What does an autonomous future look like and why does it matter?

One of the things we talk about enabling through Sixth Sense is an autonomous future that benefits all. It’s the goal of smart manufacturing as we see it and it’s something we talk about a lot at Hexagon. But I think it’s important to talk about what we mean here.

When we talk about an autonomous future, we’re not talking about robots taking all of the jobs. We’re also not talking about humans getting to sip juice on the beach all day while our automated companions do everything else. It’s about augmenting humans by taking away non-value added tasks. It’s freeing them up to do their jobs better – to make better decisions and be more productive. It’s about putting time into the things that add value – things that really matter.

And that leads onto the next important part of an autonomous future, it’s protecting the things that really matter. We can do this by building things in better ways and creating less waste. We’re not going to have a future without sustainability – only using the resources we really need and preserving as much as we possibly can. An autonomous future delivers that.

We’re facing some big challenges in the world today and we see Industry 4.0 as part of the solution.

By evolving manufacturing and embracing innovation, we can find better ways forward. Ways that benefit people and the planet. Improving our processes saves energy, saves time, saves money and saves materials. It’s why we’re searching for smart solutions through Sixth Sense.

There’s no easy answer to saving the world. But we know that to solve big problems, you’ve got to solve lots of little ones. That’s the part we can all play here. Those breakthroughs and innovations will hopefully add up to some big ones.

Empowering innovators to have a positive impact. Now that’s a future that benefits all.