Where Innovation Meets Imagination
The Benz Patent Motorwagen, invented by Carl Benz in the 1880s, is regarded as the first motor car ever made.
It was a purely a mechanical machine with no electronics.
It wasn’t until the 1930s that electronics started playing a part in cars, which had become much more complex and more powerful since the original motorwagen.
And electronics have played an increasingly large role ever since. [Read more…] about Connected cars: A massive new market for chipmakers
Tech-Link Engineering has formed a strategic partnership with Blue Ocean Robotics to offer an ultra-violet disinfection robot solution.
The partnership affirms both Tech-Link and Blue Ocean Robotics’ efforts in delivering emerging technologies to battle against Hospital Acquired Infections and improve the quality of healthcare services.
As an official sales partner, Tech-Link says it brings together Blue Ocean Robotics’ expertise in automating disinfection procedures to promote safer, efficient and more productive work environment. [Read more…] about Tech-Link partners with Blue Ocean Robotics on atmosphere disinfection system
Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of EU Automation, takes a look at one of the casualties of fluid communication in the factory – that is, the death of proprietary networks and communication protocols in favour of the uninhibited free flow of data
Like it or not, we live in modern world of fluidity and interconnectedness in which the once ordinary now transcends all previous boundaries.
Take the humble kettle for instance. It’s a sign of the times that you can now purchase a kettle you can control from your phone via the internet. It will even send you notifications when it needs filling or if it’s at optimum temperature. Because it was hard to tell before.
Joking aside, one place where interconnectivity really is making a difference is on the factory floor. [Read more…] about Connected world: The death of proprietary networks
Motion plastics specialist says new energy chain allows for easy assembly and cable routing
Igus has launched triflex TRLF.125, extending the TRLF family to include its largest 125mm nominal diameter e-chain, in addition to existing 65, 87.5 and 100mm internal diameter sizes.
These TRLF energy chains are ideally suited for robotics and other applications that require electrical power cables, data cables and hoses to remain secure and protected during multi-axis movement.
The company – which likes its name written as igus, with a small i – that with this new 125mm size, even stiff or large hoses, or indeed large numbers of individual cables, can be inserted quickly and easily, reducing labour costs and assembly time. [Read more…] about Igus introduces its largest energy chain for light robotic applications
Plex Systems, a provider of cloud enterprise resource planning software for manufacturing, says its annual survey examining the use of technology by leading manufacturers shows that increasing levels of connectivity is leading to dramatic improvements.
The 2016 Plex State of Manufacturing Technology study provides real-world insight from nearly 200 manufacturing organizations that are using technology today to meet the demands of customers, drive product innovation and improve operational efficiency.
Among the key findings, Plex found was that “cloud technology improves manufacturers’ ability to manage changing business needs”.
With the cloud, manufacturers connect the plant floor with the top floor, providing everyone access to one version of real-time data. [Read more…] about Connecting to the cloud is improving manufacturing, says Plex
Raspberry Pi sold its 10 millionth unit last month, four years after its founders launched the tiny computer, expecting to sell only a few thousand.
Writing on the company’s blog, one of the founders, Eben Upton, says “imagine how strange it feels” to announce having sold 10 million, and that the figure has “beaten our wildest dreams by three orders of magnitude”.
Raspberry Pi was originally started to provide encourage to more people to join the Computer Science courses at Cambridge University, UK. [Read more…] about Board leader: 10 million Raspberry Pi units sold and new kit launched
If aliens from beyond our solar system or even our galaxy were to land on Earth and wanted to communicate with intelligent machines that can move around and shake hands, chances are that one of the first in line to greet our otherworldly visitors will be a robot with a brain built using the Robot Operating System.
The simple reason for this is that ROS is one of the most ubiquitous platforms for robotics in the world today, helped largely by the fact that it is an open-source project, in contrast to the majority of robot operating systems which are proprietary and closed.
Described as a collection of frameworks for robot software development, ROS was originally developed in 2007 at Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. ROS was then extended by Willow Garage, and that’s when it really started taking off. [Read more…] about All’s well that ROS well: Robot Operating System taking over the world
“Additive manufacturing” is increasingly used interchangeably with “3D printing”, so they essentially mean the same thing. The only difference seems to be that “3D printing” is used more by maker communities – hobbyists and inventors – and still retains some sort of novelty value, whereas “additive manufacturing” – despite being the newer term – is more likely to be preferred in industry circles, perhaps because it has the sound of an established technology.
But it’s not really an “established” technology in the sense that it’s only been around for a relatively short time.
According to 3DPrintingIndustry.com, it was only in 2007 that a 3D printer was available for less than $10,000 – from a company called 3D Systems, which is today one of the most well-known providers of the technology.
The most advanced 3D printers still cost quite a lot of money, especially those used by high-end manufacturers, but there are good-quality, entry-level machines available today for as little as a few hundred dollars. [Read more…] about Additive manufacturing or 3D printing? What’s the difference?
Aurora demonstrates advanced robot system on a Diamond DA-42, Cessna Caravan and Bell UH-1 helicopter as part of Darpa autonomous aircraft program
Aurora Flight Sciences is reaching new technological heights in the world of automated flight through its work on the Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (Alias) program.
On October 17 Aurora demonstrated automated flight capabilities with Alias flying a Cessna Caravan through basic maneuvers under the supervision of a pilot.
Aurora’s Alias technology has now been successfully demonstrated on three separate aircraft, from three original equipment manufacturers, in less than twelve months. [Read more…] about Darpa-backed company demonstrates semi-autonomous plane co-piloted by a robot
The Hindenburg disaster, in which a massive German airship caught fire while landing in the US, resulting in the deaths of 36 people, occurred in 1937, but even today it’s remembered and thought of as the reason why airships never took to the skies in large numbers.
The powerful images of the accident left many who viewed them with the impression that airships were dangerous, partly because they were filled with gas lighter than air.
But whereas the Hindenburg was filled with a flammable gas, modern airships are not – they haven’t been for many decades. [Read more…] about Airships: Ready to fly high again after a century of suspicion
