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What are the Different Types of Automated Products?

Keith Koons
Keith Koons

To the casual observer, it may not appear that automated products have changed much over the past few decades, but many industries rely almost solely on them to empower their businesses. Robotic devices can be found throughout the manufacturing industry, building everything from cars and boats to electronics and textiles. Machinery that once required human intervention can complete several complex tasks at once while products move along an assembly line; in fact, some modern factories do not even require people except for maintenance tasks. Even quality control is not performed by automated products that can instantly spot even the slightest flaw in workmanship.

Visiting a modern vehicle manufacturing plant is a lot like watching a science fiction movie; there are robotic devices everywhere completing tasks like wielding, painting, and a host of other precise adjustments. Textile mills have machinery that can create complex weaves that were programmed into the system, and these types of tasks can be completed in a fraction of the time it would take a seamstress. Each of these improvements not only allows companies to produce goods for consumers more efficiently, but also raises safety throughout the workplace.

Machinery has replaced many functions once performed by humans on assembly lines.
Machinery has replaced many functions once performed by humans on assembly lines.

Other industries have self-sustaining recycling plants, computerized sorting stations, and hundreds of other automated products that simplify difficult tasks. Computer programming makes each of these automations possible, and an embedded software program tells each of these innovations exactly how to move and complete the required tasks. While the expense of developing and programming automated products is astronomical, the technology saves businesses tremendous amounts of money in the long run.

Weaving machines are used by textile mills to replace hand weaving.
Weaving machines are used by textile mills to replace hand weaving.

While some of the automated products available may seem like they're taking away much needed jobs for workers around the globe, in many industries, the technology simply enhances the speed at which an employee can perform. For example, banks use automated products to count money, but the machinery still requires human interaction in order to work properly. The same point can be made within the pharmaceutical industry for automated products that create new vaccines and other forms of preventative medicine; each of them relies on a workforce to interpret and implement the results.

Some factories do not require human participation in assembly other than to perform maintenance tasks.
Some factories do not require human participation in assembly other than to perform maintenance tasks.

There are also several different types of automated products used within the residential sector, ranging from automatic vacuum cleaners to smart appliances that can turn themselves on and off when necessary. Vehicles are also receiving the benefit of several automated systems to enhance safety, and items like collision sensors and smart cameras can prevent an accident before it ever occurs.

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    • Machinery has replaced many functions once performed by humans on assembly lines.
      By: Small Town Studio
      Machinery has replaced many functions once performed by humans on assembly lines.
    • Weaving machines are used by textile mills to replace hand weaving.
      By: onizu3d
      Weaving machines are used by textile mills to replace hand weaving.
    • Some factories do not require human participation in assembly other than to perform maintenance tasks.
      By: gmg9130
      Some factories do not require human participation in assembly other than to perform maintenance tasks.