Doug Britton, Ph.D., is manager of the Agricultural Technology Research Program at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. For more information, visit www.atrp.gatech.edu.
The first industrial revolution emerged through mechanization primarily of agricultural tools such as the combine harvester and the cotton gin, and more broadly of mass transportation such as rail. It also initiated the transition from agriculture to manufacturing as a primary economic engine.
The driving forces for automation adoption in any production/manufacturing environment are constantly changing, but the metric is usually bottom-line cost.
