Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) shares his extensive experience in promoting robotics, machine vision, and motion control. We also discuss the upcoming Automate conference and the future intersection of AI and automation. Enjoy this insightful conversation about the enduring potential and exciting future of vision in automation.
Click the arrow to easily access sections of the podcast transcript below!
1. Introduction and Background
Guest: Jeff Burnstein, President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).
Jeff’s background: Over 40 years in promoting robotics, machine vision, and automation.
Jeff’s career started in 1981 with exposure to robotics and machine vision.
The evolution from early excitement to industry downturns and resurgence with technological advancements.
3. Current and Future Trends in Machine Vision
Machine vision’s role in various industries: manufacturing, agriculture, construction, life sciences, etc.
Emerging applications including medical diagnostics, precision agriculture, and defense.
4. Automate Conference Insights
Largest robotics and automation event in North America.
Focus on new technologies and integration of AI with machine vision.
Certified Vision Professional (CVP) program for skill development.
5. The Importance of Vision in Robotics
Vision technology’s critical role in enabling robotics, especially in non-traditional settings and humanoid robots.
6. A3’s Certified Vision Professional Program
Learn about the importance of the Program and how to take part.
7. The Impacts of Automation on Labor
Addressing labor shortages and the benefits of automation in creating better jobs.
Importance of skilled professionals in the industry facilitated by programs like CVP.
7. Jeff Burnstein’s Passion for Automation
Continuous innovation and new applications keep Jeff excited about his long career in the field.
Vision and robotics seen as essential technologies for the future across all industries.
8. How to contact Jeff Burnstein and Josh
Important links and contact:
Episode transcript:
1. Introduction and Background
[00:00:01.070] – Josh Eastburn
Hi, and welcome to the MV Pro podcast. Around North America, the spring thaw has settled in, and people are coming out for conference season. In advance of next month’s automate conference, I got to record a conversation with Jeff Burnstein. Jeff is President of the Association for Advancing Automation, also known as A3, where he has worked to promote the use of robotics, machine vision, and motion control for over 40 years. He has held this position since joining the organization in 1983. As President of A3, Burnstein works closely with governmental and business leaders to promote the economic value and wider adoption of industrial automation and robotics in new and emerging industries. He’s an expert on automation’s impact and its future, believing it will create new and better jobs, give the world higher quality, lower priced products, and offer the promise of helping people live longer and healthier lives. Burnstein is also a recipient of the 2023 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award for Leadership, and holds a Bachelor of liberal Arts in English language and literature general from the University of Michigan. Without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Jeff Burnstein.
I’d like to start off talking about your track record in the industry a little bit.
[00:01:07.740]
I see that you got started in 1983. I’m wondering, back in ’83, what was it that made you want to dive into automation or putting a lens on the industry for the rest of the world?
[00:01:19.880] – Jeff Burnstein
Got to go back a little further. In 1981, I was with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. They had a robotics group and machine vision group. I had some exposure to both of those technologies. The robot group broke away in 1982, and I joined them in 1983. I had familiarity with some of the companies with the technologies. Then in 1984, we decided to launch our own machine vision association, which we did successfully. So, we started out as just robotics, then machine vision, now of course, it’s also the Motion Control Group, the Artificial Intelligence Group, all rolled up now, though, under one entity, the Association for Advancing Automation.
2. Industry Evolution
[00:02:07.720] – Josh Eastburn
Can you give us a sense of in that time span, which now spans four decades or more, how has the industry changed from your days in SME?
[00:02:17.190] – Jeff Burnstein
It changed tremendously. When I got started, robotics was going to be the next industrial revolution. Within a decade, it had been pretty much left for dead as a failed industry. It took a long time to get to the point where we’re at now, where the technology had improved, costs had come down, we had proven solutions for customers. The same was true in vision. There was a lot of excitement around vision when I was getting going. In ’84, we launched our association, and then it fell off, too. And now we see vision in just about every field, and it’s critical to the success of not only robotics, but a lot of different application areas.
[00:02:59.290] – Josh Eastburn
So back in 1984, what did machine vision look like back then that made it seem like it was worth taking an interest in? We’re adding that to the portfolio of organizations that you were leading.
