(Deutsch) Marktübersicht und Einführung für Mobile Roboter in der Logistik

Alexander Bresk Automation, Talking Future , , , , , , , ,

Robotic Process Automation – Condensed

What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? What repetitive tasks can it handle? Here you will find an introduction for IT and business leaders – and anyone who needs to understand the concept.

RPA is basically a term behind which software automation is hidden. Simple and monotonous tasks are done automatically by software programs. Here one often speaks of robots. This is a bit confusing as we often think of robots as physical devices. The term bots, on the other hand, is often associated with software.

RPA can therefore be imagined as a process of automating administrative tasks or batch processing. Often several RPA components are switched one after the other. An RPA program can thus use the output of another program to continue working with it.

Popular RPA applications can be found in sales, customer service, and administration. Many of these applications have previously been performed by employees. You can find 4 important learnings for getting started with RPA here.

 

4 Learnings for RPA

  1. Manage expectations – When dealing with what RPA software can and cannot do, you should always be transparent and open so that no false expectations arise.
  2. Involve IT early on – RPA often affects a company’s digital infrastructure. In order to get the onboarding of the new components done quickly, IT should be involved in the process as early as possible.
  3. Thinking through RPA communication – Often several RPA components are interconnected in order to exchange results and information. This communication can become a problem if it is not thought through to the end.
  4. Change Management – The human colleagues of the new RPA components have to adapt. Change management is necessary for this. Don’t forget – people first.
Alexander Bresk Exoskeletons, Unternehmen , , , , , , , , ,

Are exoskeletons ready for production?

This question has been asked for several years. Exoskeletons are already playing an increasingly important role in production. They offer many advantages. Among other things, because they relieve the workers who would otherwise have to exert much more muscle strength. Exoskeletons are also important partners in other professions because they help workers to lift heavy goods. This drastically reduces injuries and long-term damage.

Exoskeletons are divided into 2 categories:

  • Passive exoskeletons: They stabilize the body and balance weights more ergonomically for workers.
  • Active exoskeletons: Active skeletons have motors and active joints that increase the strength of workers.

These exoskeletons are already in the field:

Many companies, especially startups, are currently working on exoskeletons for production, logistics and manufacturing. This small overview shows the exoskeletons that are currently the most widely used.

Alexander Bresk Startups, Unternehmen , , , , ,

FBR – Wall as a Service with HadrianX

We have reported here many times about FBR (formerly Fastbrick Robotics). Now HadrianX – the FBR product – is ready for outdoor use. HadrianX (a house-building robot) left FBR’s building for the first order.

This marks the end of a decade of research and development. Now HadrianX will be able to show what it can do on construction sites around the world.

To celebrate the day, CTO Mark Pivac has released a Throwback Thursday video, which shows this journey from the first prototypes to the current product.

Alexander Bresk Blockchain, Wissen , , , , , ,

Blockchain Use Case – Smart Grid and Energy

After the blockchain hype has subsided, the question arises as to which use cases for blockchain are conceivable for our society. Below we present a possible use case.

If you buy electricity nowadays, it usually comes from a central location, is transported through a centrally managed power grid and ends up with the consumer. So far, electricity has always followed this path. This was mainly due to the fact that not many households were able to produce their own electricity. However, this could change quickly with the current developments in the field of smart grids and blockchain.

 

End consumers become producers

Now end consumers themselves are becoming producers in which they can feed electricity into a network themselves using innovative solar modules on the roof. Many providers of inverters, solar panels and energy storage devices are entering the market and are offering end customers a solution to produce their own electricity.

If this electricity is not used, the producer can provide the energy that is not required in the neighborhood. The Smart Grid does this. This power grid is intelligent in that it enables intelligent distribution of the electricity.

 

The bill from the blockchain

Now the blockchain makes it possible to track the amount of electricity that a particular household has given to the smart grid in a way that is not counterfeit-proof. The blockchain enables transparent recording of the electricity offered and the quantity purchased. Since this form of offering and purchasing energy works like a marketplace, the blockchain can also automatically conclude purchase agreements via smart contracts. A smart contract integrated into a specific Bockchain protocol therefore carries out all actions up to an agreement and the electricity can flow.

 

Book Recommendation

In her book Token Economy, Shermin Voshmgir describes in great detail what the blockchain actually is, how tokens will be designed in the future and what use cases exist for these tokens. It highlights both the development of tokens on the blockchain to date and the future economy that can arise around these tokens.

 

 

Alexander Bresk Blockchain, Wissen , , , , , , ,

Blockchain Use Case – Supply Chain Tracking

After the blockchain hype has subsided, the question arises as to which use cases for blockchain are conceivable for our society. Below we present a possible use case.

If you currently buy a product, you have no insight into where the goods really come from, which steps they have gone through and how (or when) they came into the market. In the past, these value chains and supply chains were more nationally restricted, but in times of globalization they have become longer and more opaque.

 

Transparency through tracking

It is these lack of transparency that often make consumers despair. With its smart contracts and counterfeit protection, the blockchain offers an instrument to ensure this transparency. But how? Each processing step of a product can be mapped and confirmed on the blockchain. All entries created in the following steps confirm the previous steps and simply add another entry on the blockchain. This means that every service provider (generally an actor) is forced to confirm receipt of the goods, carry out his work and is also obliged to leave an entry on the blockchain when the goods leave. What sounds like a lot of work here will happen automatically in practice and will be handled using technologies such as QR codes or scanners. As a rule, not every single unit is recorded for large quantities of a product, but only the delivery (or batch) to which the product belongs.

 

Democratization of the value chains

For the first time, this gives consumers the insight they need to make an informed purchase decision. In the future, this information will be found on foods, for example. With the help of an app you can get information about the goods. However, this solution of the goods on the blockchain offers further advantages. For example, faulty goods can be traced faster and a more targeted recall process can be started.

 

Book Recommendation

In her book Token Economy, Shermin Voshmgir describes in great detail what the blockchain actually is, how tokens will be designed in the future and what use cases exist for these tokens. It highlights both the development of tokens on the blockchain to date and the future economy that can arise around these tokens.

 

 

 

 

Alexander Bresk Blockchain, Wissen , , , , , , , , ,

Blockchain Use Case – Art and other assets

After the blockchain hype has subsided, the question arises as to which use cases for blockchain are conceivable for our society. Below we present a possible use case.

Art and other possessions (assets) are often objects that you consider investment or just for hobby. But if you want to pay off these assets, you rarely find a liquid marketplace. Also, possession of such goods is usually 100% with one person. This makes it difficult for a collective of private art lovers to share ownership of a painting (or the rights to it). There are other assets that do the same. Historic cars and general collectibles suffer from the same problem.

 

Democratization of art

With the help of the blockchain, these assets can be tokenized. This means that you issue shares (tokens) for a piece of art, for example. On the one hand, these share certificates confirm the authenticity of the work of art and, on the other hand, they are a right to own a share of the work of art. This also makes it possible for small investors and private individuals to own art and to benefit from resale or the general commercialization of the painting. These tokens are on the blockchain and are stored there against forgery.

 

Art and new liquidity

This makes a market liquid that was otherwise only accessible through certain middlemen and gatekeepers. It becomes liquid because it becomes visible. Not only a local community of interest can now buy paintings, but any art lover in the world can buy a work of art anywhere in the world, guaranteeing that it is authentic.

 

Book Recommendation

In her book Token Economy, Shermin Voshmgir describes in great detail what the blockchain actually is, how tokens will be designed in the future and what use cases exist for these tokens. It highlights both the development of tokens on the blockchain to date and the future economy that can arise around these tokens.