Bring on the robotic revolution

Feb 18 2010 by Stewart Watkins , The Journal

ROBOTS have long been a staple of science fiction and for generations we have had the tantalising prospect of these machines working alongside us in our everyday lives.

But, despite huge leaps forward in electronics and IT, nobody is yet marketing a C3PO to assist with household chores or an R2D2 to help with the crossword.

This, however, might be about to change. We could be on the threshold of a revolution in robotics, seeing their employment in an enormous range of applications.

This was vividly brought home at a recent event held at NETPark, in Sedgefield, County Durham: Industrial Automation and the Impact of Autonomous Systems. This was the latest in a series of events held at the park to explore developments at the cutting edge of science and technology and their implications for business.

Robotics has made great strides in the automotive industry, where the machines have been utilised and refined over many years, so much so that the audience was told how Newton Aycliffe-based TKA Tallent now has nearly 450 robot applications working with 900 staff on the manufacture of automotive industry components.

They are used for welding, painting, loading and unloading parts and for laser applications. They operate to extreme degrees of precision and are so reliable the company gets 98% to 99% uptime from a robot. Furthermore, TKA Tallent can get a return on capital on a robot within 12 months.

Still in the region, Newcastle-based UK Haptics, which makes 3D virtual training software, can place themselves at the forefront of making this happen.

Further afield, Peratech, a North Yorkshire company, demonstrated a combination of polymers and metallic particles called Quantum Tunnelling Composites, QTCs, which have remarkable properties that will enable robots to move on to the next generation.

QTCs can change their electrical resistance from one trillion ohms to less than one ohm and this can be used to give them touch sensitivity, in fact, they can be made so sensitive, they can detect the passage of air, or even sound.

This means that, using QTCs, robots can be developed with human feel and sensitivity so that their grip can be controlled to handle delicate objects and their QTC sensitive skins will make them aware of human proximity and therefore will allow robots and people to work safely together.

Stewart Watkins is managing director of the County Durham Development Company