By Andrew Hamilton, head of the Digital Process Manufacturing Centre (DPMC) on the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS)
Manufacturing services as we speak are sprawling, interconnected environments the place gear operates constantly and processes stretch throughout giant bodily footprints.
From manufacturing facility flooring and plant rooms to service corridors and exterior belongings, engineering groups want clear visibility throughout areas that aren’t all the time simple, or secure, to entry.
Sustaining efficiency in these circumstances depends upon correct, well timed data and the flexibility to reply earlier than points escalate.
Reaching that stage of perception, nonetheless, just isn’t simple. Guide inspections stay widespread, requiring engineers to stroll websites, take readings, and feed data again into separate methods.
The method is labour-intensive, varies from individual to individual, and turns into tougher to maintain as services develop in scale and complexity.
Towards this backdrop, robotic canine are more and more being explored to assist inspections, monitoring, and information assortment with out disrupting day by day operations.
The broader development in industrial robotics helps clarify this shift. Greater than 542,000 robots have been deployed in factories globally in 2024 – greater than double the quantity a decade in the past – and annual installations have now exceeded 500,000 models for 4 consecutive years.
Whereas most stay mounted to manufacturing traces, producers are more and more exploring the usage of cellular robots able to shifting via operational environments in methods people can’t safely or effectively attain.
Robotic canine, specifically, are opening up new prospects. Quadruped platforms similar to Boston Dynamics’ Spot are designed to navigate areas constructed for human motion slightly than equipment.
Capable of averse stairs, uneven surfaces, and confined areas, they are perfect for inspection and monitoring in components of a facility which can be in any other case tough or hazardous to entry.
Geared up with cameras, thermal sensors, or environmental monitoring instruments, robotic canine comply with predefined routes and accumulate time-stamped, location-linked information, offering a constant, high-quality view of circumstances throughout a website.
Past bettering operational perception, robotic canine additionally improve employee security and effectivity. By taking over duties in areas that may be dangerous for people, they permit engineers and technicians to focus on evaluation, decision-making, and course of optimisation.
Removed from changing human groups, these autonomous platforms complement them, extending attain whereas decreasing publicity to probably harmful environments.
Giant and complicated manufacturing websites are the place this strategy proves particularly precious. In maritime and shipbuilding settings, services usually span a number of compartments, with work carried out by a number of contractors in parallel.
Robotic canine fitted with imaging or 3D scanning gear can transfer via these areas to confirm installations, determine discrepancies, and cut back the necessity for repeated walkthroughs, serving to groups preserve oversight as work progresses.
Course of manufacturing presents a special, however equally sensible, software. In drink manufacturing, the place utilities similar to carbon dioxide are central to day-to-day operations, shut monitoring is important.
Robotic canine can perform routine checks, take meter and gauge readings, and monitor gear situation utilizing thermal or infrared sensing.
The place abnormalities are detected, alerts may be handed on to upkeep groups, supporting deliberate interventions slightly than unplanned downtime.
Deploying robotic canine additionally prompts producers to suppose extra critically about digital readiness. As soon as cellular robots are working on the store flooring, questions round community protection, information integration, sensor choice, and possession of knowledge come into focus.
For a lot of organisations, this supplies a sensible approach to discover digitalisation with out the fee or disruption related to retrofitting everlasting sensing infrastructure.
The shift in digital readiness is shaping the route of the know-how itself. As payload capacities enhance and software program interfaces turn out to be extra intuitive, integrating third-party sensors or analytics platforms now requires far much less bespoke improvement than earlier than.
Quadruped robots already present tangible worth for inspection and information assortment, and producers are exploring how these platforms may be tailor-made to handle particular operational challenges.
As these capabilities advance, robotic canine are serving to groups work extra effectively and reply proactively, giving early adopters a aggressive edge and positioning UK manufacturing to take the lead in constructing safer and extra resilient operations for the long run.
In regards to the creator: Andrew Hamilton is head of the Digital Course of Manufacturing Centre (DPMC) on the Nationwide Manufacturing Institute Scotland, operated by the College of Strathclyde. He leads analysis into digital manufacturing applied sciences, together with robotics, AI, autonomous methods, sensing and data-driven industrial innovation, serving to producers undertake superior applied sciences to enhance productiveness, security and operational efficiency.
NMIS is operated by the College of Strathclyde and a part of the Excessive Worth Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult.
