Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Stout are testing applications of artificial intelligence, such as sorting fruit for freshness and maximizing the strength of protective lattices.
While global opinion on artificial intelligence technology seems surprisingly diverse, two research professors at the University of Wisconsin-Stout see potential applications for it.
Yuan Xing and Anne Schmitz, associate professors in the School of Engineering and Technology, are embracing the machine learning process of neural networks as a way for AI to learn tasks. While each research project focuses on a different topic, they represent two of the many AI-based research initiatives taking place at the university level.
Xing said his research is testing the application of AI to distinguish and evaluate fresh fruits and produce. “This project is to improve smart manufacturing systems,” Xing said. “We will utilize AI models to control multiple robots. This will also be implemented as an automatic control system, or automation, in smart manufacturing.”
Xing said he hopes to use this technology and further his research to create a more accurate system for sorting fruit by type and freshness. “It saves human labor, so literally humans no longer need to check every product. It also speeds up production,” he said.
Xing further said that as the AI model's measurement accuracy improves, the system will also improve agricultural sustainability, as less produce will be wasted or wasted.
Xing said that while current production lines do not have fully automated AI detection systems in place, there is an opportunity to use the prototypes created in his research to implement the models on industrial-level robots.
One concern people have about the technology is that artificial intelligence could lead to job losses, but Singh said he doesn't necessarily think that will happen.
“This is a very important thing that people need to discuss,” Singh said, “because some might think that if robots can replace human labor, people will lose their jobs. If we use robots, we can train human workers how to operate the robots. The workers no longer have to do the work manually, they can control the AI models and maintain the robots to do the work.”
Singh also said he is seeing more and more of his colleagues incorporating AI into their research, especially in his department, which is focused on solving modern engineering problems.
Source: govtech.com
