Transforming the future of industry

One such corporate laboratory ushering in the future of industry is the Singtel Cognitive and Artificial Intelligence Lab for Enterprises (SCALE@NTU), set up by NTU and Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate Singtel in 2017 on the NTU campus. By leveraging emerging technologies like AI, data analytics, robotics and smart computing, SCALE@NTU seeks to develop applications and smart urban solutions in areas like manufacturing. 

Take the problem of maintenance. Should a particular machine breakdown, production becomes delayed, resulting in unpleasant ripple effects like lowered outputs and missed deadlines, compromising customer trust. To prevent this from happening, SCALE@NTU Deputy Director Assoc Prof Yeo Chai Kiat leads the condition-based maintenance (CbM) programme.

While CbM helps predict and prevent future machine failures, robots could be the key to fending off fatigue in human workers. First introduced in factories in the 1960s, robots have since become a mainstay worldwide for their ability to handle some of the more dangerous or mundane activities previously performed by humans. Unlike their flesh-and-bone counterparts that require regular breaks from work, machines can handle repetitive tasks with ease.

Still, despite the latest developments in automation, most tasks in industrial sites still require a human touch. After all, human workers can adapt remarkably well to unpredictable situations compared to machines. At NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Assoc Prof Dino Accoto seeks to merge the untiring nature of robots with the flexibility of humans—harnessing the best of both worlds.

To this end, he and his collaborators are developing wearable robots that wrap around the bodies of users like the exoskeletons of animals like insects, enhancing their strength and endurance. In 2020, his team developed a voice-activated robotic exosuit that provides increasing levels of assistance, reducing muscular effort up to 60%.

“In industrial settings, exosuits can help tackle ergonomic and safety issues, making tasks more manageable and less demanding from a physical standpoint,” he explains. “This is particularly important when heavy power tools or other specialised equipment must be handled for some time.”

and endurance, the active life span of an industrial worker can be extended, with an overall positive impact on the sustainability of an ageing society,” adds Assoc Prof Accoto.

Another project of Assoc Prof Accoto’s involves the development of “cobots”—mobile collaborative robots—for smart mobility and delivery. Consisting of a robotic arm mounted on top of a wheeled robotic base, the cobot is meant to cooperate with human operators in industrial settings, picking up how operators perform new tasks and becoming increasingly skilled over time. 

Similar to how video tutorials and online courses make knowledge accessible to anyone with an internet connection, the skills gained by one cobot will be made available to other cobots across the world. “Their knowledge-sharing capability will exponentially narrow down the learning curve,” notes Assoc Prof Accoto. “This will lead to a fleet of skilled and ready-to-use cobots immediately available for deployment in different industries.”

of engineers. To ensure successful rollout and integration, insights from information systems researchers like Prof Boh Wai Fong at NTU's Nanyang Business School are needed. 

Teaming up with German automotive manufacturing company Continental at their namesake Continental-NTU Corporate Lab—established on campus just this April 2021—Prof Boh is embarking on a project to evaluate the usability and adoption of the company’s autonomous delivery robot, Corriere, as it navigates traffic, takes lifts and whizzes through building security.

is, the final step in the process, where a package is moved from a transportation hub to a parcel locker, pick-up point or doorstep. By optimising last-mile delivery, items can be delivered faster and with considerably less logistical frustration.

“We are attempting to understand the underlying business models suitable for this technology, with the aim of broadening the understanding, acceptance and adoption of automated delivery robots in the context of grocery and food delivery,” explains Prof Boh.

“Our objective is to examine and compare the reactions and acceptance of three key stakeholders within the setting where the robots will be deployed,” she adds. These stakeholders are the consumers and merchants who respectively buy and sell the products, as well as the passers-by who share common spaces like walkways and lobbies with the robots en route to their deliveries.