Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Manufacturing

Samsung certifies Mentor Tessent tools for 8LPP process 

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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., has certified Mentor‘s Tessent products for Samsung Foundry’s 8-nanometer (nm) LPP (Low Power Plus) process.

These tools provide design and test time improvements for very large designs targeting markets such as mobile communications, high-speed network/server computing, cryptocurrency, and autonomous driving.

Very large designs in today’s leading semiconductor devices can suffer from requiring large compute resources, and pattern-generation times that are too long or are being performed too late in the design flow.

[Read more…] about Samsung certifies Mentor Tessent tools for 8LPP process 

Ricardo invests in manufacturing for car transmission systems

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Ricardo has commissioned a state-of-the-art £500k Gleason GP300ES Gear Shaping Machine as part of a strategic multi-year investment programme to consolidate Ricardo’s position in transmission design and manufacturing for worldwide premium motorsports and supercar customers.

This highly advanced manufacturing centre incorporates a totally new shaping head featuring a backlash-free direct drive for the cutter spindle.

With the appropriate software, additional generating cutter rotational motion required for helical gears can be superimposed electronically on the spindle rotation, making it suited for the manufacture of some of the most advanced transmissions systems demanded for motorsport and high-performance supercars.

[Read more…] about Ricardo invests in manufacturing for car transmission systems

Daimler Trucks confirms ‘significant increase’ in unit sales worldwide

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Daimler Trucks claims it is seeing a “significant increase” in unit sales across many key regions around the world.

As part of its Capital Market & Technology Day, Daimler Trucks today confirmed its positive outlook for unit sales and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and remains optimistic about its outlook for the current business year.

In the Trucks division, the world’s most successful manufacturer of commercial vehicles anticipates a significant increase in unit sales and EBIT compared with the previous year.  [Read more…] about Daimler Trucks confirms ‘significant increase’ in unit sales worldwide

Airbus inaugurates Hamburg’s fourth A320 production line dominated by robots and digital processes

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Airbus has inaugurated the fourth Hamburg, Germany production line for its A320 Family of jet airliners.

Making use of digital technologies and a more flexible industrial setup, Airbus says the “innovative state-of-the-art line is a key enabler for ramping up the single-aisle programme to 60 aircraft per month by mid-2019”.

Frank Horch, Hamburg’s senator of economy, transport and innovation and Thomas Jarzombek, federal government coordinator of German aerospace policy, witnessed the milestone together with Guillaume Faury, president Airbus commercial aircraft, and 500 guests at a special ceremony in Hamburg.  [Read more…] about Airbus inaugurates Hamburg’s fourth A320 production line dominated by robots and digital processes

North American semiconductor equipment sales at an all-time high

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North American semiconductor equipment sales are at an all-time high, according to the leading industry association, Semi.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.7 billion in billings worldwide in May 2018, according to the May Equipment Market Data Subscription Billings Report, published by Semi.

The billings figure is 0.6 percent higher than the final April 2018 level of $2.69 billion, and is 19.2 percent higher than the May 2017 billings level of $2.27 billion.  [Read more…] about North American semiconductor equipment sales at an all-time high

Sandia’s robotic work cell conducts high-throughput testing ‘in an instant’

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Automation speeds up 3D-printed part testing, materials science data collection

Today with 3D printing you can make almost anything in a matter of hours. However, making sure that part works reliably takes weeks or even months.

Until now, according to a group of scientists.

Sandia National Laboratories has designed and built a six-sided work cell, similar to a circular desk, with a commercial robot at its center that conducts high-throughput testing to quickly determine the performance and properties of the part.

They call this flexible, modular and scalable system Alinstante, Spanish for “in an instant” (see video below). Sandia is seeking industry partners to help expand or discover more uses for the new robotic testing system.  [Read more…] about Sandia’s robotic work cell conducts high-throughput testing ‘in an instant’

Lab automation company raises $14 million from top life sciences companies

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Andrew Alliance, a developer of robotic liquid handling systems, has raised $14 million in its latest funding round.

Andrew Alliance says its technology is is improving repeatability with an innovative approach to liquid handling with conventional laboratory pipettes.

The new $14 million investment came from several of the leading life sciences enterprises, including Tecan Group, the Waters Corporation, Inpeco, Rancilio Cube, Sam Eletr Trust and Omega Funds.  [Read more…] about Lab automation company raises $14 million from top life sciences companies

Mass customisation: Cimpress finds ‘the right balance’ of automation and human intervention in manufacturing

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Cimpress was practising “mass customisation” years before the term became fashionable. In 1999, the Netherlands company took its operation to the internet and launched its now-famous Vistaprint brand, among others.

Originally established in 1995, Cimpress now employs 12,000 people worldwide and last year generated revenue of more $2 billion.

In this article, Maarten Wensveen, chief technology officer at Cimpress, provides an insight into the company’s operations and technology. 

Modern manufacturing technology is improving how goods are made and how quickly they can be delivered to customers.

[Read more…] about Mass customisation: Cimpress finds ‘the right balance’ of automation and human intervention in manufacturing

Magna partners with May Mobility to develop self-driving shuttles

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Collaboration in south-eastern Michigan to make the first deployment in Downtown Detroit possible

Getting around in crowded city streets of America is about to get a little easier. May Mobility, an Ann Arbor, Michigan startup building self-driving shuttles, has partnered with Magna, a mobility technology company and one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, to retrofit and scale up May Mobility’s unique fleet of self-driving shuttles set to enter the US market.

This partnership is an industry-first, with Magna retrofitting low-speed self-driving micro transit electric vehicles from the chassis up. (See video below.)

The initial fleet of vehicles will debut on June 26, 2018 with May Mobility’s first commercial deployment which will take place in Detroit, Michigan.  [Read more…] about Magna partners with May Mobility to develop self-driving shuttles

Audi uses Stratasys 3D printer to prototype tail light covers

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Audi is planning to use what is claimed to the “world’s only full-color, multi-material 3D printer” to prototype tail light covers.

Additive manufacturing systems supplier Stratasys says Audi Pre-Series Center with its Plastics 3D Printing Center in Ingolstadt, Germany, will leverage “the world’s only full-color, multi-material 3D printer” – the Stratasys J750 – to innovate its design process and accelerate design verification.

For the production of tail light covers, Audi expects to reduce prototyping lead times by up to 50 percent.  [Read more…] about Audi uses Stratasys 3D printer to prototype tail light covers