Patel, Prachi. “This Startup’s Software Programs Industrial Robots, Without Coding.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Jan. 2021, 19:00 GMT, spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-member-news/this-startups-software-programs-industrial-robots-without-coding.
Article title:
This Startup's Software Programs Industrial Robots, Without Coding
[from left] Chong Voon Foo (CTO), Leong Yong Shin (CEO), and Daryl Lim (COO)
Photo: Augmentus
My summary of the article:
Augmentus, a Singapore-based startup institute founded by Daryl Lim, Yong Shin Leong, and Chong Voon Foo, is trying to make automation more accessible by introducing an innovative way to program automated robots intuitively. Conventional industrial robots require technical programming by a traditional method (i.e. writing lines of code) in order to accomplish tasks. The new platform that Augmentus is working on, on the other hand, does not rely on technical coding in order to program industrial robots. This new platform, instead, relies on a graphical interface and an integrated artificial intelligence model, letting nontechnical users to program their industrial robots with a specific task in a few minutes. Lim, the chief operating officer of Augmentus, prospects that by making industrial robots more accessible, businesses could increase efficiency by reducing costs, which would further lead to the activation of local manufacturing jobs. His aim is to let more companies adopt robotic automation with less burden.
One of the problems Augmentus finds is that not only does it require conventional robotic arms tediously long lines of code for just a simple task, but those lines of code must also be completely replaced by new ones every time the robotic arms are reprogrammed for a different task. Another problem is that robots made by different manufacturers operate via different programming languages, and some programming languages lack expert programmers at that langauge. These problems, all combined, leads to higher costs of companies. The software developed by Augmentus does not require any line of code. In fact, simply an iPad and an Apple Pencil stylus can get the job done.
Basically, the software operates by the technician selecting its robot and equipment from the system's menu, scanning the physical area where the robot operates, and plotting the points on the screen to map out the path that the robotic arm should take. After this simple process, the software automatically generates the lines of code to create the optimal path of the robot. The robot can be tested in a virtual simulation before being physically deployed, and edits can be made instantly and easily. Overall, the time and cost it takes for companies to develop and deploy industrial robots can be reduced to one 10th of those necessarily for conventional industrial robots.
My response to the article:
I have always been interested in robotic and industrial arms (I even attempted designing one, which was great fun [link]). And when I saw those industrial arms being operated in factories creating things (such as automobiles), I was fascinated by the fact that those machines could both maintain the unbelievable level of intricacy and speed at the same time. Naturally I came to admire the engineers and the programmers who design and code such intricate machines such that they could operate with that intricacy and speed, and that was where by interest in robotic arms was born. The fact that this startup, Augmentus, is attempting to create a platform such that all that is required to setup an operating industrial arm is to scan the physical environment and mark a few points is astonishing, since it goes against the 'prejudice' (I should say) that I had against robotic arms – that it requires lengthy and case-specific lines of code by a highly trained programmer to operate well. I am interested to see whether their product will work as they intend it to. Moreover, as they have mentioned as well, if this project does succeed, a lot of other startups and relatively less-funded companies would benefit a lot from it, since most of the manufacturing process nowadays relies heavily on automation, which could be extremely costly and time-consuming – a problem that could potentially be fixed by Augmentus.
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