Application of Service Robots for Logistics During the COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerates the Implementation of Industry 4.0

Abstract

The development of science leads to changes that come with the initiation and implementation of innovations in technologies that are implemented in production, thus leading to fundamental changes in the economic and social system of each society. Development of new technologies, including robotics & automation, intelligent sensors, 3D printers, cloud computing, radio frequency identification – RFID, etc., is the foundation of the fourth industrial revolution, i.e., Industry 4.0. The implementation of Industry 4.0, among other technologies, is mostly based on robotic technology, both industrial and service robots. Of all the service robots, we can single out the service robots for logistics, whose high implementation was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are two reasons for the high trend in the application of service robots for logistics. One reason is the COVID-19 pandemic, where the use of service robots can meet one recommendation, and that is distance. In order to control the pandemic, especially in medical institutions where patients are affected by the COVID-19 virus, it is necessary to treat patients with medicines, which can easily be achieved by the use of service robots. Another reason for their application is global competition in the market where work must be done to improve quality, reduce production time, reduce production and maintenance costs, to replace workers on all monotonous and difficult work tasks. By applying service robots, we increase the implementation of Industry 4.0 and thus create a significantly higher level of added value, create more benefits and bring benefits to all people in the world.