Monthly Archives: August 2021

Imagine what a lawyer does on a given day: researching cases, drafting briefs, advising clients.

While technology has been nibbling around the edges of the legal profession for some time, it's hard to imagine those complex tasks being done by a robot.

And it is those complicated, personalized tasks that have led technologists to include lawyers in a broader category of jobs that are considered pretty safe from a future of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence.

But, as we discovered in a recent research collaboration to analyze legal briefs using a branch of artificial intelligence known as machine learning, lawyers' jobs are a lot less safe than we thought. It turns out that you don't need to completely automate a job to fundamentally change it. All you need to do is automate part of it.

While this may be bad news for tomorrow's lawyers, it could be great for their future clients particularly those who have trouble affording legal assistance.

Our research project in which we collaborated with computer scientists and linguists at MITRE, a federally funded nonprofit devoted to research and development was not meant to be about automation. As law professors, we were trying to identify the text features of successful versus unsuccessful legal briefs.

We gathered a small cache of legal briefs and judges' opinions and processed the text for analysis.

One of the first things we learned is that it can be hard to predict which tasks are easily automated. For example, citations in a brief such as "Brown v. Board of Education 347 U.S. 483 (1954)" are very easy for a human to pick out and separate from the rest of the text. Not so for machine learning software, which got tripped up in the blizzard of punctuation inside and outside the citation.

It was like those "Captcha" boxes you are asked to complete on websites to prove you're not a robot a human can easily spot a telephone pole, but a robot will get confused by all the background noise in the image.

Once we figured out how to identify the citations, we inadvertently stumbled on a methodology to automate one of the most challenging and time-consuming aspects of legal practice: legal research.

The scientists at MITRE used a methodology called "graph analysis" to create visual networks of legal citations. The graph analysis enabled us to predict whether a brief would "win" based on how well other briefs performed when they included a particular citation.

Later, however, we realized the process could be reversed. If you were a lawyer responding to the other side's brief, normally you would have to search laboriously for the right cases to cite using an expensive database. But our research suggested that we could build a database with software that would just tell lawyers the best cases to cite. All you would need to is feed the other side's brief into the machine.

Now we didn't actually construct our research-shortcut machine. We would need a mountain of lawyers' briefs and judicial opinions to make something useful. And researchers like us do not have free access to data of that sort even the government-run database known as PACER charges by the page.

But it does show how technology can turn any task that is extremely time-consuming for humans into one where the heavy lifting can be done at the click of a button.

Automating the hard parts of a job can make a big difference both for those performing the job and the consumers on the other side of the transaction.

Take for example, a hydraulic crane or a power forklift. While today people think of operating a crane as manual work, these powered machines were considered labor-saving devices when they were first introduced because they supplanted the human power involved in moving heavy objects around.

Forklifts and cranes, of course, didn't replace people. But like automating the grind of legal research, power machines multiplied the amount of work one person could accomplish within a unit of time.

Partial automation of sewing machines in the early 20th century offers another example. By the 1910s, women working in textile mills were no longer responsible for sewing on a single machine as you might today on a home sewing machine but wrangling an industrial-grade machine with 12 needles sewing 4,000 stitches per minute. These machines could automatically perform all the fussy work of hemming, sewing seams and even stitching the "embroidery trimming of white underwear." Like an airline pilot flying on autopilot, they weren't sewing so much as monitoring the machine for problems.

Was the transition bad for workers? Maybe somewhat, but it was a boon for consumers. In 1912, women perusing the Sears mail order catalog had a choice between "drawers" with premium hand-embroidered trimming, and a much cheaper machine-embroidered option.

Likewise, automation could help reduce the cost of legal services, making it more accessible for the many individuals who can't afford a lawyer.

Indeed, in other sectors of the economy, technological developments in recent decades have enabled companies to shift work from paid workers to customers.

Touchscreen technology, for example, enabled airlines to install check-in kiosks. Similar kiosks are almost everywhere in parking lots, gas stations, grocery stores and even fast-food restaurants.

