Harnessing Controls and Robotics for Sustainable Manufacturing

The role of energy consumption has become an important topic as the world attempts to minimize negative impacts to the environment to create a sustainable future. Recent studies have shown that the world is not on pace to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which would lead to an increase in global temperatures and negatively impact the health of our planet. One of the major contributors of global energy expenditure is the industrial sector. The industrial sector has steadily increased its rate of energy usage and currently accounts for approximately one quarter of the global carbon dioxide emissions. Manufacturing systems account for the majority of energy consumption in the industrial sector. Therefore, improving the energy efficiency of manufacturing systems has become an objective for a number of companies and countries. Companies have started to recognize the need for sustainability due to the financial benefits, growing societal pressures, and increased government regulations.\n\nThe manufacturing sector also has a significant role in the global economy and the world labor market. Manufacturing has a large multiplier effect and impacts a number of other sectors of society. Therefore, it will be important to try to ensure that manufacturing systems can still function and perform effectively when addressing the need for sustainability and energy efficiency. One approach to balance these trade-offs for manufacturing system is to enhance industrial automation technology in manufacturing systems through the integration of advanced control systems and robotics. In the past few years, there have been a number of technological advancements in these areas that could be used to improve the productivity and sustainability of manufacturing systems. However, there are still a lot of open opportunities and challenges that remain in this area to enable effective integration of control and robotics for sustainable manufacturing systems.