[00:03:10.910] – Jeff Burnstein
I think companies in automotive, in particular at that time, thought: this is a technology that’s going to be critical to us, semiconductor and electronics as well. It seemed to be on a good path. Then a lot of companies went out of business, and the automotive companies pulled back on orders and vision. This was what led to a downturn in the late ’80s that continued for a while. I think people saw this as something that had a great potential, and for whatever reason, they decided it didn’t, as oftenhappens. It was relatively costly then. But again, new innovations came. Things like smart cameras that lowered the cost. New applications emerged. I really think that what we’re seeing today is still just the beginning of where these technologies, in vision and robotics, can go.
3. Current & Future Trends in Machine Vision
[00:04:04.080] – Josh Eastburn
Which actually sets up perfectly the next question I had in mind, which is, given that trend, the hype cycle that you’re describing, I think we’re familiar with that with a lot of different emerging technologies. There’s a lot of excitement initially, and then we’re working out the kinks. Before we get to this state of where we understand the technology and its appropriate applications, and it’s really scaling and growing and finding adoption, what’s the role for machine vision? Where do you see it playing a role in the future? How do you think it’s important to where the industry is going now?
[00:04:38.570] – Jeff Burnstein
So obviously, vision is used in inspection tasks, in quality control, and lots of different areas of production and manufacturing. But also it’s used in warehousing and distribution areas. In order for robots to pick what they’re picking, we need better vision. And so vision is playing a role there. But now there are all these new industries. So it started out, it was just all about manufacturing. But now you see agriculture, construction, life sciences, all these areas where machine vision is playing a role. That’s really exciting because as we continue to expand, it’s going to be hard to find any industry that isn’t incorporating vision in some way.
[00:05:22.180] – Josh Eastburn
In a previous job, I was really involved in the industrial internet of things. There’s a lot of new applications around vision that seem to be at the center of data collection, as opposed to things like you mentioned just inspection. It seems like there are new applications that are opening up, you alluded to a couple. Are there any in particular that you think are worth paying attention to? Let’s say if I’m a new engineer and I’m thinking about: what direction should I take this interest in machine vision? What’s going to be profitable in the future?
[00:05:55.980] – Jeff Burnstein
Well, I don’t know what will be profitable. I can tell you the ones that interest me! When you see vision used in the medical applications, for instance, helping identify, is this a tumor or not? Drug discovery applications, precision agriculture: are we picking the product at the right time? If it’s like a strawberry or something like that. In Bordeaux, they’re using robotics and vision to determine when grapes are ready to pick sometimes. Also making sure you’re spraying a weed and not something that is useful in your field. I get excited about all those types of applications and visions.
[00:06:40.990] – Josh Eastburn
Yeah, and I imagine you have a pretty good lens on the industry as a whole from where you sit and the number of companies that you’re working with and whatnot. Yeah, agriculture is one certainly that’s come up when I’ve asked that question before. I’m hearing a lot about applications in the defense industry as well. Are you hearing anything along those lines?
[00:06:59.840] – Jeff Burnstein
Well, I certainly think there are applications of vision in the defense industry. Hopefully, they’re going to be used for good things in the defense space. The same thing with robotics. Clearly, there’s the whole drone development with robotics, and vision is a part of that, too. That can be used for good purposes or for non-good purposes!
[00:07:21.560] – Josh Eastburn
Yeah, well said.
[00:07:23.200] – Jeff Burnstein
Hopefully, we’ll use them for good purposes.
4. Automate Conference Insights
[00:07:26.410] – Josh Eastburn
Obviously, one of the things that A3 is best known for is the big Automate conference, which you call the largest robotics and automation event in North America. And that’s coming up next month, the 12th to 15th [of May] in Detroit, Michigan. What can attendees come in from the machine vision and imaging industry? What do you think they can look forward to in terms of technologies and topics that will be on display at the show?
