Mechatronics (Part-XII)- Automation In Recent And Emerging Applications

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Check Out The Role Of Automation In Recent And Emerging Applications

Here we continue with the twelfth part of our blog on mechatronics. Those who have missed our eleventh blog can read it from Here. It will help to connect with the twelfth part of the blog discussing about the different role of automation in recent and emerging applications. Let us explore the blog to find out in more details. Automation provides us with wondrous increases of production and information, but does it tell us what to do with men the machines displace? Modern industry gives us the capacity for unparallel wealth-but where is our capacity to make the wealth meaningful to the poor of every nation?

Cognitive Automation

Cognitive automation, as a subset of artificial intelligence is an emerging genus of automation enabled by cognitive computing. Its primary concern is the automation of clerical tasks and workflows that consist of structuring unstructured data. Cognitive automation relies on multiple disciplines: natural language processing, real-time computing, machine learning algorithms, big data analytics and evidence-based learning. According to Deloitte, cognitive automation enables the replication of human tasks and judgment "at rapid speeds and considerable scale". Such tasks include:

• Document redaction
• Data extraction and document synthesis / reporting
• Contract management
• Natural language search
• Customer, employee, and stakeholder on boarding
• Manual activities and verification
• Follow up and email communications

Recent and Emerging Applications- Automated Retail

i) Food and Drink

The food retail industry has started to apply automation to the ordering process; McDonald's has introduced touch screen ordering and payment systems in many of its restaurants, reducing the need for as many cashier employees. The University of Texas at Austin has introduced fully automated cafe retail locations. Some Cafes and restaurants have utilized mobile and tablet "apps" to make the ordering process more efficient by customers ordering and paying on their device. Some restaurants have automated food delivery to customers’ tables using a Conveyor belt system. The use of robots is sometimes employed to replace waiting staff.

ii) Stores

Many supermarkets and even smaller stores are rapidly introducing Self checkout systems reducing the need for employing checkout workers. In the United States, the retail industry employs 15.9 million people as of 2017 (around 1 in 9 Americans in the workforce). Globally, an estimated 192 million workers could be affected by automation according to research by Eurasia Group. 

Online shopping could be considered a form of automated retail as the payment and checkout are through an automated Online transaction processing system, with the share of online retail accounting jumping from 5.1% in 2011 to 8.3% in 2016. However, two-thirds of books, music and films are now purchased online. In addition, automation and online shopping could reduce demands for shopping malls, and retail property, which in America is currently estimated to account for 31% of all commercial property or around 7 billion square feet. Amazon has gained much of the growth in recent years for online shopping, accounting for half of the growth in online retail in 2016. Other forms of automation can also be an integral part of online shopping, for example the deployment of automated warehouse robotics such as that applied by Amazon using Kiva Systems.

iii) Automated Mining

Automated mining involves the removal of human labor from the mining process. The mining industry is currently in the transition towards automation. Currently it can still require a large amount of human capital, particularly in the third world where labor costs are low so there is less incentive for increasing efficiency through automation.

iv) Automated Video Surveillance

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) started the research and development of automated visual surveillance and monitoring (VSAM) program, between 1997 and 1999, and airborne video surveillance (AVS) programs, from 1998 to 2002. Currently, there is a major effort underway in the vision community to develop a fully automated tracking surveillance system. Automated video surveillance monitors people and vehicles in real time within a busy environment. Existing automated surveillance systems are based on the environment they are primarily designed to observe, i.e., indoor, outdoor or airborne, the amount of sensors that the automated system can handle and the mobility of sensor, i.e., stationary camera vs. mobile camera. The purpose of a surveillance system is to record properties and trajectories of objects in a given area, generate warnings or notify designated authority in case of occurrence of particular events.

To be continued in the next blog...