Software, Robots, IoT and

Real Steps to Industry 4.0

Jim Lawton
Chief Product and Marketing Officer (CPMO)
Rethink Robotics
sense + respond
^
 more agile, less brittle

self-configuring, self-optimizing

adaptive, fault tolerant

Industry 4.0 – State of the Nations … Visionary Stages

Source: http://wavelengths.freewave.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Industry4.0.jpg 6
Network of Technology and Service Providers is Large & Varied
▪ Large number of ‘players’
- Cluttered
- Large company dominance drives
momentum

▪ Variety of ‘players’
- Cloud service and software start ups …
competing offerings and prices
- Saturation of consultants & dashboard
companies

▪ Partnerships required for IIoT solutions

- Need for hardware, software, network,
security
- There are a few larger ‘self sufficient’
companies

8
Cold Hard Reality of Rolling Out the IIoT

• Hardware and software costs

• Overlapping and/or replacing

solutions already in place
• MES, ERP, PLM, SCADA,
CRM, etc.

• Lack of visibility into what

needs to be accomplished
At the Intersection of Cyber and Physical:
It’s All About the Software
Manage robots, devices and data with one paradigm, one editor, and one visualization,
enabling factories to sense and respond

Behavior Based Behavior Based Behavior Based

Robot Wo r k c e l l Fa c t o r y Smart Factories

• Deploy robots faster

• Create flexible and modular

workcells

• Collect and use data that

makes robots perform
Sense and respond to Robots manage devices in the better and gives companies
Device and robot agnostic
variability workcell fewer or no PLCs
Frictionless deployment Interact with existing and new
Control multiple workcells more insights into their
or manufacturing lines
and redeployment automation for rapid ROI factories

Built-in performance and task data collection and introspection provides

● opportunity for rapid task tuning, and cloud-based cognitive, IoT insights ●
build better supply chains
Reality Check: Who’s Really in Charge?
Asset Tracking & Traceability
Locate a product, box of products,
or pallet on the production line
Know physical location of
equipment
Know physical location of people
Know time an operator was at a
certain piece of machinery
IIoT-Enabled KPIs
Track production counts,
scrap, OEE, takt time, rate,
target, downtime metrics
Replace paper with
connected equipment
on the factory floor
Replace paper with mobile
or tablet app for operators
to log various KPIs
Machine Monitoring & Control
Alert system for operators who
can’t be in two places at once
Track downtime and quick debug
tools for connected machinery
Centralized visual viewer for
all machines to orchestrate
logic flow across a factory
Adjust machine parameters
remotely on smartphone/tablet
Smarter Workcell
Reduce common machine +
robot integration friction
Replace or augment PLC control
with modern software platforms
Productize smart collection &
data storage across factory floor
Centralized machine + robot
orchestration viewer
Vision of a Smart Factory
Connecting collaborative robots and industrial equipment to improve uptime, help lines run
faster, increase production, and reduce install friction from legacy automation with minimal
effort or requiring specialized skills

4 CONNECTED
BUSINESS SYSTEMS

3 CONNECTED
FACTORY

2 CONNECTED
WORK CELL

CONNECTED “THINGS”
1

CONNECTED ROBOT
Machine Learning
• Exciting advances are being made in cloud-based machine learning
as well as simpler machine learning that can occur locally

• Our job as robot makers is to build a 'learning ready' software

platforms for our robots

• Some learning algorithms may be very simple and rely on simple

heuristics

• Animals may not be able to learn how to play chess, but through
very simple learning mechanisms they are able to learn exactly what
they need to learn to prosper in their ecological niche
Uses of Machine Learning
• Training: Use vision to recognize machinery and parts in the workcell, and
suggest applicable behaviors drawn from the global database

• Error Handling: Suggest error handling best practices based on pattern

matching of my base task design against the global design database and
task fault database

• Fault Correction: Faults can be mapped into the physical workspace as

well as the sensor dataspace (temp, velocity, part weight, etc.)

• Task Optimization: Analyze the motion profile and behavior against the
global fault database to identify places where the task can be sped up or
slowed down
Industrial Internet In Action (examples)
• Lennox …using telematics data and predictive analytics to
proactively repair equipment in the field

• Siemens …monitoring soldering temperature and placement

data at PLC factory in Amberg to adjust process real-time

• Harley Davidson …adjusting machinery parameters

autonomously to reduce equipment malfunction

• General Motors …dynamically rerouting process flow based on

humidity levels to reduce rework and downtime
Observations of Companies Just Getting Started
• Throw out the notion of a robot built and deployed to solve a specific
problem. Consider a collaborative robot a “PC with arms”

• Tops down approaches to IIoT require companies to

place large bets and take on too much risk

• Pick a project. Prove it works. Repeat.

• Staff small, scrappy team with smart, unconventional,

out-of-the box thinkers

• Test & Learn

Contact Information

Jim Lawton
Chief Product and Marketing Officer

Rethink Robotics
27-43 Wormwood Street
Boston, MA 02462

City, St @RethinkRobotics
Country@jim_lawton

www.rethinkrobotics.com company/Rethink-Robotics
Email: in/jimlawton
www.rethinkrobotics.com