As artificial intelligence advances, an era is approaching in which robots understand human movement to perform tasks, self-driving cars navigate by reading their surroundings, and drones and advanced air mobility (AAM) craft move through real physical space, according to Lim Chang-gi, CEO of South Korean fastening technology company BoltsONE.

Welcome to the age of Physical AI.

For AI to move in the real world, it needs countless machines and components, he writes in the Op-Ed published by the Seoul Economic Daily. Sensors, motors, batteries, frames, gears, circuits and various structures must connect to one another to form a single system.

“Bolts and nuts are quintessential industrial components that have evolved alongside the history of manufacturing… develop(ing) mainly around standards, strength, materials and surface treatment.”

But fasteners can no longer be judged by past standards, according to Lim Chang-gi.

AI data centers in particular demand higher power density, cooling capacity and space efficiency than conventional data centers. The larger and more complex the facilities become, the more important buildability and the efficiency of maintenance become.

“The idea is to reconsider fasteners in the data center construction process not merely as purchased goods, but from the standpoints of buildability, workability, space efficiency, weight reduction, maintainability and overall cost.

“The very process of comparing and testing whether a new technology is actually better than existing products is itself a process of advancing construction technology.”

Read the full article here.