Even with the rapid technological advancements, robots are still hard to program especially for a dynamic environment. Firstly, due to the separation of the robot and human workspace this imposes an additional financial burden. Secondly, due to the significant re-programming cost in case of changing products, especially in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, there […]
A range of new digital manufacturing technologies (DMTs) will transform work environments and the jobs people currently do. To enable manufacturing organisations to optimise the introduction of DMTs to their workforces, the DigiTOP project will deliver an open-access digital toolkit for real-time data capture and prediction of human requirements such as workload, situation awareness and […]
The case for human-robot team-working in the medium- to high-value flexible manufacturing sectors now seems clear. In fact, although this is a sensible set of application domains to start with, in the fullness of time, the developed ideas could also penetrate lower-value, higher-volume, sectors if successful. There is a valuable trade-off to be made here […]
According to the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) carried out in 2014 (conducted every seven years), one in six (17%) of the working age population of Great Britain meet diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder that is popular. The most common of these issues are anxiety and depression since the others fall in-between a combination […]
The change in the manufacturing industry has been a common discussion topic in recent literature. Advancements in technology is the dominant theme, but what about the people who are working in the industry and are part of this large shift towards smart manufacturing? I have decided to look into the operator’s position and the change […]
The rise of the Industry 4.0 raises various ethical, legal, and social dilemmas. I’ve come across a paper by an international law firm, Pinsent Masons, called Future of Manufacturing: The emerging legal challenges. I find this paper very intriguing as it covers a wide range of potential issues in consideration of different aspects of Industry […]
The first study we have prepared as part of the DigiTOP project explores the potential of using physiological data to detect mind wandering episodes; instances when the attention of a person is no longer entirely on the primary task that they are performing. Think of, for example, of any day to day task that requires […]
The DigiTOP Project offers opportunities to realise the potential impact that emerging digital technologies can have within manufacturing and maintenance settings. Whilst there is a whole host of emerging technologies, there are a number of uncertainties in terms of efficiency and effectiveness gains. Digital Twins (DTs) are one such technology that is emerging. This blog […]
We expect that many of the project results in DigiTOP will be transferable from digital manufacturing to other domains. For example, the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) is currently involved in two large projects on using robots for nuclear decommissioning, Robotics for Nuclear Environments (RNE, https://nuclearrobots.org/) and the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR, https://www.ncnr.org.uk/). One […]
On Friday, 12th October 2018, representatives from University of Nottingham, Cranfield University, and the Bristol Robotics Lab visited our DigiTOP colleagues from the Intelligent Automation Centre at Loughborough University. Throughout the half-day meeting, we held a number of productive discussions to define specific types of work scenarios that DigiTOP research and digital innovations could be […]