At one level these kiosks are displacing paid labor by employees with unpaid labor by consumers. But that argument assumes that everyone could access the product or service back when it was performed by an employee.

In the context of legal services, the many consumers who can't afford a lawyer are already forgoing their day in court altogether or handling legal claims on their own often with bad results. If partial automation means an overwhelmed legal aid lawyer now has time to take more clients' cases or clients can now afford to hire a lawyer, everyone will be better off.

In addition, tech-enabled legal services can help consumers do a better job of representing themselves. For example, the federal district court in Missouri now offers a platform to help individuals filing for bankruptcy prepare their forms either on their own or with a free 30-minute meeting with a lawyer. Because the platform provides a head start, both the lawyer and consumer can make better use of the 30-minute time slot.

More help for consumers may be on the way there is a bumper crop of tech startups jostling to automate various types of legal work. So while our research-shortcut machine hasn't been built, powerful tools like it may not be far off.

And the lawyers themselves? Like factory and textile workers armed with new power tools, they may be expected to do more work in the time they have. But it should be less of a grind. It might even free them up to meet with clients.

Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor of Law, University of Oregon and Charlotte Alexander, Associate Professor of Law and Analytics, Georgia State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Could we replace lawyers with robots? In some cases, yes - Big Think

Syntegon Technology presents its latest processing and packaging solutions at PACK EXPO in Las Vegas from September 27 to 29, 2021. The focus of booth C-2800 is on intelligent robotics and automation technologies. Two automated lines and a series of live presentations offer visitors insights into Syntegons equipment and service portfolio for the factory of the future.

Each robotic cell of the new robotics pick-and-place platform RPP can be configurated individually to automate processes such as feeding, handling and loading. Picture: Syntegon

The Covid-19 pandemic has further fueled the automation megatrend. While Syntegon has been offering robotic solutions for decades, the newly developed pick-and-place platform, Syntegon RPP, has a modular and highly flexible platform that automates process steps such as handling, feeding, and loading for a wide range of products. Together with transport modules, the Delta robots can be flexibly connected and seamlessly integrated into an overall system.

With the Sigpack TTMD topload cartoner with integrated Delta robots, Syntegon showcases another solution for automated secondary packaging. The TTMD is equipped with one or more Delta robot cells. It processes products from mulitple infeed sources in random order and orientation. A camera-based vision system detects the individual products on the infeed belt. Robotic arms pick the products and place them flat or on-edge in the cartons.

The Sigpack TTMD topload cartoner with integrated Delta robots, picks the products and places them flat or on-edge in the cartons. Picture: Syntegon

Additionally, the Kliklok ACE offers food manufacturers full flexibility in carton forming. They can choose between glue, lock-style, or an innovative ultrasonic technology. Both the lock-style and ultrasonic versions are glue-free, making them a sustainable option for different carton format sizes. At PACK EXPO, visitors can experience the sustainability and efficiency benefits of the Kliklok ACE live and take a closer look at sample trays made from paper that can replace commonly used plastic trays for cookies.

Two automated lines provide a live overview of Syntegons line competence. The first line features the newly developed robotic pick and place platform RPP. The RPP Delta Robots load cookies into the infeed chain of the Pack 403 HE horizontal flow wrapper, which is specifically designed for a harsh environment and high production volumes. The flow-wrapped cookies are then packed into cartons on the Kliklok ITC integrated topload cartoner.

The second line demonstrates Syntegons international footprint: all technologies come from different sites and can be seamlessly integrated into one comprehensive bag-in-box line for crackers: the SVE 3822 vertical bagger feeds the crackers into a Kliklok MEC endload cartoner using the bag in box interceptor infeed with continous motion. A virtual display shows how the line can additionally be equipped with an Elematic case packer that is known for its pack style flexibility as well as tool-less and quick format changeovers.

In addition to the exhibited technologies, visitors to the booth can attend Syntegons live presentations. Robotics experts give detailed insights into the benefits of automated solutions, such as the Syntegon RPP pick-and-place platform or the Sigpack TTMD cartoner.

