robots Can Now Teach Each Other New Tricks”).
Several projects
are underway that are aimed at providing simple, efficient ways for
robots to combine their knowhow via the Internet. And it isn’t hard to
imagine how this could be applied in industrial settings, for tasks such
as identifying and grasping different objects (see “Amazon’s Robot Contest May Accelerate Warehouse Automation”).
Robots get more personal
Several “personal”
robots are set to debut this year, and it will be interesting to see how
well they are received. With hardware becoming cheaper and software
becoming more capable, it isn’t hard to see why some believe the time is
right for robotic home companions and helpers (see “Personal Robots: Artificial Friends with Limited Benefits”).
However, giving a robot a genuinely engaging personal touch isn’t easy. Some prototypes have been disappointing (see “Don’t Expect Too Much from This Robot, Buddy”),
while the ones that have proven successful have had only limited roles,
such as meeting and greeting people in stores. And even in limited
scenarios these robots will need to be designed and programmed very
carefully in order to push the right social and emotional buttons (see “A Japanese Robot Is Learning the American Way”).
Droning on
2016 seems likely
to be the year that autonomous drones finally, well, take off. The U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration released regulations for registering
drones at the end of 2015, and it is testing technology that could help
automate air traffic control for automated vehicles (see “FAA Will Test Drones’ Ability to Steer Themselves Out of Trouble”).
While you might not
see the skies filled with drones immediately, expect increasingly smart
and autonomous drones to be tested in many industries, especially ones
where automated surveillance and inspection is useful (see “A Drone with a Sense of Direction,” “New Boss on Construction Site Is a Drone,” and “This Surveillance Drone Never Needs to Land”).
And if companies like Amazon, Google, and others have their way, then
perhaps some of next year’s holiday gifts might even be delivered
through the air (see “Amazon Lays Out Its Vision for a Sky Thronging with Delivery Drones”).