[00:07:50.670] – Jeff Burnstein
Well, they’re going to learn a lot about new products that are on the market. They’re going to see a lot of applications. They’re going to see vision integrated into complete systems because we have a number of system integrators who exhibit at the show. They’re going to see vision integrated into robotics because there are lots and lots of robots at the show as well. But also, they’re going to learn about, how do I apply these technologies? How do I even get started? We have conference tracks that accompany the trade show that are very useful for companies who want to learn how to successfully take advantage of vision and robots and all the other technologies that are demonstrated at the show. Artificial Intelligence has a close connection to vision applications now, so hearing about that and how that’s advancing the vision space. I think this is going to be our… I know it’s going to be our largest automate show ever. We have over 850 companies exhibiting. It’s going to be four fantastic days, but we expect to be over 40,000 registrants at the event. I think it’s just going to be an outstanding event.
[00:08:55.200] – Josh Eastburn
Yeah, enormous. I was looking through the agenda last night, specifically the machine vision imaging track, and it seemed like there were a few themes that were coming up repeatedly. Different aspects of 3D vision were coming up: AI, Machine Learning, lots of different types of vision: Hyper Spectral, Infrared, Color Vision, all super exciting. Are there any in particular, given your background, that you’re most interested or that you pay the most attention to?
[00:09:20.740] – Jeff Burnstein
Well, right now, we’re focused a lot on the connection between AI and vision. I laughed a little bit about that because we just launched a new event this fall in September in Seattle. It’s called Focus, and it’s going to be about machine vision and AI. So looking forward to that, September 24th and 25th in Seattle.
5. The Importance of Vision in Robotics
[00:09:42.210] – Josh Eastburn
Seattle. Okay. Yeah, good destination, too, for a show. So you’ve mentioned robotics also a lot, and it sounds like that’s where you really got started in automation. I’m interested in that intersection between robotics and vision. There’s a lot happening in both fields. You mentioned vision as a big enabler of a lot of what’s happening in robotics. Maybe we could talk a little bit deeper about that. What do you think that’s happening in vision that is most impactful for robotics right now?
[00:10:11.190] – Jeff Burnstein
I think the ability for robots to see is critical especially as you look at areas like humanoid robots. If we’re going to have humanoid working together with people in the same space or in our homes one day, they’re going to need to be able to see well. They’re going to be able to need to grasp things well. Again, vision enables both of those tasks, obviously. I really think in non-traditional settings, vision becomes extremely important, but in traditional settings as well. For the speed with which you have to pick products in a FedEx facility or DHL or any company doing that, got to have really good vision.
6. A3’s Certified Vision Professional Program
[00:10:54.580] – Josh Eastburn
Yeah. Material handling, boy, has really developed a lot in terms of the variety and the conditions after which a package can be handled or objects can be picked. Yeah. Okay.
Ok, so if I’m a vision professional, I should probably know about the Certified Vision Professional program that’s offered through A3. I understand that that’s a big opportunity that comes along with the conference as well. Can you talk a little bit about the CVP trainings that are happening during the show?
[00:11:23.290] – Jeff Burnstein
Yeah, the CVP training is a critical part of the show. We’ve been doing this for many years now at both the basic and advanced level. So four days of courses, there’s opportunities to take the tests at the end to earn that certification, which means a lot. It means a lot to potential employers, but it also means a lot to end users. There are some companies that require people who are coming in to work on their vision applications to be certified machine vision professionals. So I encourage people to go through that training and also to take the test during that certificate.
[00:11:57.740] – Josh Eastburn
When was that program introduced originally?
[00:12:01.030] – Jeff Burnstein
Oh, boy, it’s going back over a decade now. It may have been over 15 years ago. Time flies. What led to it is a bunch of people in the industry recognizing that we need to make sure as this technology proliferates, that there are skilled people out there implementing it, that companies know that they can hire somebody who knows how to run a vision system. That led to companies saying: Hey, we have people that would teach courses on this, and we’ve got a lot of industry veterans who teach these courses, and you can’t get better training than you can from these people.
7. The Impacts of Automation on Labor
[00:12:38.580] – Josh Eastburn
Speaking of labor, obviously, we talk about labor shortages a lot. I feel like that’s been a perennial issue for decades. Do you feel like that’s better or worse for the vision industry?