PACK EXPO also marks the virtual launch of Syntegons latest liquid filling machine: the LFS, which is available in clean and ultra-clean hygienic executions, fills and packages liquid and viscous food. Thanks to the new modular concept, manufacturers are able to react quickly to changing market demands and enhance their production.

Syntegon also presents an innovation for the pharmaceutical industry: with the flexible filling platform Versynta FFP, Syntegon offers pharmaceutical manufacturers, R&D laboratories, and biotech startups a standardized, modular small batch solution to safely fill liquid pharmaceuticals. Syntegon experts will be available to discuss solutions for both liquid and solid dosage forms at the booth.

With the Kliklok ACE food manufacturers can opt for innovative lock-style or ultrasonic technology both are glue-free, making them a sustainable option for different carton formats. Picture: Syntegon

All live presentations include corresponding service offers as well as a presentation of digital solutions. Syntegons comprehensive consulting and service portfolio along the entire machine lifecycle is tailored to specific customer needs. Remote Service is just one example to receive real-time assistance for fast and efficient support.

Syntegons digital solutions are designed to monitor and increase effectiveness in operations and maintenance on the shopfloor. For instance, a live presentation shows that the system not only displays machine performance data but also detects and tracks events. As of November, all Syntegon machines will be delivered IoT ready and provide interfaces for numerous digital solutions. Customers benefit from a holistic concept for generating, processing and analyzing machine data, entering a new level of digitalization.

Learn more about Syntegons robotics and automation solutions and meet the experts at PACK EXPO in Las Vegas (Central Hall, C-2800) from September 27 to 29, 2021.

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Syntegon to Showcase Robotics and Automation Solutions at Pack Expo 2021 - Healthcare Packaging

Eastman Kodak Company and Pacific Office Automation (POA), the largest office and printing technology equipment dealer in the US, have announced an agreement under which Pacific Office Automation will become a key distributor of Kodak digital print solutions.

The collaboration with Pacific Office Automation will increase accessibility of Kodak's digital print equipment, including KODAK NEXFINITY and KODAK PROSPER Presses to US-based customers.

"As digital print continues to gain momentum, we are excited to be working with POA to make Kodak's highly versatile and efficient digital print solutions even more accessible," said Jeff Perkins, US VP digital print, Eastman Kodak Company.

"Pacific Office Automation looks forward to our relationship with Kodak," said Doug Pitassi, President, Pacific Office Automation. "The technology they provide fills a demand that we know will satisfy our current customers and the new ones that we acquire."

Pacific Office Automation is a privately held technology company based in Beaverton, Oregon. With 31 locations and 1,200 employees across the western US, POA operates both nationally and internationally.

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Kodak, Pacific Office Automation Announce Reseller Agreement - Covering the Printing Inks, Coatings and Allied Industries - Ink World - Ink World...

Digital twin simulations that provide end-users with a virtual copy of plant assets and production systems, though not yet widely used in industry, have been used for tasks such as production monitoring for some time now. However, new contributions from the field of video game development may both expand the core functionality of digital twins and extend their use from operations management to other departments such as sales and marketing.

According to Brad Hart, chief technology officer at Perforce Software, video game engines such as Unreal, which gave its name to the popular Unreal first person shooter franchise, boast sophisticated visualization capabilities and complex physics engines that make them the perfect tool for enhancing digital twin simulations. Current industrial digital twin software is, for the most part, highly technical and may require an engineering background to fully comprehend. By improving the accessibility, quality and realism of the visualizations, game engines like Unreal could help unlock new applications for digital twin technology.

For instance, automotive manufacturer Audi has brought physical data from its digital twin production pipeline into the Unreal engine to simulate the design of new vehicles. Not only can the performance of these vehicles be tested in a virtual environment, but these new digital twins powered by video game engines can more easily be exhibited to corporate executives in a highly realistic and interactive manner long before a single unit is actually produced. Similarly, aerospace companies that build private jets for high-class clientele can share design blue prints with customers far more effectively via the use of a digital twin simulation.

