The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is looking for small and medium-sized manufacturers in Southwestern Pennsylvania interested in incorporating robotics into their operations.
Using the Institute’s Robotic Manufacturing Hub, ARM will help the organizations evaluate their operations, understand if robotics can help them address challenges, and work on prototype robotic solutions for them at no cost.
The initiative for 11 counties in the state is funded through a Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant, officials said.
“Since our Institute’s inception in 2017, small- and medium-sized manufacturers across the nation have given us the same message about what limits their operations: they lack the resources needed to implement robotics, and they can’t find enough trained workers,” Jay Douglass, ARM Institute COO said. “The Robotics Manufacturing Hub directly addresses these needs by removing the barriers to discovering the right robotics technology for their operations and finding solutions that augment gaps in their workforce.”
The ARM Institute is the country’s leading institute for robotics manufacturing innovation. Working with nearly 400 member organizations, the institute has been able to catalyze more than 120 robotics and workforce projects. The ARM Institute helps facilitate collaboration between industry, government, and academia, the institute said, to create solutions to address needs in manufacturing.
Working through the Institute’s Mill 19 facility in Pittsburgh, the ARM Institute will work with manufacturers in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland counties to determine if robotics can address their challenges. The Robotics Manufacturing Hub will also give manufacturers access to the ARM Institute’s member consortium and partners to ensure any possible solution would provide businesses with a high return on investment.