Predictions about how the Internet of Things (IoT) will transform manufacturing can be overwhelming.

So it’s useful when companies provide tangible use cases for IoT-connected manufacturing.

For example, Australian cloud solutions distributor rhipe has partnered with robotic automation company Omron to integrate a robotic arm with IoT.

They connected the Omron Cobot arm to a camera and cloud-based image analytics, enabling it to recognise objects. In a demonstration, multiple people selected a snack, and the robot then picked up the corresponding snack and placed it in front of the appropriate person.

The two companies see many use cases for this technology, and rhipe has created a brochure explaining some of them. You can download the brochure here (free registration required).

Manufactures should expect to hear more about operational technology and IT overlapping like this.