Issue link: https://industrialengineer.epubxp.com/i/777540
the frontline 14 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine the front line Robots will read minds for efficiency's sake "In high-volume manufacturing, the time for programming the robot is well spent. However, if you go into an unstructured environment, not just in manufacturing but even in agriculture or medicine, where the environment keeps changing, you don't get nearly the return on your investment. Our goal is to take the knowledge and expertise of the operator and communicate that to a robot in certain situations. If we can prove that process is effective, it can save significant time and money." — Thenkurussi (Kesh) Kesavadas, professor of industrial and enterprise systems engineering at the University of Illinois, who, along with Ph.D. student Yao Li, has created technology that uses a brain control interface to send signals to a robot in a manufacturing setting Quote, unquote Amazon's ambition in advancing com- mercial drone delivery has been known publicly for several years, but the e- commerce giant filed for patents that show they have more grandiose skyward goals, according to CB Insights and re- ported by TechCrunch. The company's plan involves "air- borne fulfillment centers," or AFCs, that would be stocked with set invento- ry and positioned near a location where Amazon predicts demand for certain items will spike, including food. Drones could be stocked at the AFCs and sent down to make a precise, safe scheduled or on-demand delivery. For example, if there's a major sport- ing event taking place below, the AFC could be loaded with snacks and souve- nirs sports fans would consider purchas- ing. And possibly to rival the Goodyear blimp, the filing suggested that AFCs could be flown close to a stadium to de- liver audio or outdoor display advertis- ing near the main event as well. Looking to the future, Amazon en- visions larger shuttles that could carry people, supplies and drones to the AFCs or back to the ground. These airborne crafts and devices would be connected to an inventory management system and other soft- ware and remote computing resources managed by people in the air or on the ground. The patent filing also reveals that the shuttles and drones, as they fly deliveries around, could function in a mesh net- work, relaying data to each other about weather, wind speed and routing. The aircraft also will be able to beam e-book content down to readers on the ground. Amazon has not announced when it will test or launch such aircraft, accord- ing to TechCrunch. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's … Amazon? Company's patents show flying facilities that send delivery drones to your door The National Bureau for Economic Research reports that pressures in the workplace can harm employee health. "Increased job effort can raise pro- ductivity and income but put workers at increased risk of illness and injury," said Chong Xiang, professor of economics at Purdue University and a co-author of the working paper with David Hum- mels, dean of Purdue's Krannert School of Management, and Jakob Munch of the University of Copenhagen. The researchers collected data on the Danish manufacturing sector as well as data on doctor visits, prescription drug uses, hospitalization, sick days and job injuries from Denmark's universal healthcare system. They observed that changes in work demand affected work- ers' efforts and injury and sickness rates. Economic shocks from outside Den- mark drove changes in exports, accord- ing to the paper. Such changes allowed the researchers to establish causality. The findings show that rising exports led to longer work hours, higher work intensity, and higher injury and sickness rates. For example, a 10 percent rise in exports increased women's rates of in- jury by 6 percent, severe depression by 2.5 percent, and heart attacks or strokes by 15 percent. The paper, "No Pain, No Gain: The Effects of Exports on Effort, Injury, and Illness," is available at http://www. ber. org/papers/w22365. Study: Demands at work can add demands on your health