Engineers have made significant strides replicating vision and touch in automated systems. Assembly line robots may soon be equipped with other humanlike features, such as hearing, smell and taste. This article reveals the latest automated sensory technology research and explores potential assembly applications
Roswell is a manufacturing engineer at Futura's floating factory that assembles vehicles for the Pluto division of GENMOTO Corp. [a company formed after the mega-mega-merger of General Electric, General Motors and Motorola in 2010]. Pluto specializes in 1950s-era vehicles that feature retro-styling on the outside coupled with state-of-the-art fuel cell technology and drive-by-wire electronics under the hood.