Automation and robotics
- Automation uses machines and computer control to carry out tasks with little human input. Robots weld, paint and assemble cars.
- Advantages: consistent quality, working 24 hours a day, doing dangerous or repetitive tasks, and lower labour costs over time.
- Disadvantages: high set-up costs, some jobs lost, and the need for skilled technicians and programmers.
- Industry 4.0 links machines through the internet (the internet of things) so data can improve production.
New and smart materials
- Smart materials change properties in response to a stimulus. Shape memory alloys (such as nitinol) return to shape when heated. Thermochromic pigments change colour with temperature. Photochromic materials change with light.
- Piezoelectric materials produce a voltage when squeezed. Quantum tunnelling composite (QTC) conducts more as it is compressed.
- Modern materials include carbon fibre composites and graphene (very strong and conductive).
Sustainability and the environment
- A life cycle assessment looks at a product's environmental impact from extraction, manufacture and transport to use and disposal.
- The 6Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, refuse and repair.
- Engineers reduce impact by using recycled materials, designing for disassembly, making products more efficient and choosing renewable energy.
- Lean manufacturing reduces waste; just-in-time (JIT) production orders parts only when needed, reducing storage costs.
Impact on society
- Modern technologies bring new products (such as electric vehicles), new jobs and better safety, but also job losses in some industries, e-waste and planned obsolescence (products designed to have a short life).
Key terms
- Automation
- Using machines and computer control to do tasks with little human input.
- Smart material
- A material that changes properties in response to a stimulus.
- Shape memory alloy
- A metal that returns to its original shape when heated.
- Life cycle assessment
- Measuring a product's environmental impact from extraction to disposal.
- Just-in-time
- Ordering parts only when they are needed.
- Planned obsolescence
- Designing products to have a short life.
- Internet of things
- Everyday devices and machines connected through the internet.