robotics

Krings, Bettina-Johanna, António B. Moniz, and Philipp Frey. "Technology as enabler of the automation of work? Current societal challenges for a future perspective of work." Revista Brasileira de Sociologia 9 (2021): 206-229. Abstract806-1705-1-pb_revbrassociologia.pdfWebsite

Due to the innovative possibilities of digital technologies, the issue of increasing automation is once again on the agenda – and not only in the industry, but also in other branches and sectors of contemporary societies. Although public and scientific discussions about automation seem to raise relevant questions of the “old” debate, such as the replacement of human labor by introducing new technologies, the authors focus here on the new contextual quality of these questions. The debate should rethink the relationship between technology and work with regard to quantitative and qualitative changes in work. In this article, our example will be the introduction of automation in industry, which has been reflected in the widely recognized study by Frey and Osborne in 2013. They estimated the expected impacts of future computerization on US labor market outcomes as very high, specifically regarding the number of jobs at risk. Surprisingly, this study was the starting point of an intensive international debate on the impact of technologies on the future of work and the role of technological change in working environments. Thus, according to the authors, “old” questions remain important, but they should be reinterpreted for “new” societal demands and expectations of future models of work.

Buciuniene, Ilona, Bernadeta Goštautaitė, António B. Moniz, and Irina Liubertė. "Hiring robots: How HRM shapes the development of human capital." In 36th Workshop on Strategic Human Resource Management. online: European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, 2021.programme_may_27-28_2021_eism.pdf

SOLSTICE

November 13, 2020

Sodium-Zinc molten salt batteries for low-cost stationary storage
European Project H2020-LC-BAT-2019-2020 - 963599
Coord. Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden (DE)
Outras instituições: UNINOVA (PT), SINTEF (NO), EMF (CH), CIEMAT (ES), DLR (DE), NTNU (NO), Politecnico Torino (IT), Quantis (CH), SensiChips (IT), FZSonick (CH), Imperial College (UK)

Moniz, António B. Robótica e Trabalho: o futuro hoje (Robotics and Work: The future today). Lisbon: Glaciar Ed., 2018. AbstractWebsite

Approaching the topic of robotics-work relation in a general and international context enables the possibility to know more about the impacts in different sectors. In this book the main discussion themes are followed in order to understand which the main dimensions are included in such debate. In that way, it becomes possible to understand the possible answers and available alternatives.
The book follows the themes of relation between employment and technology, the automation as rationalization process and robotics as a technology reference. The other topics are the emergence of ethical, legal and social aspects of this technology, the development that can be perceived in the case of Portugal, and the conclusions about the limits and perspectives of new robotic developments.
This edition has empirical information on the Portuguese case and also includes data from the main resources of the global debate on this issue: the new developments of automation and its relation with the work content and employment.
The author underlined the importance of the contribute that he got from the discussions at the ITAS Working Group on Robotics Technology Assessment, and at the ITAS Research Group on Technology and Work, in Germany, and at the Observatory of Technology Assessment at CICS.NOVA in Portugal. The book is include in a series supported by the Portuguese-American Foundation for Development (FLAD) and was published by Glaciar.

Social implications of robotics in manufacturing industry (IR@MI), KIT

January 5, 2018

The traditional idea that automation is a technological milestone with evident economic and unquestionable benefits is still an approach that ignores research on the relation of automation to work organization. Integrative tasks as well as control tasks can be taken over by human workers. Humans are also better at dealing with unexpected events to keep production lines running. But this perspective has been continuously threatened through technocentric approaches that aim to avoid the involvement of humans in the automated production systems.

Intuitive interaction between humans and industrial robot systems – a contribution to a conceptual approach (I3RS), KIT

January 5, 2018

The research of intuitive robot programming in manufacturing is already 25 years old but, in recent years, it seems that intuitive programming as well as the intuitive 'use' of technology becomes increasingly relevant during a lot of processes in industry. For instance, new programming methods can enable the automated manufacturing of small lot sizes or even of single work pieces, hand drawings made with a digital pen can be transferred into robot programs automatically, or robot trajectories can be defined by guiding the robot using tactile feedback.