As robots and their control systems become more powerful and flexible, robotics are moving from heavy industrial applications into producing consumer products we all use in our daily lives. Fickle consumers demand products in new forms, which plays to the strength of robotics’ inherent flexibility to change while keeping production local. Vision-enabled robots are also used in warehouse distribution systems and to test consumer goods for quality control.

“Robots are used in a very broad swath of consumer products, from food and beverage, to office supplies, to building materials,” says Dean Elkins, senior general manager at the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America Inc. “Robots are gaining broad acceptance in the consumer arena, from primary packaging in the food sector through palletizing at the end of the production line.”

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