Robotics & Automation News

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ABB expands small robot range with IRB 1300 for confined spaces

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ABB claims that the IRB 1300 dramatically improves cycle times with class-leading lifting ability, reach and path accuracy, in a smaller footprint to enhance productivity and production-line flexibility.

ABB is extending its family of small six-axis industrial robots with the launch of the IRB 1300, to meet demand for a faster and more compact robot able to rapidly lift heavy objects or loads with complex and irregular shapes.

Building on the success of ABB’s IRB 1600 robot for payloads up to 10kg, the IRB 1300 offers a 27 percent improvement in cycle times and is nearly 60 percent lighter and 83 percent smaller than the IRB 1600. [Read more…] about ABB expands small robot range with IRB 1300 for confined spaces

ABB unveils its customized automotive painting system PixelPaint

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ABB says its new PixelPaint system is 50 percent faster and more sustainable, using an inkjet head to eliminate overspray, ensuring two-tone paint and individual designs are applied in one pass, without masking and de-masking.

Millennials are driving demand for greater individualization, increasing the need for customized vehicle paint schemes, using either a second color, a different paint finish such as matte, or a special design.

Previously, applying a two-tone or customized design onto bodywork was a time and labor-intensive process that required the vehicle to be put through the painting line twice, once for the first layer and then, after the areas had been masked, again for the second color. [Read more…] about ABB unveils its customized automotive painting system PixelPaint

ABB offers augmented reality on a smartphone to simplify robot installations

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ABB’s new RobotStudio AR viewer provides a quick and convenient way of visualizing where and how robotic automation can fit into your process using a smartphone or tablet.

Discovering whether a robot is right for your application has never been easier following the launch of ABB’s new Augmented Reality viewer, which has been added to ABB’s powerful PC-based RobotStudio offline programming software.

The RobotStudio AR Viewer app can be used to test any model created in RobotStudio, enabling users to get an idea of the size and scale of a robot or robot cell and how it can be deployed on a factory floor to fit around any existing production equipment. [Read more…] about ABB offers augmented reality on a smartphone to simplify robot installations

ABB Dynamic Assembly Pack provides ‘missing last piece’ in automating final trim assembly applications

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ABB says its Dynamic Assembly Pack provides the “missing last piece” in automating final trim assembly applications. (See video below.)

New force control sensors enable robots to accurately perform assembly tasks during final trim assembly, improving productivity, ergonomics and quality.

Designed to offer a fast, accurate and safe automated solution for installing anything from seats, dashboards and carpets inside vehicle bodies, to doors, bumpers and wheels outside the vehicle, ABB’s new Dynamic Assembly Pack for Final Trim and Assembly (FTA) combines real time vision cameras on the robot gripper and arms with integrated force control sensors to allow the robot to precisely track the position of the car body as it enters the workstation. [Read more…] about ABB Dynamic Assembly Pack provides ‘missing last piece’ in automating final trim assembly applications

Japanese infrastructure company selects ABB’s Terra 184 electric vehicle chargers

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ABB’s newly launched Terra 184 electric vehicle chargers have been selected by Japan’s e-Mobility Power (eMP) to modernize the infrastructure for the country’s electric vehicle market and accelerate the nation’s shift towards sustainable mobility.

Financial details of the order were not disclosed.

The project is part of a broader push in Japan to increase the share of electric and plug-in hybrids to between 20-30 percent by 2030, from just 1 percent in 2018. [Read more…] about Japanese infrastructure company selects ABB’s Terra 184 electric vehicle chargers

ABB offers augmented reality on a smartphone to simplify robot installations

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ABB has launched its new RobotStudio Augmented Reality viewer to provide a “quick and convenient way of visualizing where and how robotic automation can fit into your process using a smartphone or tablet”.

Discovering whether a robot is right for your application has never been easier following the launch of ABB’s new Augmented Reality viewer, which has been added to ABB’s powerful PC-based RobotStudio offline programming software.

The RobotStudio AR Viewer app can be used to test any model created in RobotStudio, enabling users to get an idea of the size and scale of a robot or robot cell and how it can be deployed on a factory floor to fit around any existing production equipment. [Read more…] about ABB offers augmented reality on a smartphone to simplify robot installations

ABB says its new 3D inspection robot cell makes quality control testing ‘10 times faster’

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ABB has unveiled a new 3D inspection robot cell which it claims makes quality control testing “10 times faster”.

The industrial automation giant says its 3D quality inspection (3DQI) robot cell is “capable of detecting defects of less than half the width of a human hair and imperceptible to the naked eye”.

It adds that the cell will “dramatically accelerate production by providing fast, accurate testing to make metrology easier and less time consuming”. [Read more…] about ABB says its new 3D inspection robot cell makes quality control testing ‘10 times faster’

ABB breaks ground on new $30 million facility to manufacture electric vehicle chargers

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ABB has marked the start of construction at its new facility in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy, which will serve as a global Center of Excellence and production site for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The company says the 16,000 square meter facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2021.

As a global market leader in e-mobility solutions, the $30 million investment in this new facility is further evidence of ABB’s continued commitment to driving innovation in this fast-growing sector. [Read more…] about ABB breaks ground on new $30 million facility to manufacture electric vehicle chargers

ABB says it recycles and ‘re-manufactures’ thousands of old robots

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ABB says it recycles and “re-manufactures” thousands of old robots to make the manufacturing sector “more sustainable”. (See video below.)

The company says re-manufactured robots help customers “unlock new functionalities and advanced services” while reducing maintenance costs and maximizing return on investment.

ABB sources unused and discontinued robots for re-manufacturing to ensure “older robots avoid being scrapped when their lifetime could be extended”. [Read more…] about ABB says it recycles and ‘re-manufactures’ thousands of old robots

ABB wins $5 million order for electric vehicle chargers from GAC Toyota

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ABB has won an order worth $5 million for electric vehicle chargers from GAC Toyota.

The agreement was made through Chargedot, an ABB business unit, and is considered “a major order” in China.

GAC Toyota is the Guangzhou-based joint venture between GAC Group and Toyota. With plans to expand production of electric vehicles to 400,000 a year, the company has asked ABB to supply “several thousand electric vehicle chargers” over the next year. [Read more…] about ABB wins $5 million order for electric vehicle chargers from GAC Toyota