Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for May 18, 2016

Stäubli to showcase new robots at Automatica

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A range of Stäubli robots
A range of Stäubli robots

Stäubli is to launch a new range of products at the Automatica event, which takes place in Munich, Germany towards the end of June.

In an exclusive interview with Robotics and Automation News, Paul Deady, Stäubli’s US automotive segment manager, says the new products are the company’s response to the growing interest in collaborative robots.

Deady says: “At the Automatica show, we will be commercially launching our CS9 robot controller and TX2 robot models.

“They’re our answer to the collaborative robots phase, and they comply with industry standards on safety and performance. They’re also compatible with the internet of things.”  [Read more…] about Stäubli to showcase new robots at Automatica

Chinese bid to buy Kuka

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midea kuka

Chinese company Midea, which makes consumer appliances, has launched a bid to buy all of Kuka, the industrial robot manufacturer from Germany. It already owns around 14 per cent. 

Midea floated the proposal through its affiliate, Mecca International. The deal on the table is for all shares in Kuka at €115 per share.

The decision confirms Midea’s previously stated intention to increase its shareholding in Kuka. Currently, Midea indirectly owns 13.5 percent of Kuka’s shares. In line with the applicable regulatory framework, the increase of the shareholding to more than 30 percent requires an offer for all issued shares in Kuka.  [Read more…] about Chinese bid to buy Kuka

Humanoid robot sumo wrestlers invited to take part in crazy contest

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the construct humanoid sumo contest
Let’s get ready to rumble!

No matter how bizarre we think things are, there’s always something even more bizarre than we imagined. 

In the latest challenge to our sanity, The Construct is organising what it says is a “humanoid sumo contest”. Yes, that’s what they said. Sumo, as in Japanese wrestling. With virtual humanoid robots. Within The Construct’s specially-created online environment.

As much as we admire The Construct’s technical achievements, we’re not sure if this apparently absurd idea is the right way to go about marketing what is actually a highly professional and capable cloud-based application for developing robots.

But be that as it may, The Construct has indeed set up a humanoid sumo contest, dojo and all, to see whose robot has the sheer girth and mid-riff elasticity to bounce opponents out of the ring.  [Read more…] about Humanoid robot sumo wrestlers invited to take part in crazy contest

‘Smart manufacturing is all about an intelligent connected supply chain’

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Lars Mohr Jensen, product manager at GateHouse Logistics, looks into the challenges of  the next industrial revolution and the implications on the connected enterprise

As it stands, factories are dumb – or at least far less intelligent than current technology could actually make them. The current industrial production is inflexible and too expensive and a root cause is supply chain invisibility.

But that’s about to change thanks to Industry 4.0, an initiative with its roots in Germany that aims to bring about the fourth industrial revolution. It heralds the era where manufacturing becomes intelligent and every link in the supply chain talks to each other and is connected.

The smart factory concept means industrial or manufacturing processes will be organized in a smart way compared to tired, traditional methods. In opens the era of intelligent manufacturing where the entire production chain, including suppliers, logistics and product life cycle management are connected across frontiers.  [Read more…] about ‘Smart manufacturing is all about an intelligent connected supply chain’

CeMAT to be co-staged with Hannover Messe

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hannover messe and cemat
Another fine Messe: (from left to right) Dr Andreas Gruchow, Dr Christoph Beumer, and Sascha Schmel

CeMAT Update: In a further sign of the accelerating convergence of manufacturing and logistics sectors, the world’s two leading industry events are to be merged  

CeMAT, the world-leading trade fair for intralogistics and supply chain management, is to be co-located with Hannover Messe every two years, starting in 2018.

Featuring about 1,000 exhibitors from around the world, CeMAT is the international market flagship of a fast-growing industry which in 2015 produced €20 billion worth of equipment in Germany alone.

The main drivers of this growth are eCommerce and integrated production – two trends that are placing enormous pressure on intralogistics systems, forcing them to become more intelligent, networked, flexible, transparent, fast and efficient.  [Read more…] about CeMAT to be co-staged with Hannover Messe