Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

Komatsu to build new headquarters 
in Milwaukee’s Harbor District

by

Mining vehicles and technology supplier Komatsu is planning to build its new headquarters 
in Milwaukee’s Harbor District.

Just shy of its 135th anniversary in the Milwaukee area, Komatsu Mining says it intends to build a new, state-of-the-art headquarters and manufacturing campus near the location of the company’s original machine shop off South First Street.

The company’s 2.5 million-square-foot South Harbor Campus is planned for Milwaukee’s Harbor District, off Greenfield Avenue.  [Read more…] about Komatsu to build new headquarters 
in Milwaukee’s Harbor District

ABB launches its ‘most compact and lightweight 6-axis robot ever’

by

ABB has launched what it describes as its “most compact and lightweight 6-axis robot ever”.

The new IRB 1100 “enhances the industry’s most comprehensive offering for fast, accurate small parts assembly solutions”, claims ABB.

ABB introduced the IRB 1100 at the China International Industry Fair 2018 in Shanghai – its smallest, lightest robot to date as part of its growing offering of solutions for small parts assembly.  [Read more…] about ABB launches its ‘most compact and lightweight 6-axis robot ever’

Comau launches ‘lightweight, wearable’ exoskeleton for workers

by

Industrial automation company Comau has launched its first “innovative wearable exoskeleton” for industrial workers.

The exoskeleton, called “Mate”, has been designed to improve work quality in an efficient and highly ergonomic manner by providing consistent and advanced movement assistance during repetitive as well as daily tasks, says Comau.

The “Mate Fit for Workers” exoskeleton, to give the device its full name, uses an advanced spring-based passive structure.  [Read more…] about Comau launches ‘lightweight, wearable’ exoskeleton for workers

SkySpecs reaches 33,000 autonomous wind turbine blade inspections

by

SkySpecs, a provider of robotic solutions for the wind energy industry, says the company has officially inspected and analyzed over 33,000 wind turbine blades with their fully automated drone solution.

The company’s onshore and offshore inspections spans the globe, and its newly-released software solution, Horizon, enables customers to analyze inspection data and manage their fleet maintenance.

SkySpecs CTO Tom Brady, says: “Because our inspection process is extremely measurable and repeatable, SkySpecs is able to observe the same damages and draw correlations from year to year.  [Read more…] about SkySpecs reaches 33,000 autonomous wind turbine blade inspections

Technical insight: How to improve uptime in industrial robotic systems

by

How sensors coupled with Industry 4.0 technology will enable predictive maintenance of industrial robots

Machine maintenance can sometimes seem like one of the black arts, according to experts at Infineon Technologies. A seemingly reliable machine suddenly stops working and, despite everyone’s best efforts, cannot be brought back to life. Along comes a member of the maintenance team and, after some beard-scratching, tinkering inside the machine and a few words of encouragement, the machine springs back to life.

The reality is often more pragmatic. Schedules of work are arranged to optimize uptime and undertake preventative maintenance during periods that have the least impact on manufacturing. However, there are still times when maintenance engineers seemingly ‘sense’ impending failure of their robots and automation equipment.

Could the implementation of sensing technologies, beyond the sensors needed for process monitoring, deliver improvements in predictive maintenance?  [Read more…] about Technical insight: How to improve uptime in industrial robotic systems

Manufacturing is set for ‘the next American industrial revolution’, says ABI

by

ABI Research says its study of recent big industrial technology exhibitions “highlights how the manufacturing landscape is set for the next American industrial revolution”.

The consultancy says: “The manufacturing landscape is about to change and change in a big way.”

The debate over whether or not digitization will impact this market has passed, it adds.  [Read more…] about Manufacturing is set for ‘the next American industrial revolution’, says ABI

EOS launches new digital industrial additive manufacturing production system

by

EOS, a leading supplier of industrial 3D printing of metals and polymers, has launched the new EOS M 300-4 system.

The company says the new system is part of the broader, modular metal 3D printing platform EOS M 300 for digital industrial additive manufacturing production.

Tobias Abeln, chief technical officer, says: “With its modular set-up and its scalable and flexible concept, the new system line focuses on the high customer demands for AM production.  [Read more…] about EOS launches new digital industrial additive manufacturing production system

Epson launches competition to win three of its industrial robots

by

Epson Robots has launched a competition to win three of its industrial robots.

Epson, which says it’s the market leader in SCARA robots, has been a provider of automation solutions since 1980. It’s one of the top 10 robotics companies in the world.

The company says the competition is launched as the expansion of automation continues around the world, with many new and innovative applications for robots are being developed.  [Read more…] about Epson launches competition to win three of its industrial robots

Sandvik celebrates 20 years of its giant self-driving mining vehicle with arty film

by

Sandvik, the well known Swedish maker of massive mining vehicles, is celebrating 20 years of its driverless “Automated Loader” with an arty film in which it navigates and then melodramatically destroys a glass labyrinth. (See videos below.)

In recent years, self-driving vehicles have become a frequent discussion topic, mainly because there are so many autonomous road-going vehicles being developed by the leading automakers.

But in the mining industry, driverless vehicles have been around a long time and have been busy being productive. The Sandvik loaders are about the size of a truck.  [Read more…] about Sandvik celebrates 20 years of its giant self-driving mining vehicle with arty film

Data company Scale releases massive self-driving dataset

by

Data and artificial intelligence developer Scale has released a huge amount of data relating to self-driving vehicles.

The data provides annotation for the “nuScenes dataset”, which is led by nuTonomy, an autonomous car developer.

Scale claims this is the “largest open source multi-sensor self-driving dataset available to public”.  [Read more…] about Data company Scale releases massive self-driving dataset