From Gargantua to MARS - the Pathway to Smart Automation
In the 1930s, Canadian-Australian civil engineer Bill Taylor created the first robotic pick-and-place machine called Gargantua. This early proto-bot was a large, gangly machine that relied on hole-punched paper tape, similar to the punch cards used in early computers, for its programming. Its purpose was to pick up and stack blocks.
Gargantua was a proof of concept that didn’t see commercial use, but it previewed and influenced the automation in manufacturing that would come a few decades later. In fact, for more than forty years, robots have helped improve worker safety, streamline production, and enhance quality.
Robots are consistent, reliable, and flexible, but are not very smart. They perform exactly the tasks they’re programmed to execute, which is great when it comes to welding, cutting and other repetitive tasks. However, when it comes to picking out a typical automotive fastener from an unsorted bin of hundreds or thousands of these components, they get less like The Jetsons and more like The Flintstones.
That’s because robots have traditionally relied on precise motion programming, meaning they could only grasp objects positioned at specific heights and angles. They couldn’t adapt to the randomness of a bin full of unsorted bolts, but that’s changing thanks to developments in smart automation.
Magna is actively involved in the ongoing revolution in robotics with MARS — Magna Advanced Robotics Software — which uses 3D camera technology and AI-based learning algorithms to help robots “learn” to quickly identify and pick up unsorted items. The camera locates each item, and the sophisticated software performs the precise calculations for the robotic arm to reach into the bin and grasp it regardless of its orientation or distance from the arm.
It may sound relatively simple, but it’s a technology that can transform materials handling. The technology is comparatively easy to implement, even in existing facilities, and can also elevate the workforce by replacing the tediousness of manual bin-picking with new, more important skill sets related to the system’s programming and monitoring. It can also create related opportunities such as quality assurance.
A number of smart bin-picking systems have been introduced in the industry over the past decade but, with the assistance of a strategic partner, Magna has developed its own software to create a unique, end-to-end solution that offers exceptional control. More than forty smart robotic cells are already in use across the company and more are on the way. Each new cell can help reduce launch time of a product by up to 40 percent, while also making that launch more efficient.
Robots have come a long way since Gargantua stacked blocks, with smart automation solutions such as MARS taking automation to unprecedented levels of capability and adaptability. They are the future of materials handling and tech-forward jobs — and Magna is helping lead the way.
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