Since the Stone Age, when human beings began manufacturing stone instruments and produced fire by striking two stones together, people have attempted to improve their quality of life. Centuries after the Bronze, Iron, and subsequent Ages, the Silicon Age has arrived.
Production started from striking objects only in bare-handed, followed by tool and machine assistance, culminating in today’s automated manufacturing-line production. Through thousands of years of improvement leading to reduced production cost, people have learned to saved precious time and begun to enjoy lives surrounded by full of family’s love and artful culture.
Through this long evolution, automation first began playing a role in the latter half of the 20th Century.
Entering the late 20th Century, the world has moved from simple automation to intelligent automation. Hardware in the form of machinery and equipment and software in the form of synthesized systems appeared to have responsive ability of primary wisdom of human being.
Given the emphasis among industrial engineers regarding the importance of efficiency and mental ability, or intelligence, I propose the term “intellimation” — intelligence plus automation — for designating today’s intelligent automation.
This is crucial to promote intelligent automation, and change the automation era to the intellimation era. It can help us to enter the most precious stage in development of automation technology.