Virtualization as a Strategy to Develop Sustainable Technology: Path Planning Generator Problem as a Case Study

The insufficiency of resources to satisfy the requirements of the world’s population and global circumstances that impact the availability of resources cause significant disruptions in the manufacturing industry worldwide and, consequently, the global economy. For instance, the shortage of raw materials increases production costs (e.g., the increase in the cost of microprocessors produced by the shortage of silicon). Small and medium manufacturing enterprises are more vulnerable to this problem, demonstrating their need for innovative solutions. Therefore, the authors propose expanding the virtualization concept as an alternative. In this case, the extended concept of virtualization seeks to employ devices with limited features to replace physical elements. This work presents a sustainable solution to the problem of a path generator (PG) that generates a safe path in controlled environments. PG comprises two primary modules, perception and planning, which require intensive resources to generate a real-time response. On the other hand, virtualization reduces the number of PG elements, making it feasible to run it on embedded systems with limited capabilities. Therefore, a general-purpose architecture is replaced by a virtual representation for specific use. In this proposal, the authors use a generative network to connect two uncoupled modules to suggest the best virtual path. This way, costs and implementation times are reduced, and safety is approximate to physical elements in controlled environments. Furthermore, it opens an opportunity to implement a circular economy model, such as obsolete smartphones that can be reused in manufacturing applications.