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ABB launches newest member of its YuMi collaborative robot range

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ABB has launched the newest member of its YuMi collaborative industrial robot family. The company had unveiled the model in Japan towards the end of last year, and this looks to be the formal launch in Europe. 

The company unveiled the new, single-arm version – full technical name the ABB IRB 14050 single-arm collaborative robot (main picture) – at the ongoing Automatica event. ABB says the machine is its “most agile and compact collaborative robot yet and can easily integrate into existing production”.

The single-arm YuMi has the same safety features, precision and ease-of-use as dual-arm YuMi, says ABB, adding that it weighs less than 10 kg and has seven-axis dexterity.  [Read more…] about ABB launches newest member of its YuMi collaborative robot range

ABB launches third-generation of its ‘Foundry Prime’ industrial robot arm

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ABB has launched the third-generation of its “Foundry Prime” industrial robotic arm.

The company says the new robot “reduces maintenance cost by up to 60 percent” and operates at “15 percent less energy consumption”.

The IRB 6790 (main picture) targets high-pressure water-jet cleaning applications in harsh industrial environments with 100 percent humidity.  [Read more…] about ABB launches third-generation of its ‘Foundry Prime’ industrial robot arm

ABB and Kawasaki partner to launch ‘world’s first’ operating system for collaborative robots

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ABB and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are showcasing the world’s first common collaborative robot operating interface at the ongoing Automatica event. 

The two companies are among the world’s largest industrial robot manufacturers, with almost half a million installations worldwide.

The companies say the new common interface will help address the shortage of skilled workers in many industries. In Japan, for example, one person in five is within a decade of retirement.  [Read more…] about ABB and Kawasaki partner to launch ‘world’s first’ operating system for collaborative robots

South Korea tops ‘Automation Readiness Index’

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South Korea, Germany and Singapore are the world’s top-ranked nations in their preparations for smoothly integrating intelligent automation into their economies, according to an index and report released today by ABB and The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The report “The Automation Readiness Index (ARI): Who Is Ready for the Coming Wave of Innovation?” finds that even the best-prepared countries must develop even more effective education policies and training programs, as well as place a new emphasis on continual learning over the course of a career.

Those policies and programs, the report recommends, must ensure that the rapid adoption of automation technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) will not leave people unprepared for the new, more human-oriented jobs that will be needed as robots and algorithms take on more of the routine tasks that can be and will be automated.

[Read more…] about South Korea tops ‘Automation Readiness Index’

ABB launches first 350 kW high power car charger

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ABB has launched its newest electric vehicle (EV) charging solution, the Terra HP, the first 350 kW product on the market. Charging time for a range of 200 km is just eight minutes, claims the company.

Ideally suited for use at motorway service and petrol stations, Terra HP’s ultra-high current has the capacity to charge both 400 V and 800 V cars at full power.

The addition of Dynamic DC power sharing technology, allows a two-power cabinet charging system to charge a couple of EVs simultaneously, with up to 350 kW, while dynamically optimizing the available grid connection and the power delivery to the two vehicles.

[Read more…] about ABB launches first 350 kW high power car charger

ABB and Heliospectra partner in the Middle East and Africa

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Technology collaboration to explore “innovative and sustainable control solutions” to increase horticultural and commercial food production

ABB and Heliospectra are joining forces to explore solutions that they say will boost the productivity and the sustainability of greenhouse and controlled environment agriculture produce industry in the Middle East and Africa.

ABB is an industrial giant with a big controls business, and Heliospectra is said to be a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments.

The collaboration propels exploration of new food production technologies and commercial infrastructure to address increasing demand for sustainably grown agricultural products.  [Read more…] about ABB and Heliospectra partner in the Middle East and Africa

ABB showcases electric vehicle technology to German and Mexican leaders

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ABB has been showcasing its latest technologies for electric vehicles to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at Hannover Messe.

The two leaders, along with ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer, were shown a demonstration of the company’s new high power fast charging solution: the Terra HP EV charging station with a power output of up to 350 kW recharges a car battery in just eight minutes for 200 km reach.

“This high-power fast charger provides electric vehicles with up to seven times more range in the same charging time than with previous models,” Spiesshofer said. [Read more…] about ABB showcases electric vehicle technology to German and Mexican leaders

ABB to invest €100 million in global innovation and training centre at B&R location

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One year after announcing its acquisition of Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik, ABB is to invest €100 million in Austria to build a state-of-the-art innovation and training campus at the home of B&R in Eggelsberg, Upper Austria.

It is the largest organic investment in industrial automation in ABB’s more than 130-year history and lays the foundation for around 1,000 new high-tech jobs in Austria.

The new innovation and training campus will develop technologies for the factory of the future, based on ABB Ability, in which production will be undertaken autonomously by smart and cloud-connected machines and robots.  [Read more…] about ABB to invest €100 million in global innovation and training centre at B&R location

ABB cobots and software on show at Pack Expo East

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ABB will feature robotic and motion technologies such as the YuMi collaborative robot and the ABB IRB 460 palletizing robot for packaging and warehouse distribution applications at Pack Expo East 2018, April 16-18 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, USA.

For food & beverage, an ABB demo will feature an IRB 360 FlexPicker® with PickMaster™ software and an IRB 910SC SCARA robot working together to pick and place apples from a randomized infeed flow.

Both the FlexPicker and the SCARA robots feature Soft Robotics grippers, a technology that can manipulate items of varying size, shape and weight with a single device.

[Read more…] about ABB cobots and software on show at Pack Expo East

Baldor Electric Company rebranding under ABB

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ABB will integrate the Baldor Electric Company name into its global ABB brand. Beginning March 1, 2018, Baldor Electric Company, a member of the ABB group for more than seven years, will be known as ABB.

As ABB, the organization will continue to manufacture, design and market the product brands of Baldor-Reliance® motors and Dodge® mechanical power transmission products from 15 U.S. manufacturing locations.

The organization will continue to support ABB’s entire U.S. motors and generators business unit, including ABB branded IEC motors, large AC motors, generators and related services from the motors, generators and mechanical business headquarters in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

[Read more…] about Baldor Electric Company rebranding under ABB