C4DI member Josh Barnfather strives to raise awareness of the incredible opportunities available thanks to robotics-based automation.
Engineer and consultant, Josh spent seven years at the University of Manchester researching for his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Now, he offers advice and guidance on industrial robotics, manufacturing and inspection technology implementation.
“I help companies in various engineering industries to reduce the costs and improve health and safety through automation,” he tells us. “This mainly involves turning technology ideas into deployable solutions for engineering process improvement.”
Some examples of his work include initial robotic system design, proof of concept investigations, virtual simulation, physical prototyping and practical validation.
“Currently, I’m working on putting together an event to widen the knowledge of the opportunities that robotics and automation can provide,” Josh explains.
At the moment, this is a small invite-only session aimed at senior management who make strategic process innovation decisions.
“There will be a talk on the next industrial revolution from Calie Pistorius, Chief Executive and Principal Consultant at DeltaHedron, followed by a talk from me on how this all relates to robotics. Alex Youden, Founder of NFire Labs, will also be demonstrating 3D printing and its vast capabilities.”
The intriguing event, which is set to take place in March, explores artificial intelligence and image processing techniques used for robotic navigation around the damaged reactor interiors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster site.
“It’s all aimed at helping those working in industry understand and take advantage of the diverse possibilities out there. For example, cost reduction, lead time improvement, the decrease in downtime and an increase in flexibility,” he continues.
The evening is the perfect chance to hear more about Josh’s new endeavour to establish a robotics testbed for automation demonstration and prototyping.
You can find out more about Josh’s work here. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-barnfather/
Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for the event, which is pencilled in for March.