Where Innovation Meets Imagination
3D Systems‘ Figure 4™ Production and Figure 4 Standalone is now the fastest, most accurate 3D printing technology available, says the company.
Recently released data on Figure 4 Production highlights part print speeds up to 65mm/hr, with prototyping speeds of up to 100 mm/hr.
The Figure 4 platform delivers part accuracy and repeatability, with Six Sigma repeatability (Cpk > 2) across all materials.
[Read more…] about 3D Systems claims its printers offer ‘world’s fastest time-to-part’ process
A single device to acquire data, evaluate it and send it to the cloud is now possible with B&R‘s Edge Controller.
The powerful industrial PC can even be used for big data analysis and machine learning, says the company, while at the same time serving as a fully-fledged industrial controller.
B&R’s Edge Controller is based on the robust Automation PC 910, whose high-performance variant is equipped with an Intel XEON processor able to handle resource-intensive tasks like machine learning.
[Read more…] about One device for data acquisition, evaluation and cloud storage
Hyundai Heavy Industries has reached an agreement to supply Kuka industrial robots and other products to manufacturers and other industrial companies.
This is according to a report on the website of the Korea Herald, which says the agreement is for HHI to market Kuka products to “large Korean manufacturing firms”.
South Korean industry is dominated by what are referred to chaebols, which means very large conglomerates, and gaining access to them is probably quite difficult. [Read more…] about Hyundai Heavy Industries to sell Kuka robots to manufacturers
A Japanese company called Daiwa House Industry has been demonstrating a robotic system which can help in the construction of houses and buildings.
The robot appears to work by spraying layers of plaster on metallic structures, which themselves could be constructed by a robot – as can be seen in the image on Mainichi.jp.
It seems to work along similar lines to a robotic construction system developed by researchers at ETH Zurich, in Switzerland.
Daiwa House executives say the company’s system can labour costs of 30 per cent compared with human workers.
The main task it is designed to perform is to spray fireproof coating on a building – something which is said to be one of the most difficult parts of construction.
Daiwa House, which has so far invested almost $1 million into developing the system, plans to put it into operation sometime next year.
Head of technology Kazuto Tsuchida says: “It is expected the construction industry will face a shortage of 1.12 million workers in 2025.
“There are major expectations for robots, and we hope this will lead to high quantity production.”
This is not the only area of robotics Daiwa House been researching. The partners with Cyberdyne, which builds robotic exoskeletons, to supply the latter’s “HAL” exoskeletons.
The exoskeletons are designed to provide assistance to caregivers to the elderly (see picture below).
Daiwa House is Japan’s largest homebuilder, and also has interests in many other design and construction sectors, including in the building of care homes for the elderly.
The company’s annual revenue is more than $20 billion and it employs approximately 30,000 people.
A group of scientists at a university in Singapore has developed a robotic system which can autonomously assemble Ikea furniture. (See video below.)
Ikea is a globally famous furniture retailer which supplies furniture flat-packed, which the customer usually assembles after taking home.
The scientists at Nanyang Technological University say the robotic arms can put together a chair “without interruption”. [Read more…] about Singapore university develops robotic system to build Ikea furniture
Unex Manufacturing, a provider of order-picking solutions, has launched what it says is “an easy-to-use” design tool that generates a 3D image and bill of materials for users’ custom carton flow solutions.
The online Configurator quickly and easily lets users configure a Span-Track solution from the ground up by themselves, accelerating the turn-around time for custom-fit materials handling equipment that can speed fulfillment and throughput in the warehouse, distribution center or manufacturing line.
Brian Neuwirth, VP sales and marketing, Unex Manufacturing, says: “We have found that many of our customers want to design a Unex solution themselves to ensure the equipment will fit into their environment to keep their processes flowing. [Read more…] about Unex launches online app for designing material handling systems
E-mart, a South Korean discount chain operator under retail giant Shinsegae, has unveiled an autonomous shopping cart for test operation.
For the first time in Korea, the autonomous cart was showcased at E-mart’s warehouse-style supermarket Traders in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, from April 17 to April 20.
The autonomous shopping cart, called Eli, has outstanding functions, such as navigation, following, avoiding obstacle, auto payment, with cutting -edge technologies.
Robotnik, in collaboration with Gaitech Robotics, developed this state-of -the-art autonomous shopping cart for E-mart.
Rethink Robotics presented its smart cobot Sawyer at this year’s Hannover Trade Fair last week, featuring new functionalities such as an Intera 5.2 software update for real-time production data visualization and easy external camera integration, and ClickSmart technology for easy changing of end-effectors.
Companies from numerous industries – including automotive, plastics, metalworking, electronics and co-packing – use Sawyer to complete tasks that cannot be automated with conventional industrial robots due to labour constraints, short product cycles or fluctuations in demand.
At the Hannover Trade Fair, Rethink Robotics provided demonstrations of manufacturing use cases from Germany, Europe and worldwide.
“With Sawyer, Rethink Robotics offers companies a smart, secure and quick-to-implement solution that allows them to automate manufacturing processes quickly and with the necessary flexibility,” says Darius Wilke, Director of European Business at Rethink Robotics.
Voestalpine invests up to €350 million in the world’s most advanced special steel plant in Kapfenberg
A groundbreaking ceremony marked the official start of the three-year construction phase for the new Voestalpine special steel plant in Kapfenberg, Austria. (See video below.)
From 2021 onwards, each year the fully digitalized plant will produce around 205,000 tons of sophisticated high-performance steels, especially for the international aviation and automotive industries as well as for the oil & gas sector, while at the same time securing more than 3,000 highly skilled jobs in the region over the long term.
Preparations for the major project with an investment volume of up to €350 million are already fully under way: the construction site is currently being prepared, with work focusing on energy supply and logistics infrastructure. [Read more…] about Work starts to build Europe’s first steel plant in 40 years
SCARA robots used in the automobile industry will cross over 33 thousand units by 2024, according to research by GM Insights.
The company says this can be credited to increasing usage in applications such as high-speed assembly and handling operations.
Rising demand for reduced bottlenecks and optimized productivity will boost the product penetration. [Read more…] about Automotive robotics market forecast to grow to $6 billion by 2024
