In the 20th century, people had expectations about the 21st century. We were supposed to have flying cars by now. Robots were supposed to be cleaning our homes and doing all the menial labor. We were supposed to be getting food from slots in the wall — well, the microwave might be something like that, but not the way people in the 1950s expected.
The Roomba, Alexa, Dash buttons and Blue Apron don’t add up to the Jetson’s maid, Rosie. And where’s that flying car?
Automation may not have changed our daily lives as much as the people of the past thought it would, but it’s key for industry. Robots may not be doing much of the heavy lifting in our homes, but they’re in our factories, optimizing the use of resources.
Some of the disruptive innovations so far this century:
- Sensors have made the biggest immediate difference. From workpieces that can trigger the right work routine in industrial machinery to predictive maintenance, sensors are bringing Industry 4.0 to life.
- Nanotechnology has brought us anti-microbial paint and steel as light as aluminum. This area of innovation is making new materials that could hardly have been imagined in the 20th century.
- Machine learning is opening new vistas for artificial intelligence.
- Additive manufacturing makes things like jet engine parts lighter and less wasteful to manufacture.
Industry 4.0 and these disruptive technologies are bringing the factory of the future to life. It’s different from the retrofuture expectations of the 20th century, but arguably even cooler.
Whether you’re bringing 20th century devices into your modern factory or looking ahead to the most cutting edge new devices, if you’re using Rexroth motion control systems, we can help. As Rexroth specialists we are prepared to keep your systems up and running, minimizing costly downtime and increasing the lifespan of your Rexroth electric industrial motion control. We offer phone support, field support, and factory repair and reman.