These include construction, mining, agriculture, and materials handling, such as cargo ship loading and unloading.
Robots excel at the latter with their speed and accuracy.
Such an increase in productivity, he adds, must more than make up costwise for retaining the operator, otherwise adoption is doubtful. Stentz showed some prototypes being used in excavation, mine-face cutting, and tractor field operations. These used vision systems to guide operations, along with GPS for agricultural field work. He sees a phased adoption of these technologies, such as starting with intelligent cruise control in agriculture, with tractor operators still controlling turns at the end of field rows. Net partner site.