Think about 3D models put out by digital twins in the past. Theyre still for engineering mindsnot for the sales team, marketing executives, or consumers, Hart says. These people want to be as close to feeling the end product as possible. They want to be able to touch it before its physically built. These more sophisticated visualizations open up the utility of the digital twin to more people.

In addition, the use of powerful game engines may make rapid prototyping, digital planning, and virtual commissioning of plants and equipment easier to achieve. Tests that previously involved complex calculationseven with the aid of a digital twincan be iterated more quickly through the use of a more robust simulation.

Still, those in industry working on digital twin technology need not fear game developers stealing their jobs. While automotive, aviation, and several other manufacturing sectors are seeking game developers to help them build more realistic industrial simulations, the tasks they are performing complement rather than replace those performed by others.

Without a doubt, some of the biggest manufacturing industries are bringing game developers onto their staffs to assist with this. It really is opening up opportunities for people in game development to branch out into new industries, Hart says. But it doesnt preclude what people already in manufacturing working on digital twin are doing. Were just augmenting the skillsets that already exist within these organizations.

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Game Development Technology for The Digital Twin - Automation World

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Building automation systems Market: Global Industry Analysis, Trends, Market Size, and Forecasts up to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The report on the global building automation systems market provides qualitative and quantitative analysis for the period from 2019 to 2027. The report predicts the global building automation systems market to grow with a CAGR of 7.4% over the forecast period from 2021-2027. The study on building automation systems market covers the analysis of the leading geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW for the period of 2019 to 2027.

The report on building automation systems market is a comprehensive study and presentation of drivers, restraints, opportunities, demand factors, market size, forecasts, and trends in the global building automation systems market over the period of 2019 to 2027. Moreover, the report is a collective presentation of primary and secondary research findings.

Porter's five forces model in the report provides insights into the competitive rivalry, supplier and buyer positions in the market and opportunities for the new entrants in the global building automation systems market over the period of 2019 to 2027. Further, Growth Matrix given in the report brings an insight into the investment areas that existing or new market players can consider.

What does this Report Deliver?

1. Comprehensive analysis of the global as well as regional markets of the building automation systems market.

2. Complete coverage of all the segments in the building automation systems market to analyze the trends, developments in the global market and forecast of market size up to 2027.

3. Comprehensive analysis of the companies operating in the global building automation systems market. The company profile includes analysis of product portfolio, revenue, SWOT analysis and latest developments of the company.

4. Growth Matrix presents an analysis of the product segments and geographies that market players should focus to invest, consolidate, expand and/or diversify.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/j1882v

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Insights on the Building Automation Systems Global Market to 2027 - Rapid Adoption of IoT-based Systems Presents Opportunities -...

Long Beach Harbor Commission Vice President Sharon L. Weissman speaks at a news conference to celebrate the completion of the new Long Beach Container Terminal in Long Beach on Friday, August 20, 2021. The terminal underwent 10 years of construction to become what port officials say is one of the most technologically advanced container terminals in the world. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

LBCT CEO Anthony Otto speaks at a news conference to celebrate the completion of the new Long Beach Container Terminal in Long Beach on Friday, August 20, 2021. Equipped with nearly all electric and near-zero emissions equipment, LBCT at Middle Harbor represents an industry standard for sustainable development that is designed to strengthen competitiveness, improve cargo flow and enhance air quality amid an era of significant growth at the nations second-busiest container seaport. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

LBCT CEO Anthony Otto speaks at a press conference celebrating completion of the $1.5 billion Middle Harbor redevelopment project on Friday, August 20, 2021. The terminal underwent 10 years of construction and establishes a new bar for the industry, Otto said. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Long Beach Port Executive Director Mario Cordero called the Long Beach Container Terminal one of the biggest and most challenging maritime projects in our history. The completion of the project was celebrated at a news conference at the facility on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

The Long Beach Container Terminal, more than 10 years in the making, was hailed as one of the cleanest and most efficient ports worldwide at a celebration marking the projects completion on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

The Port of Long Beach held a news conference in celebration of project completion for the new Long Beach Container Terminal in Long Beach on Friday, August 20, 2021. The terminal underwent 10 years of construction to become what is being hailed as one of the most technologically advanced container terminals in the world. Equipped with nearly all electric and near-zero emissions equipment, LBCT at Middle Harbor, port officials said, represents an industry standard for sustainable development that will strengthen competitiveness, improve cargo flow and dramatically enhance air quality amid an era of significant growth at the nations second-busiest container seaport. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Stacks of shipping containers await processing at the newly completed Long Beach Container Terminal at the Port of Long Beach. The completion of the groundbreaking terminal was hailed at a news conference on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Automated cranes move shipping containers at the Long Beach Container Terminal. Hailed as the greenest and most efficient terminal in the U.S., the LBCT took over 10 years to plan, design and build at the Port of Long Beach. A celebration marking the final completion of the facility was held on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. Equipped with nearly all electric and near-zero emissions equipment, LBCT at Middle Harbor, port officials said, represents an industry standard for sustainable development that will strengthen competitiveness, improve cargo flow and dramatically enhance air quality amid an era of significant growth at the nations second-busiest container seaport. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Automated cranes move container terminals overhead at the newly completed, $1.5 billion Long Beach Container Terminal at the Port of Long Beach. A celebration marking the completion was held Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Two gantry cranes and automated stacking cranes are delivered to the Long Beach Container Terminal as the ports Middle Harbor project expands. After 10 years, work was finalized in June 2021. A celebration was held on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Courtesy Photo, Port of Long Beach)

Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero, speaks at a news conference to celebrate the completion of the new Long Beach Container Terminal in Long Beach on Friday, August 20, 2021. The terminal took over 10 years to plan, design and build and is being hailed as one of the most technologically advanced container terminals in the world. Equipped with nearly all electric and near-zero emissions equipment, LBCT at Middle Harbor is des Cordero gave thanks to the two engineers behind the project, Thomas Baldwin, center, and Monique Lebrun. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Long Beach port officials dwarfed by the behemoth cranes, ships and stacks of shipping containers surrounding them hailed the final completion of what is billed as the greenest shipping terminal in the nation at a news conference on Friday, Aug. 20.

After a decade of construction, the $1.5 billion Long Beach Container Terminal and Middle Harbor project, built and opened in phases, is finally complete after finishing touches were recently made on wharf and backland areas.

Were introducing to the world the state-of-the-art terminal, one of the wonders of the maritime industry, said Long Beach Port Executive Director Mario Cordero.

It was also, he added, one of the biggest and most challenging maritime projects in our history.

The celebration, which was set to culminate with a party and fireworks later that evening on the terminal grounds, came on the heels of the ports completion last fall of the new Long Beach International Gateway Bridge, the $1.5 billion successor to the Gerald Desmond Bridge.

The terminal, at Pier F, combined two aging, 1950s-era shipping terminals into one, creating upgraded wharfs, greater water access, more storage areas, an expanded on-dock rail yard and space to accommodate the worlds newest and largest ships.

This truly is a modern marvel, said Long Beach harbor commission Vice President Sharon Weissman.

Receiving special recognition were Tom Baldwin, director of program management, and Monique Lebrun, senior program engineer, who did the lions share of engineering work on the project over the past decade.

These mammoth projects were needed to succeed in the highly competitive world of trade, Weissman said. To remain competitive for cargo and jobs, its critical that we modernize our infrastructure. The Long Beach Container Terminal is yet another example of how were getting bigger, operating smarter and operating greener.

Not as enthusiastic over automated terminals like LBCT have been the 15,000 longshore workers, including part-time casuals, who man the docks in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest and second busiest in the nation, respectively.

Terminal automation poses big changes and likely some job losses in those dockworker ranks.

