It’s no secret that the folks at ATI are quite enthusiastic about robots. We absolutely LOVE to explore new ways to make them more flexible and productive—no matter the color, size, or payload. We don’t make robots, but we have to be experts in them to provide the best robotic solutions.
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In this edition, of #weloverobots, we hear from Stephen Thompson, Product Manager for the ATI Heavy Automation Tool Changer product line. Stephen’s mission is to provide the best products to support our Sales Team, Key Customers, and Robot OEM’s in Robotic Tool Changing of almost any utility on any robot payload from 200 kg to over 2000 kg.
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Interviewer: So Stephen, tell us about your first experience with robots?
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ST: One of my first real interactions with robotics was a course I took as a Mechanical Engineering student at Kettering University. This course required teams of four students to design, construct, and program vehicles to accomplish a physical task on a challenge course. The goal was to carry a ball through the course maze and then launch the ball to score a bucket. The process of working with my team to analyze the goal, designing a vehicle to achieve that goal, the many rounds of programming and testing, and the final run seeing the vehicle navigate the course all by itself was enthralling.
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Interviewer: What do you love about the industry?
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ST: The friendly competition and how each business is always driving others to develop something new and better. It motivates you to imagine how, as an organization, we will engineer the next great idea or product. It’s all very inspiring. Also, as an engineer who loved Lego bricks as a kid, the robotics and automation industry is a world where you can seemingly create anything your mind can imagine.
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Interviewer: What excites you about the future of robots?
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ST: The ability to see machines doing things that you would never have imagined were possible and the chance to learn how they do it. On a grander philosophical scale, the fact that robots—if used intelligently, morally, and ethically—will continue to lead to a better future for humanity. As an avid science fiction fan, I always loved the utopistic world Gene Roddenberry foresaw humanity creating in the Star Trek universe. Being an optimist, I think robotics is one of the stepping stones to getting to that point in the future, and I look forward to contributing to building a better world.
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There you have it, folks! The passion for robotics and automation burns bright in the entire ATI team. Keep an eye out for future stories to learn more about "why" #weloverobots.
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Contact us to request more information on all our robotic end-effector products and services.
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