Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

Video: F&P Robotics boss says he wouldn’t trust the thinking, feeling robots of the future

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The founder and managing director of F&P Robotics says he wouldn’t trust the robots of the future because they will become conscious and capable of taking over the world, and possibly enslaving humans. (See video below.)

The experienced roboticist, who has a background in natural sciences and brain research, says it’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence-powered robots start thinking about big questions – like, who created the universe and what is the point of humans.

In an interview with RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com, recorded at Hannover Messe in Germany (video above), Dr Hansruedi Früh says the only difference between humans and robots, at the moment, is “self-reflection, which only humans and very few animals have”, but robot learning is progressing and that their consciousness is inevitable.  [Read more…] about Video: F&P Robotics boss says he wouldn’t trust the thinking, feeling robots of the future

Video: Siemens predicts small number of companies will dominate industrial internet

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Only a small number of companies will dominate the industrial internet, according to a business development executive at Siemens, who was speaking to RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com at Hannover Messe. (See video below.) 

The German engineering giant recently launched its MindScape IoT platform and more than 50 individual apps for a variety of scenarios in industry.

Matthias Lutz, business development manager, digital factory division, Siemens, says: “I personally do see a couple of platforms co-existing in future, and maybe a couple of very specialised ones.

“But in the end, in my opinion, I think it’s a matter of two to three large platforms.”  [Read more…] about Video: Siemens predicts small number of companies will dominate industrial internet

Video: Dassault Systèmes to launch integrated new platform for 3D printing

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Dassault Systèmes is planning to launch an integrated 3D printing platform in the next few months, according to a senior executive at the company. 

In an interview with RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com, Philippe Bartissol, vice president, industrial equipment industry, Dassault Systèmes, says the the initiative will be announced in the next two months.

The initiative will “address the complete ecosystem of 3D printing”, says Bartissol, adding: “It will not be only one customer using our platform extensively.

“It will be several players from several fields jointly working on one platform, with payment possibilities and delivery possibilities as well.”  [Read more…] about Video: Dassault Systèmes to launch integrated new platform for 3D printing

Reed Switch Developments offers ‘best lead times’ in the industry for sensors

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Reed Switch Developments Corp Products

Reed Switch Developments, a US-based designer and manufacturer of standard and custom magnetic reed switch and proximity sensor assemblies for 50 years, is offering what it claims is the industry’s best lead times on all standard and custom reed switch sensors, magnetic reed switches and bare reeds, with availability of most stock quantities within two weeks or less.

Magnetic reed switches from Reed are available in single pole, single throw (SPST) formats, with choice of normally open (NO) or normally closed (NC) contacts; as well as single pole, double throw (SPDT) configurations.

Customers can choose from a variety of materials with varying sensitivities and wattages, ranging from 0.25 W to 100 W.  [Read more…] about Reed Switch Developments offers ‘best lead times’ in the industry for sensors

Swisslog Americas forms automotive group

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Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions Americas has formed an automotive group and appointed Terry Krantz as vice president of sales and consulting.

Swisslog Warehouse and Distributions Solutions Americas, a Member of the Kuka Group and leading provider of best-in-class intralogistics solutions, announces the formation of a new automotive business unit focused on developing and delivering intralogistics automation to tier one suppliers and original equipment manufacturers.

Markus Schmidt, president of Swisslog WDS Americas, says: “Tier one suppliers and OEMs have already been turning to Swisslog and benefiting from our turnkey solutions designed to streamline their work-in-process manufacturing, kitting, and parts storage.  [Read more…] about Swisslog Americas forms automotive group

Aerotech demonstrates patent-pending motion control sensor

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aerotech-qnp3_pr0417a_hires

Aerotech has launched a motion control sensor with a parallel-kinematic design which provides unmatched geometric performance, says company, adding that it also offers superior positioning resolution and linearity with the direct-metrology capacitive sensor.

Aerotech’s QNP3 series XYZ piezo positioning stages combine sub-nanometer resolution, high dynamics, and excellent geometric performance in a compact three-degree-of-freedom (DoF) package.

They come with a 40 mm x 40 mm clear aperture with closed-loop travels up to 100 µm x 100 µm x 10 µm (open-loop travels to 120 µm x 120 µm x 12 µm).

The design is ideal for optical and scanning probe microscopy or other inspection or manufacturing applications where two-sided part access is required with three-DoF manipulation.  [Read more…] about Aerotech demonstrates patent-pending motion control sensor

This is the biggest infographic in the world ever

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infographic – Where-next-for-car-technology

By Neil Tohill, director of Southside Motor Factors

This epic infographic outlines the extraordinary technological innovations that we are currently seeing, or can soon expect to see, on modern vehicles.

The concept of self-driving cars has been mooted for quite some time and has been a feature of sci-fi TV shows or cartoons speculatively casting an eye to the future.

In 2017, autonomous cars have become a distinct possibility, and while a fully autonomous vehicle is still a way off, we can now invest in cars which will let us kick back for most of a journey.

We’re also entering the area of holographic windscreens which can display key data that we would previously have needed to glance down at the dashboard to see.

These advances are remarkable when you think that it wasn’t so long ago since power steering and remote locking were perceived as fantastic innovations.

Huawei links up with GE Digital to offer industrial cloud solution

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Huawei and GE Digital are partnering to jointly launch their industrial cloud-based predictive maintenance solution. 

In an interview with Robotics and Automation News, Catherine Du, Huawei’s director of marketing, said the company is looking to increase its share of the nascent but fast-growing sector of business.

“Huawei is one of the leading ICT vendors,” said Du. “We supply a wide range of technologies to the market, from Big Data to IoT, so we feel that now is the right time for us to reach out to the industrial space and build new partnerships.”

And although Huawei’s current focus is on the industrial market, the company is looking to promote its brand globally going forward, in the wider business-to-business market and in the consumer space, says Du.  [Read more…] about Huawei links up with GE Digital to offer industrial cloud solution

Kuka agrees deal with Beet on IoT

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beet analytics video still

Kuka has agreed a deal with Beet Analytics as part of robot maker’s Industrie 4.0 strategy.

Kuka will now be able to offer Beet’s industrial IoT technology as another tool in their Industrie 4.0 eco-system and to offer Beet technology on Kuka solutions.

Ronny Chiang, president Beet analytics technology, says: “We are excited to work with Kuka, whose global industrial leadership in automation systems will further strengthen Beet’s presence in the global market. This will allow OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to access Beet IoT solutions with a respected and established leader standing behind it.”  [Read more…] about Kuka agrees deal with Beet on IoT

SAP and Kuka partner to design the ‘factory of the future’

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SAP and Kuka say they will work together around Industrial 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to develop more flexible and automated production processes.

Both companies want to collaborate, particularly in the areas of manufacturing, mechanical engineering and the automotive sector.

The integration of Kuka robots into SAP’s digital manufacturing is based on standard protocols such as OPC Unified Architecture.

In addition, Kuka and SAP plan to provide Kuka robot applications based on the SAP Leonardo IoT platform.  [Read more…] about SAP and Kuka partner to design the ‘factory of the future’