LBCT, for example, features remotely run electric cranes gliding back and forth and a computer-controlled stacking system. Multiple containers can be handled by the cranes at one time.

And more automation is coming to both ports.

In May, Pier T terminal operators in the Port of Long Beach announced their plans to pursue automation. And in the Port of Los Angeles, both APM Terminals, on Pier 400, and TraPac are at least partially automated.

Anthony Otto, CEO of LBCT, said $9 million was spent before the terminal opened to retrain members of the workforce for newer jobs that would be needed.

I dont know if its a one-for-one exchange, Otto said when asked if employment numbers were equal to what they were previously. Some traditional jobs may not be being done.

Some additional jobs, more high-skilled jobs, were created, he said, adding that the union was part of the collaboration in opening the terminal. We cant do this job without the (International Longshore and Warehouse Union); we dont want to. Theyre our workforce, they always will be.

Cordero, for his part, framed the modernization as necessary for the future, of the port and the economy especially since 51,000 jobs are directly or indirectly connected to the trade hub.

We have the fourth industrial revolution, Cordero said, and the name of the game for us is to make sure we are prepared and that we prepare the workforce to be the workforce of the future.

Building the terminal involved going on several global excursions for research.

This model, while certainly new here in North America, some of it was being done in Europe for quite some time, he said during the news conference. So our endeavor, when designing this facility by traveling the world a number of times over, was taking the best attributes of a lot of facilities in Europe and Asia with regard to design and technology, both the existing and emerging technologies as this would take years to build and we didnt want it to be outdated by the time it was finished.

New twists were added to what was already being done in Europe and Asia, Otto said, which have enhanced it and brought it to a level where I believe its the next best design and most technologically advanced facility on the planet at this point.

The efficiency, he said, can be seen in shorter truck turn times and the largest on-dock rail system in North America. Its an edge that is important, he said, as import cargo volumes continue to increase, forcing ships to park outside the ports sometimes for days before being processed.

We have definitely set the new bar for our industry, Otto said. That additional capacity means more cargo, which means more supply chain jobs, which means a strengthening of the regional and national economy.

Construction on the Middle Harbor redevelopment project began in 2011.

Both the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are eyeing a 2030 deadline for terminal equipment to meet an overall zero-emissions deadline. The automated electric equipment at LBCT meets that standard 10 years early.

As cargo numbers continue ramping up, keeping emissions under control will only become a larger concern.

A record 9 million twenty-foot-container units are expected to move through the Port of Long Beach by the end of 2021.

What you see behind me, Otto said as he stood in front of a line of automated cranes, is the third and final phase of a project that took more than 12 years to complete. Once in full production over the next few months, it will bring with it an additional 1 million TEUs of capacity to the Port of Long Beach and bring this facilitys capability up to 3.5 million TEUs per year.

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Completion of Long Beach ports automated terminal hailed as creating a new bar for the industry - LA Daily News

AZoRobotics speaks to Prof Matt Reed, Strategy Director for the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) at the University of Liverpool, about how the application of industry 4.0 technologies such as robotics and automation can unlock chemistry and advanced materials research and innovation.

The Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) at the University of Liverpool is an 81 million facility designed to significantly speed up the discovery process of new materials and provide potential solutions to a range of global challenges, including climate change, clean water, and battery energy storage.

The 12,000 m MIF building is open by design, meaning the labs, staff, and advanced equipment are available for use by any academic or industry specialists alike. A dedicated team of technical experts is located on-site to assist with experiments and train scientists on how to use our cutting-edge kit. The MIF is founded on a strategic innovation partnership between the University of Liverpool, Unilever, and UK Research and Innovation.

Since opening in 2017, the MIF has attracted funding from commercial partners and the Henry Royce Institute the UKs national institute for advanced materials research and innovation. We are changing the way that functional materials are designed at the atomic scale by fusing chemical knowledge, state-of-the-art computer science, lab automation, and digital research and development techniques.

