Archives for May 18, 2020

ABB offers customized digital tools and start-up service as world gets back to work

May 18, 2020 by David Edwards Leave a Comment

ABB is offering “customized digital tools and start-up services” as the world gets back to work after weeks and months of lockdown as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

ABB says it is offering a “support package” to help restart production lines to support customers’ resumption of operations.

ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation business has launched a special package of digital solutions as well as virtual and field service support initiatives to help businesses restart production lines that may have been idle for weeks or months during the Covid-19 pandemic. [Read more…] about ABB offers customized digital tools and start-up service as world gets back to work

Engineering procurement platform Kreatize enters new market with Austrian investors

May 18, 2020 by David Edwards Leave a Comment

Kreatize, which claims to be Germany’s largest procurement platform for mechanical engineering, has received a joint investment from Austrian company B&C Innovation Investments (BCII) and the industrialist Martin Ohneberg.

Kreatize says the new investment – which is described as being in the “mid single-digit million” euro range – will enable it to expand its business in Austria.

The procurement of industrial components is often a costly, lengthy and non-transparent process. [Read more…] about Engineering procurement platform Kreatize enters new market with Austrian investors

Facilities management leaders call for strategic partnerships to drive robotics and innovation

May 18, 2020 by Mai Tao Leave a Comment

With cleaning robots increasing in number and being installed in many types of buildings, a study about the future of facilities management has been published.

In the survey, it was found that the vast majority of facilities management leaders across the EMEA region believe that technology suppliers should offer performance-based contracts in order to improve the success rate of innovation projects within facility management and commercial cleaning.

New research from SoftBank Robotics EMEA, reveals that 89 percent of supply side and 78 percent of demand side facilities management leaders think that performance-based contracts are positive for the cleaning industry. [Read more…] about Facilities management leaders call for strategic partnerships to drive robotics and innovation

NXP launches new bluetooth devices for automotive and industrial markets

May 18, 2020 by David Edwards Leave a Comment

NXP Semiconductors has launched new devices within its KW3x range of microcontrollers (MCUs). The new KW39/38/37 MCUs add Bluetooth 5.0 long-range capabilities and expanded Bluetooth advertising channels.

These enhancements are made while offering seamless migration with hardware, software and tools compatibility with the previous generation of devices, KW34/35/36.

The connectivity MCUs allow Bluetooth LE devices to communicate at distances of more than a mile and increase the amount of Bluetooth advertising channels and advertising data within the Bluetooth standard, the predominant IoT protocol. [Read more…] about NXP launches new bluetooth devices for automotive and industrial markets

Boston Dynamics provides its canine robot in the fight against coronavirus

May 18, 2020 by Sam Francis Leave a Comment

Boston Dynamics has modified its canine robot to make it more helpful in the fight against coronavirus.

In a blog post, the company says: “We have spent the last six weeks building and testing a payload and application architecture that would enable our robot, Spot, to help reduce exposure of frontline healthcare workers to the novel Covid-19 virus.”

Mobile robots play a vital role in removing people from dangerous environments, says the company, which developed the payload, hardware, and software for this application so that they are “generalizable and able to be deployed on other mobile robotic platforms with APIs and capacity for custom payloads”. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics provides its canine robot in the fight against coronavirus