[00:12:53.120] – Jeff Burnstein
Well, I think it’s getting worse. I mean, for many years, actually, we talked something different in my world, it was that these technologies are going to put people out of work. We had to explain that really that isn’t the case, that oftentimes these technologies are creating better, safer, and higher paying jobs. What we’re seeing now, though, retiring baby boomers, we’re seeing people who don’t want to work in some of the jobs that vision is required in manufacturing spaces. They don’t want to walk miles every day in warehouses where vision is being used. There really is a critical shortage of labor right now in many industries that vision and robots are helping fill those gaps.
[00:13:41.490] – Josh Eastburn
Coming back to the CVP program, it’s been around for 15 years. What do you think is most relevant about it today as the industry continues to change?
[00:13:51.050] – Jeff Burnstein
I think it’s more relevant today than ever before as companies are recognizing in every industry that they need to adopt automation. If they’re going to When you use automation like vision and robotics, they’re going to need to be skilled in what they’re doing. And these courses provide the information they’re going to need.
[00:14:08.850] – Josh Eastburn
As I was going through the agenda, I saw some of the trainers that you’ll have for that show, I recognized some names, definitely bringing in some talent. If I’m hearing this for the first time at the end of April, then I’m thinking, Oh, man, I should really be there. I’ve got some education credits that I need to catch up. My boss has approved some travel time. Where can they go to get tickets to learn more about automate?
[00:14:30.820] – Jeff Burnstein
They can visit https://www.automateshow.com and there they’ll find free tickets to the show you can register for, and then tickets to the conference, which is paid as well. But also there’s a lot of great networking events. We have the opening night reception. We’re expecting over 1,500 people there. Great way to make industry contacts, learn about what’s going on in the industry. I think it’s going to be, like I said, I think it’s going to be a fantastic event.
8. Jeff Burnstein’s Passion for Automation
[00:14:57.990] – Josh Eastburn
Yeah, fantastic. So you’ve chosen to make A3, correct me if I’m wrong here, but basically your entire career, right? Is that fair to say?
[00:15:08.960] – Jeff Burnstein
No, that’s correct. Yeah, certainly.
[00:15:11.840] – Josh Eastburn
Okay. So far into this, why are you still excited about it after all this time? Or what is it that keeps you excited about being involved in automation?
[00:15:22.660] – Jeff Burnstein
It’s constantly new innovations, new applications that we never even thought were possible in both vision and robotic. There’s the fact that I still feel like we’re in the early days of these technologies. Despite the entire 40 years I’ve been in the space, I think there are many, many more applications out there in industries that are just getting started or haven’t even started yet, looking at how these technologies can assist them. There are applications out there, including industries that don’t even recognize yet that they need to use vision, but they will learn that this is the future. I believe in the decades ahead, we’re going to see vision and robotics proliferate into every industry, exciting new applications developing, some of them enabled by AI as well. It’s just a great time. I mean, of all the years that I’ve been in this industry, this is by far the most exciting time.
9. How to Contact Jeff Burnstein and Josh
[00:16:18.300] – Josh Eastburn
I wonder, for those who are interested in getting more of your thought leadership, where is the best place to find you specifically? Linkedin?
[00:16:27.790] – Jeff Burnstein
You can find me on LinkedIn, I’m pretty active there (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-burnstein-25b5138) https://www.automate.org is a great website for anybody who wants general information about what’s going on in vision, robotics, artificial intelligence, motion control. They can reach me at my email address, jburnstein@automate.org
[00:16:48.060] – Josh Eastburn
Fantastic. We’ll include that in the show notes then. I really appreciate your time. Was there anything that we didn’t talk about that you’d really like to include?
[00:16:58.030] – Jeff Burnstein
No, I think I hit everything. But thank you.
[00:17:02.250] – Josh Eastburn
Okay, that was my conversation with Jeff Burnstein. I hope you enjoyed it. Please check the show notes for all the links mentioned in the interview, and grab your tickets for automate next month in Detroit. Fun news. I will be there cooking up more great content for all of MV Pro’s channels. Why not be a part of it yourself? If you would like for us to stop by your exhibit, schedule an interview, or just say hi during day two or three of the show, please reach out to me on LinkedIn or via email at josheastburn@mvpromedia.com. Until then, I am Josh Eastburn for MV Pro Media. Be well.
