Test mechanical equipment to ensure proper functioning.
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 29 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials (4.A.1.b.2) |
What could do this work.
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Who does this work.
29 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
- Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers
- Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers
- Commercial Divers
- Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment
- Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Geothermal Technicians
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
- Home Appliance Repairers
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery
- Manufactured Building and Mobile Home Installers
- Mechanical Door Repairers
- Medical Equipment Repairers
- Millwrights
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
- Motorcycle Mechanics
- Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
- Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
- Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians
- Signal and Track Switch Repairers
- Tire Repairers and Changers
- Watch and Clock Repairers
- Wind Turbine Service Technicians
Work that goes with it.
O*NET groups these under “Test performance of equipment or systems”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.