Robotics and manufacturing

Summary form only given. Recent advances in robot technologies coupled with the growing economic competitiveness of robots in the workplace vis-a-vis human workers has spurred a renewed interest in robotic manufacturing. Major national research and development initiatives in robotics and manufacturing are underway in many countries, and several manufacturers have released commercial prototypes of dual-arm and other advanced robot systems intended for manufacturing applications. In this talk we survey this latest landscape, and try to identify the core technologies that are needed in order for robots to proliferate into new manufacturing settings beyond traditional applications like welding and structured assembly.