Robot resistance lessens: Automation & Robotics

Richard Kegg might not be a household name, but you likely are quite familiar with his 1952 invention: the CNC milling machine.

You probably can’t imagine running your CNC machine shop on manual mills and lathes that count on people for everything. How long could you compete? How long could you remain in business? Yet for over 30 years, people couldn’t imagine using CNC machines.

What was the resistance in adopting CNCs? It was the same resistance seen today regarding robots for CNC machine tending. Does the following sound familiar?

• “It’s too complicated.”
• “I’ve never done that before.”
• “I’ve always done it this way; I don’t want to change.”
• “What if it doesn’t work — then what?”
• “What will people think?”

Times, minds and ideas change. We hear these legitimate statements and questions today about CNC machine-tending robots. Are there legitimate responses and answers? Absolutely. In some ways, this is not surprising since we are about 15 years into what could be a 30-year acceptance cycle.

Appreciation for CNC machine-tending robots is rising in the industry. Image courtesy of C. Zoberis