Robotics moves forward in Alle-Kiski Valley

You probably know that C-3PO was an absent-minded robot who had a penchant for running into things during his adventures in space with his mechanical cohort, R2-D2.

But you might not know that a growing number of companies in this area are using the theory behind the "Star Wars" droids to create machines that are much more useful.

When most people think of robotics in western Pennsylvania, they think of the work being done in Pittsburgh, primarily at Carnegie Mellon University.

But, according to researchers and executives in the field, the Valley is in a position to join Pittsburgh as a leader in robotics.

More than half a dozen companies running the length of the Route 28 corridor in the Alle-Kiski Valley are involved in the robotics industry.

"The companies in the Allegheny Valley region are poised and ready to take advantage of the growing robotics industry in the Pittsburgh area," said Mario Mancini, CEO of Applied Machine Vision, a company based in RIDC Park that designs systems that give sight to automated machines.

Most envision robots as machines that look or sound like humans.

But walking and talking robots aren't the thrust of the local industry -- although a team at Carnegie Mellon is developing a robotic hand that researches intend to be as detailed and complex as the human hand.

The companies in the Valley involved in robotics are manufacturing machines that are used in a variety of specialized applications, ranging from the health field to national defense.

Local robotics companies are creating machines that handle repetitive tasks common in labs and on assembly lines. Much of what's created here is shipped elsewhere and used in heavy industry.

In the case of Applied Machine Vision, the creation of devices that give robots sight is a highly specialized process becoming more important as industry demands change.

As an example, giving sight to a robot is useful in the automotive industry where part sizes constantly are changing. With sight, a machine on an assembly line can pick up, place and package various products with ease. It allows the machine to adapt.

Universal Technology, which is based at U-PARC in Harmar, is building machines for companies such as PPG Industries and Eveready Batteries that handle the materials used to make their products.

Other local robotics work includes the design and manufacture of machines that perform tasks that might jeopardize human health, such as in a medical lab.

Some companies are doing higher-end robotics work. Electro Optics, for example, is creating sensors that give humans or machines the ability to see in situations where there is little light. Most of this work is done for national defense.

David Ditto, assistant director for fiber-optic technology at the Electro Optics Center in Kittanning, the combination of the university base, manufacturing base and labor force in and around the Valley makes it a good place for growth in the robotics field.

"Those are the areas robotics really needs to have (to thrive)," Ditto said. "The expertise is all the way up and down the Allegheny corridor into Pittsburgh."

Additional Information:

The standard definition of robotics is the technology dealing with the design, construction and control of robots.

But to those design, manufacture and use automated machines, a dictionary definition of robotics doesn't do the industry justice because of the complexities of the field.

Some inside attempts at a definition were: