Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Kuka, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial robotic arms, is planning to expand into the area of personal assistance robotics.
This is according to an article on FT.com, which quotes Kuka chief executive Till Reuter.
Reuter told the FT that he sees potential for using Midea’s reach into the household appliances market to develop more complex, intelligent machines which can help with household tasks. [Read more…] about Kuka to build personal assistance robot business with Midea
Yaskawa is expanding its manufacturing operation in Sweden, according to a report on Evertiq.com.
One of the world’s largest industrial robot manufacturers, Yaskawa is investing a further €4 million into the plant at Torsås, Sweden.
The work will eventually expand the facility by 2,000 sq m and is expected to be completed by summer 2018. [Read more…] about Yaskawa invests €4 million in production facility in Sweden, and partners with Midea in Asia
ABB has installed three YuMi robots on a new production line at its electrification products plant in Ede, the Netherlands.
Designed for use in small parts assembly, the three YuMi robots will assemble a new cavity wall socket called HW52-F.
ABB says that, due to its “inherently safe” design, the YuMi collaborative dual arm robot solution will ensure the safety of those around it and elevate the nature of work at the plant by performing repetitive tasks to perfection. [Read more…] about ABB puts YuMi collaborative industrial robot to work making wall sockets at its factory in Holland
Japanese robotics maker ZMP has partnered with a taxi operator in Tokyo, as part of its plans to launch a self-driving taxi in the city in time for the 2020 Olympics, said CEO Hisashi Taniguchi.
Japan’s taxi industry, faced with a labour crunch due to an ageing population, has been looking at new technologies to drive growth. The sector may also have to deal with more competition in the future if the government allows ride-sharing services such as Uber to operate across the country.
“Autonomous taxis and the taxi industry can grow and prosper together,” Taniguchi told reporters, after announcing ZMP’s partnership with Hinomaru Kotsu. [Read more…] about ZMP partners with Tokyo taxi operator to launch self-driving cabs for 2020 Olympics
Audi has demonstrated its autonomous car – which it calls “Jack” – in a road test featuring a humanoid robot called Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics.
Audi’s head of concept development, automated driving, Klaus Verweyen, was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, while Sophia was in the passenger seat.
Verweyen chatted away to Sophia as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile, Jack drove itself from Audi’s facility onto a main highway and back again. [Read more…] about Audi autonomous car tech boss chats with humanoid robot as though it were entirely natural
By Lisa Baertlein and Harriet McLeod, Reuters
The merger that shook food and retail stocks on Friday – Amazon’s proposed deal to buy Whole Foods Market – rattled some employees of the upscale grocery chain who expressed fears ranging from layoffs to the loss of their laid-back corporate culture.
The online retailer hopes the $13.7 billion acquisition helps it disrupt the grocery business and expand its real-world store footprint.
Carmen Clark, 37, a six-year employee at a store in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, said some workers worry that Amazon-led automation could lead to job cuts. [Read more…] about Amazon could assimilate Whole Foods workers into robots and drones in some sort of cyber-physical dystopian Borg-like nightmare
Technology in the fields of life sciences and medicine is constantly evolving. New manufacturing techniques have made it possible to make more effective therapies, and advances in research have led to more cost-effective solutions to conditions that were once considered too expensive to treat.
One of the most interesting aspects of the evolution of medical technology is the constantly increasing involvement of automation in various medical operations, particularly in diagnostics.
Back then, essential diagnostic procedures relied on manual procedures. While conventional methods were successful to a certain degree, they are hampered by certain limitations.
For instance, manual testing of specimens is slow and prone to mistakes caused by poor human judgment. Automation helps get rid of these limitations to achieve more accurate results in less time. [Read more…] about The advantages of automation in medical diagnostics
To anyone looking for work, it might sound strange to hear that some sectors of the economy are struggling to find and retain workers, but that’s the situation many engineering companies find themselves in.
Finding, educating, training and retaining talented young people is not just a dilemma for engineering companies in one region or country, it’s a global issue.
But, paradoxically, while companies in some countries say there’s a problem finding engineering graduates, in other countries such as India, large numbers of engineering graduates are reportedly not having much luck finding jobs.
In those countries where there is a shortage, such as Germany and maybe the US, it’s not at crisis levels yet, but it’s a complication that large industrial companies are trying to alleviate in a variety of ways. [Read more…] about Engineering companies struggling to find and keep talented young workers
Baumüller, a drive and automation systems manufacturer, has received an order from Lemo Maschinenbau to design a cost-optimized, efficient and sustainable foil bag machine that also affords the manufacturer maximum flexibility and quick commissioning in the production process due to its modular structure.
Baumüller says its engineering specialists were able to meet Lemo’s requirement for modularity and a work cycle increase with the help of a new automation concept.
Among other things, a modern and streamlined drive and control architecture was used for this purpose. This means an integrated fieldbus system, minimum number of devices and a reduced control structure. [Read more…] about Baumüller and Lemo to partner on building brand new bag machine
Elsevier has released a couple of new books that take deep dive into the programming of robots. [Read more…] about Books: Journeys into the minds of robots