World-class knowledge leadership in materials chemistry is the value-creation engine at the core of the MIF. We are home to pioneering and highly decorated scientists, including Professors Andy Cooper and Matt Rosseinsky who are both Fellows of the Royal Society, and Professor Steve Rannard. It is this scientific excellence that attracts funding and produces a constant stream of publications in quality journals.

The MIF houses one of the highest concentrations of materials science robotics in the world and a suite of advanced analytical equipment. Our expertise in automated materials discovery has enabled us to develop a bespoke robotic platform the Formulation Engine. Capable of handling multiple workflows simultaneously, the modular Formulation Engine allows a range of automated techniques to be flexibly incorporated into a research workstream.

MIF researchers at the University of Liverpool have also built and developed an intelligent mobile robot chemist capable of carrying out its own experiments and working around the clock with minimal human intervention. Developed by Professor Andy Cooper and Dr Benjamin Burger, the 1.75-meter-tall robot chemist is equipped with a high level of artificial intelligence, allowing it to learn as it works and make its own decisions about which chemistry experiments to perform next.

The University of Liverpool has developed the robot chemist to intelligently carry out tasks around the laboratory with minimal human intervention.Image Credit: University of Liverpool

The robot chemist works with equipment designed for human operation because of its human-like dimensions and physical reach. It uses a combination of laser scanning coupled with touch feedback for positioning, rather than a vision system.

The robot independently carries out all tasks in the experiment such as weighing out solids, dispensing liquids, removing air from the vessel, running the catalytic reaction, and quantifying the reaction products. This work has already led to a new start-up business called Gearu to provide commercial companies with innovative mobile robotic solutions in their own R&D labs.

Your new lab partner: A mobile robot chemistPlay

Video Credit: nature video/YouTube.com

The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) continues to transform the manufacturing sector. By harnessing the power of advances in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, and virtual reality technologies, it is creating new opportunities and economic growth.

These digital techniques are not purely virtual. In addition to new classes of virtual assets, such as data and digital twins, these new technologies have had a transformative effect on the physicality of manufacturing, the use of robots for multiple tasks, the layout and specification of factory units, the way that manufacturing staff work in those units, and the sensor and data infrastructure of manufacturing plants.

An opportunity exists to apply similar digital technologies, both virtual and physical, to the R&D and innovation process itself. The systematic application of digital technologies to innovation has, by analogy with Industry 4.0, become known as Innovation 4.0.

The majority of R&D leaders in academic science, commercial research, product development, and innovation activities expect that over the next five to ten years, digital techniques will become increasingly mainstream in R&D, including in the materials chemistry industries. These leaders believe that these technologies have the potential to deliver a step-change in the innovation efficiency of UK and global materials chemistry industries.

Laboratory work remains a crucial value-creating activity for organizations in these industries.

This lab work is not optional: it is how they meet customer needs, create resilience in their activities, innovate, create competitive advantage, secure IP, guarantee the quality of manufactured goods, and justify advertising claims. Much of this lab work is currently manual and its efficiency will not easily be improved without investments in digital technologies and in particular, lab automation.

Lab automation can be used for research, product development, and testing, and is also of high value for routine lab testing in a production environment for both quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA).

Image Credit: University of Liverpool

Lab automation can simultaneously improve the reproducibility, traceability, reliability, and intensity of lab operations compared with current manual approaches. Even relatively modest improvements in each of these factors can deliver 2x to 10x improvements in the efficiency of the automated lab process. Lab automation can therefore make a substantial contribution to improving the end-to-end innovation efficiency of SMEs, academic labs, and multinational corporations.

Although the sector invests 6 billion in R&D (75% in pharmaceuticals) and employs ~ 40,000 FTE, it has seen lower levels of action on digital R&D compared with the stated ambition of its senior leadership. This reflects the significant barriers which need to be overcome for the widespread deployment of digital R&D in materials chemistry. Many organizations in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors are looking for help in planning and implementing digitization roadmaps for their organizations.

