The technology and machinery powered by Artificial Intelligence have been changing lives for a decade. It is not a hidden fact that smart manufacturing initiatives like the Internet of Things (IoT) have changed industry 4.0 completely. The trend in the recent past has witnessed a shift towards digital transformation. However, AI-based robots and drones are yet to see the same growth. As per, Bill Ray, the Vice President and Analyst at Gartner, this trend will see a huge change soon and robots & drones that can make proactive decisions are expected to become a standard in industry 4.0 in the next five years.
The robots and drones tasked with visually inspecting machines are designed to work autonomously. These machines can perform predictive maintenance and pass on the analog information to operations staff. Powered with cognitive intelligence, AI and machine learning tools can read the analog output from industrial machines that have not been digitized yet. In other words, it acts as a bridge between Industry 4.0 and the analog age.
This argument is supported by the recent announcement from Florida-based Levatas which claims to have raised $5.5 million in a seed round led by Castellan Group. This company partners with organizations that produce instill equipment with cognitive intelligence.
It is needless to say that the proactive decisions made the AI-driven robots, drones and cameras can change the way inspections are done. The company is all set to roll out a new feature namely, change detection. With this cutting-edge technology, the inspection system will be able to detect and report any negative change in the plant environment. For instance, the Levatas system will be able to detect if a fire extinguisher is missing. This will boost efficiency, improve uptime and offer a safer workplace with a measurable ROI.
Chris Nielsen, CEO of Levatas has claimed, “We sit at the heart of Industry 4.0, at the intersection of advanced robotics and inspection systems.” Analog-reading robots can digitize the entire factory and optimize plant performance. Contrary to this, many factories haven’t digitized their machinery completely. Upgrading the entire system can be very expensive. However, Ray claims that as Industry 4.0 advances the analog-reading robots will not be pushed out of their job. Rather, organizations will find a way to put their cognitive intelligence to work.
