World trends of importance to intelligent robotic CIM systems

Abstract

The reduction to practice of the concept of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) has moved painfully slowly in the more than 20 years since it came into being. However, within the past five years a very important world trend has emerged, namely a major commitment on the part of industry toward realistic and substantial accomplishment, in practice, of full computer-based integration of the overall system of manufacturing. With the emergence of the goal of accomplishing fully robotic operation of the technological system of manufacturing, and of the concept of the intelligent manufacturing system, the overall trend has now become one toward realization, in practice, of the computer-integrated intelligent robotic manufacturing system. That trend has generated important corollary trends which fall into two main categories, namely, enabling technologies for integration of the system of manufacturing and enabling technologies for imparting artificial intelligence to that system, both of which are required for accomplishing fully robotic operation of the technological system of manufacturing.