IEX 220: Time for a Robotics Strategy
What’s a robotics strategy??
It’s a response to the coming wave of robotics that will take advantage of the advancements in AI, material science, and actuators, to create lightweight humanoid multi-purpose robots capable of a range of tasks that might help your business across functions. They will be equipped with high-res vision sensors, tactile sensing, machine learning for perception and decision making, and computer vision for recognising people and objects. Robots and co-bots could be commonplace in your warehouse, factory, supply chain, or front office. We could see them deployed in swarms, or delivering surgeries and sophisticated dexterous tasks. They could look after elderly people, or deliver childcare. They could be shape shifting or phase changing. You need a strategy to ensure you’re taking this seriously, investing appropriately, and preparing your organisation in the right way.?
What Could Go Wrong??
Without a strategy, there’s a good chance you will end up with piecemeal deployment by divisions and functions, with robotics from various providers that don’t talk to each other and and have low interoperability, with a high chance of creating ‘robotic technical debt’. You might get locked into the wrong vendors, platforms, or tools. You may face discontent or undue anxiety amongst the organisation, and have the very real prospect of injury or risk of harm. Or have uncomfortable conversations about business value after having spent significantly.?
Where Should You Start??
(that's just the start)
#innovation #AI #robotics