Most UK-based materials chemistry companies have low levels of investment and expertise in digital R&D approaches. This is partly due to the very high fragmentation of the sector: 92% of the 3,700 active companies in the sector have less than 100 employees. The sector as a whole is therefore systematically under-exploiting lab automation and missing out on the potential benefits of increased efficiency in their lab operations.

If lab automation is introduced in the right way, it not only delivers a quantifiable and rapid return on investment (ROI), but it is also an excellent way to engage the creativity and energy of existing lab staff in moving the company towards more digitized R&D. Automated lab work addresses issues of experimental excellence, data quality, reducing the volume of waste chemicals, reducing the burden of repetitive manual tasks, and perhaps most importantly to create more space in their daily lab work for invention and discovery.

The UK materials chemistry industries (including chemical, pharmaceutical, rubber, and plastic manufacturing) are a strategic part of the UKs manufacturing base, both in terms of scale and long-term innovative capacity.

The Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals sector has an annual turnover of 62.8 billion, with 18.3 billion Gross Value Added, which is about as large as the Automotive & Aerospace sector. If rubber and plastics manufacturing areincluded, the turnover is 87 billion, with 27 billion Gross Value Added.

The chemicals industry has delivered long-term gains in total factor productivity (a proxy for innovation). Its cumulative performance from 1995-2016 was better than financial services and pharmaceuticals. End-user applications of the chemistry value chain include:

There is room across this sector for additional increases in innovation efficiency and overall productivity. The adoption of automated techniques in the labs at the heart of this sectors operational and innovation activities would lead to a step-change in the sector.

Since early 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns have had a major impact on lab usage worldwide and within the UK. It is possible in many office and factory environments to apply social distancing regulations, such as staying two meters apart, but in many chemistry labs, it has been hard to implement these restrictions without significantly reducing the overall capacity of the lab.

Initial analyses by the Materials Innovation Factory and its commercial partners in May 2020 indicated that social distancing had reduced some lab activities to less than 25% of their pre-COVID capacity. This is a substantial loss of innovation capacity, which will lead to an innovation deficit and an erosion of future profitability for the UK. We estimated that the total loss of portfolio value caused by COVID-19-related lab disruption could easily exceed 3 billion.

Prompted by the COVID-19 lockdowns, an interest in developing technological means for running lab activities more remotely has emerged. This approach would increase staff safety, improve company monitoring of regulatory and health and safety performance, help employees to work more flexible hours, help those with caring responsibilities, and also allow individuals with disabilities to drive experimental programs who would otherwise have difficulty with laboratory access.

The Power of 10X: Using Materials Innovation to Reach Net ZeroPlay

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To learn more about Materials 4.0, readers can visit the Royce website: https://www.royce.ac.uk/collaborate/roadmapping-landscaping/materials-4-0

My white paper which sets out a roadmap for increasing UK prosperity from the use of robotic science in materials innovation can also be read and downloaded for free via the Royce website: https://www.royce.ac.uk/content/uploads/2021/06/Materials-4.0-Lab-Automation-for-Innovation-in-Materials-Chemistry.pdf

Finally, to learn more about the Materials Innovation Factory more broadly, readers can visit our website: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/materials-innovation-factory or get in touch via email: [emailprotected]

Professor Matt Reed is Strategy Director of the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) at the University of Liverpool. Matt has a technical background in chemistry, quantitative microscopy, and data science. He holds an Executive MBA in Technology Management and Open Innovation, and hasworked for Shell Research and Unilever R&D in both the UK and the Netherlands. He has also published scientific papers, filed patents, co-authored three books, and co-founded three companies based on his intellectual property. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Matt joined the MIF 2019, but had worked since 2013 to help co-create the facility in partnership with leading academics at the University of Liverpool, Unilever R&D, and the UK Government. In his current role, Matt works to create, maintain and exploit strategic high-impact innovation partnerships between the University of Liverpool, other leading-edge academic institutes, government funding bodies, and commercial innovators.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork, the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and Conditions of use of this website.

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How Robotics and Lab Automation Unlock Chemistry and Advanced Materials Research and Innovation - AZoRobotics