The Robot Industry Ricardo Collazo & Edwin Cruz Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roboticshttp://pr-robot.com/default.aspxhttp://www.bsu.edu/web/mawilliams/history.htmlhttp://www.ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roboticshttp://pr-robot.com/default.aspxhttp://www.bsu.edu/web/mawilliams/history.htmlhttp://www.ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roboticshttp://pr-robot.com/default.aspxhttp://www.bsu.edu/web/mawilliams/history.htmlhttp://www.ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/ The Robot IndustryRicardo Collazo & Edwin Cruz Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico ABSTRACT RESULTS As expected, the answers of each employee were very alike. All six employees agreed that the increasing amount of robots in industries does have a following effect on employees, for they will be part of the increasing job loss. In ratio, there will always be more robots than employees. However, in absolute, the amount of employees in the industry will increase because of the economic cycle: • Firing people will result in a financial increase. • The money gained from this is used to buy new machinery. • More employees will be needed to operate the machinery. • More people are employed. • This process then starts all over again, meaning that as the company gets larger, the • amount of employees will need to increase consequently. But ,still, as stated earlier, in • ratio, the amount of employees will decrease as new robots and machinery are brought to • the industry, as does exist the fear of losing jobs. • Our robotics research is based specifically on robot usage in industries around the world. We will explore the relationship between robot usage and job loss in industries. • A survey was conducted to assess the opinion on these topics of industry administrators in Puerto Rico. • After the survey was completed, a brief summary was written about the different opinions of the industry personnel. • A poster presentation was constructed based on the research of the robot industry of today. PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS Purpose:In the present day, there is no doubt that robots are taking over the industries thanks to their fast and continuous movements based on what they have been programmed to do. But this brings a consequence, not for the industry as it is, but for the employees of these industries. What would happen if the industries decide to make use of only robots and machineries, needing only a small quantity of human interaction to finish the work? Does the increasing amount of the usage of robots to help in industries mean that an extremely large quantity of employees would lose their jobs?Hypothesis:In our present day, technology keeps evolving more and more. We hypothesize that in a near future, we will no longer be able to maintain our families. Why is this? Since technology keeps evolving, robots are going to be born, and employees will no longer be needed. This way less people have jobs and there would be no way to gather enough money to maintain our families. CONCLUSIONS Our hypothesis was, without any doubt, accepted. The increasing amount of robots and machinery does result in job loss. Nowadays, because of economic reasons, industries need more rapid and effective assistance to complete their work to survive as a successful industry in this world. Humans can do this, but it cannot be denied that robots can do it better. In general, one robot can do a job for which at least five employees are needed in less time. The technology of these days asks for more than in past years, and extra help is needed for this, and what better way to receive this help than with robots. The problem means that this brings automation, which, as a result, brings job loss, stating once again that the increasing amount of robots reduces the amount of employees. PROCEDURE Besides looking for information on the topics of the use of robots in industry and the job loss possibilities, we decided to conduct a survey to assess the opinion on these topics of industry personnel in Puerto Rico. This survey took place in Comar UNICON PR LLC, a manufacturing plant of plastic bottles, dropper tips, and caps. The questions asked were the following: Do you think job loss can be seen because of the increasing amount of robots and machinery in different industries around the world? Explain your opinion. What are your thoughts on the fear the employees have due to the job loss that may take place given the factor that robots might replace them? Does this fear really exist? A total of six employees, including administrators and floor workers, were surveyed. After| the interviews, a brief summary was written about the different opinions. BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIOR Puerto Rico Institute of Robotics: Inspiring The Next Generation of Explorershttp://pr-robot.com/default.aspx Williams, M. (2002). History of Robotics. http://www.bsu.edu/web/mawilliams/history.html IFR International Federation of Roboticshttp://www.ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT • AGMUS, Student Research Development Center – SRDC - Dr. Juan F. Arratia, Executive Director SRDC - Prof. Evelyn Haddock, SRDC Co-IP, Inter American University, Metropolitan Campus - Research Mentors: Dr. ÁngelCaraballo and Prof. Irma Álvarez- Our group of the program at the Inter American University. - St. Mary’s School faculty for supporting us throughout the research. • Comar UNICON for helping us throughout the research