Where Innovation Meets Imagination
There’s quite a few robotic floor cleaning devices already on the market, but there’s plenty of room for more.
While the companies currently supplying robotic mops and vacuum cleaners have made a lot of money with them, the market is far from crowded.
The main reason for this is the price of robotic cleaning machines have actually been very high, especially if you go for the iRobot or Dyson models. [Read more…] about Cleaning robots: Everybot ready for messy jobs
It’s been a wonderful year in the life of this humble website. Not only have we consistently produced the best newsletter in the known universe, probably, but our website has been receiving a lot of visitors and attention.
Our stories have received incoming links from prestigious newspapers with more than a century of history behind them, as well as massively popular new websites with fantastic futures ahead of them.
We would like to mention them, but that might suggest that they endorse this indulgent self-aggrandisement on our part. We would accept this is something of a “thank you” to all the people who have contributed to this website and our readers, but it’s not often we talk about ourselves in positive ways – we’re actually always looking for ways to improve the website and our content across all our channels. [Read more…] about Top 20 ‘Most Read’ stories on Robotics and Automation News in 2016
Whether it is referred to as the Industrial Internet or Industrie 4.0, digitalization is currently on the agenda in every major economy.
The approaches taken and the expectations raised are very different, as two new studies demonstrate.
“Around the world, digitalization of the economy is being approached from different angles,” explains Acatech president Henning Kagermann in the preface to the new Huawei survey, An International Comparison of Industrie 4.0. [Read more…] about Industrial internet: Hannover Messe increases activity in industrial automation markets around the world
By David Shepardson, Reuters
Apple is wading in to the debate over regulation of self-driving cars, declaring it is excited about the potential for automated transportation and calling on US regulators not to restrict testing of such vehicles.
A five-page letter from Steve Kenner, Apple’s director of product integrity, to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the company’s most comprehensive statement yet about its interest in self-driving vehicle technology.
The November 22 letter followed more than a year of industry speculation about the computer and iPhone maker’s plans for expanding into transportation. [Read more…] about Apple more or less confirms autonomous car project in letter to US government
Software giant SAP has launched its new Manufacturing Execution application on its Hana Enterprise Cloud, which the company says is a “fully scalable and secure private cloud service”.
SAP says the new software helps manufacturers “embrace Industry 4.0 automation” and process high volumes of data from sensors and devices from the Internet of Things in a real-time cloud delivery environment that can simplify implementation and improve time to value at lower cost.
SAP Manufacturing Execution in the cloud helps manufacturers connect, monitor and tightly control operations, says the company, adding that it facilitates Industry 4.0 strategies by “integrating with business and manufacturing processes to enable efficient, high-quality production on the shop floor”. [Read more…] about SAP launches new cloud-based manufacturing solution
The IoT Tech Expo Global conference has announced keynote speakers for the upcoming global event in London 2017.
Taking place on January 23-24th at the Olympia venue, the event will feature keynote speakers from the likes of Shell, Rolls-Royce, SSE, Maersk, Thyssenkrupp, Sky, Nest, Ford, Heathrow Airport and more.
The two-day event will cover a range of industries from manufacturing to healthcare, transportation to government, logistics to retail, with a total of 7 conference tracks covering the entire Internet of Things ecosystem. [Read more…] about IoT Tech Expo Global 2017 lines up keynote speakers
Companies plan to jointly develop hardware and software solutions for the proactive maintenance of machines
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica and robot-maker Comau have signed a global cooperation agreement to develop and market solutions for predictive maintenance based on modular hardware and software and designed to acquire and analyze field data – through the internet of things, and big data analytics.
The companies say these solutions are targeted at the manufacturing industry and in particular, and companies operating in the automotive, industrial manufacturing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and white goods sectors, and conform to the Industry 4.0 paradigm.
From a technical point of view, the solutions developed by the two partner companies seek to predict the potential occurrence of malfunctions or a full stop of the machines, and to intercept negative trends in production process quality, or predictive maintenance system. [Read more…] about Industry 4.0: Comau signs deal with EII to develop predictive maintenance solutions
The International Standards Organisation and SAE International, the engineers’ association, have entered a “pilot agreement” for the joint development of new technical standards and harmonization of existing standards.
The new Partnership Standards Development Organization (PSDO) cooperation agreement will apply in two areas, Road Vehicles (ISO TC22) and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ISO TC204).
David Schutt, CEO of SAE International, says: “This important agreement is a response to the transformational changes taking place in many global industries, including mobility engineering. Increasing technological complexity must be addressed through collaborative efforts in standardization to avoid duplication and reduce cost across the global network of automotive business partners. [Read more…] about ISO and SAE to develop technical standards for intelligent transport and vehicle systems
Developer of Wave Glider ocean robot boosts Boeing’s ocean data collection capabilities
Boeing has reached an agreement to buy Liquid Robotics, a builder of autonomous maritime systems and developer of the Wave Glider ocean surface robot, to grow its seabed-to-space autonomous capabilities.
Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, says: “With Liquid Robotics’ innovative technology and Boeing’s leading intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions, we are helping our customers address maritime challenges in ways that make existing platforms smarter, missions safer and operations more efficient.”
In September 2014, Boeing and Liquid Robotics entered into a teaming agreement resulting in extensive integration on the Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft (Sharc), a version of the Wave Glider. [Read more…] about Boeing to acquire Liquid Robotics to ‘enhance autonomous seabed-to-space information services’
Kuka is selling at least part of its aerospace division to Advanced Integration Technology.
Kuka, which is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial robotics and automation technology, says the aerospace division it is selling to AIT is called “Systems Aerospace North America”.
However, the Kuka website which relates to its aerospace business is called KukaAero.com, and that says “Kuka Systems Aerospace Group is the largest division of Kuka”– no mention of “North America”. [Read more…] about Kuka sells its ‘North American’ aviation division to Advanced Integration Technology
