Automation will affect all industries manipulating physical objects. Consider agriculture first and the harvesting of tomatoes for ketchup in particular. To build a machine that would mechanically harvest tomatoes, the first step was to engage the geneticists to create a tomato vine on which all the tomatoes ripened at the same time. This enabled the machine to cut the vines off and shake off the tomatoes. The problem with the first tomato vine with tomatoes that ripened at the same time was that they tended to split open when they fell from the conveyor belt into the truck. This necessitated going back to the geneticist to obtain a tomato vine on which all the tomatoes ripened at the same time and all the tomatoes had thick skins. The third round was to obtain a tomato that was square and would not roll off the conveyor belt. Does the tomato taste good? Well, maybe in the future they will address that problem. Work is progressing on machines to harvest oranges and other fruits.
Some interesting sites to surf for automation in agriculture are:
Traditional homes build with wood framing on site using traditional
methods are called stick houses. The inefficiencies of stick
build houses are:
1. Time loss due to weather conditions
2. Difficulty coordinating the various craft workers, such as
carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and so on.
3. Waste of materials on site
If a home is built in sections in a factory and assembled on site it is
called a manufactured home if it confirms to HUD standards and a
modular home if it confirms to local building codes. The cost can be 10
to 30% cheaper because:
1. No time delay due to weather
2. Smaller-better coordinated crew
3. Less wastage of materials and better control over materials
Also, the sections are better built to withstand the trip from factory
to site, but the major disadvantage of modular and manufactured houses
is transporting the components to the site. Modular homes have a better
reputation than manufactured homes because the HUD standards also cover
trailer homes giving manufactured homes a bad reputation. As modular home construction has advanced to the point that the casual observer would have difficulting distinguishing a modular from a stick built house just looking at the exterior or interior.
But, the amount of automation in building homes is much less than in the
manufacture of machines. One approach to housing that is
automated is the construction of structural insulated panels, SIP, in a
factory that are then assembled onsite. These panels have foam
insulation between two panels: composite wood on the outside and gypsum
on the inside. This type of construction saves materials and labor andcreates a home that is stronger and much more
energy efficient.
Another approach to building housing is concrete blocks. The latest technological advance in concrete is contour crafting, in which a robotic device builds wall in layers of a concrete like compound. The goal is to build a 2000 sq ft house in a day without human hands. This construction technique is still in the the research stage of development.
Currently about 8% of housing is factory built either in sections or
panels. The movement away from traditional stick built houses will
accelerate for several reasons:
1. Cost: construction and home heating and cooling energy costs as energy prices climb with the world economic recovery.
2. The home building industry is concentrating. In 1996, the top 10
builders had 85 of the market and by 2006 the top 10 builders had 25%
of the market. The housing collapse will hasten the
consolidation. Larger builders have the resources to shift to a
more capital-intensive form of building.
The handling of physical objects in the services is also being automated. Utilities such as electric power generation are similar to continuous process manufactured items and are highly automated. Computers have made possible the shipping of sealed standard sized containers. RR cars are also controlled by computers. Warehouses have been automated. At Federal Express, the sorting of packages is automated for overnight delivery.