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Naïo Technologies raises €14 million for farm robot business

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Startup company Naïo Technologies has raised €14 million in a new funding round to develop and expand its farming robots business.

After a first round of €3 million in 2015, the French start-up Naïo Technologies specialized in agricultural robots, announces the closing of a €14 million funding round led by Bpifrance.

Impact investor Pymwymic and Codema and its historical shareholders, Demeter and Capagro, flanked Bpifrance in this investment round. [Read more…] about Naïo Technologies raises €14 million for farm robot business

Fetch Robotics launches new system for real-time inventory visualization in warehouses

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Fetch Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses, has launched a new system for real-time inventory visualization.

The company says its new RFID visualization capabilities allow third-party logistics companies, manufacturers and retailers to autonomously capture, and then analyze and visualize inventory data in the cloud.

Fetch added the “new and unique” capabilities to its TagSurveyor technology, a robotic RFID solution that allows customers to gain complete visibility of assets in their fulfillment centers, distribution centers or warehouses via visualization of inventory data on a facility map. [Read more…] about Fetch Robotics launches new system for real-time inventory visualization in warehouses

ABB launches IoT Dashboard for mid-sized commercial building automation solutions

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ABB has launched its new “user-friendly IoT Dashboard” to improve usability and reduce maintenance in smart buildings.

The company’s says the launch is in response to its finding that “preventative maintenance is three to nine times cheaper than reactive maintenance”.

ABB says its IoT Dashboard is “easy to commission, simple to install and intuitive to use”, and allows stronger control, monitoring and automation of all building functions, from dimming and switching of lights to controlling blinds, heating and ventilation. [Read more…] about ABB launches IoT Dashboard for mid-sized commercial building automation solutions

BWIndustrie installs world’s first UR16e collaborative robot to optimise throughput

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Universal Robots says that BWIndustrie, a French specialist in machining, assembly and robotics, has installed the world’s first UR16e heavy-duty payload collaborative robot.

It becomes the company’s sixth cobot from UR, where it is streamlining the time-consuming and labour-intensive process of deburring metal parts.

Launched at China International Industy Fair to wide acclaim, the UR16e enables BWIndustrie to overcome the barriers of traditional manufacturing by automating the deburring processes in a matter of seconds compared to the several minutes incurred by manual labour. [Read more…] about BWIndustrie installs world’s first UR16e collaborative robot to optimise throughput

Controlling complexity: Powerful new tech tools are bringing lean manufacturing principles to life

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By Dan McKiernan, president of eFlex Systems

Lean manufacturing principles and practices aimed at minimizing waste and maximizing productivity, have been shaping the manufacturing sector for decades now.

The necessary end-goal for manufacturers is to ensure that products are built correctly, every time, even when changes are made in-process.

While this goal is nothing new, the rise of complexity and customization challenges presents a constant counterpressure against the continuing push for improved consistency and quality. [Read more…] about Controlling complexity: Powerful new tech tools are bringing lean manufacturing principles to life

Mitsubishi launches new range of industrial computers

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Mitsubishi Electric Automation has released a new range of its MELIPC Series industrial-use computers for data computing, edge computing, remote monitoring, and the integration of hardware and software technologies.

The MELIPC Series is targeted towards original equipment manufacturers and end users running general manufacturing applications, and especially those who require a computing and data monitoring solution that takes up a limited amount of space with a small footprint.

Most importantly, MELIPC is designed to enable internet of things on factory floors that have not been introduced to it yet, or improve it where it is already enabled. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi launches new range of industrial computers

Škoda opens new $200 million paint shop featuring 66 robots

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Škoda Auto has opened a new automotive paint shop at its main plant in Mladá Boleslav, in the Czech Republic, featuring 66 industrial robots configured for applying the paint.

Up to 168,000 car bodies will be coated with paint there each year, taking the plant’s total annual painting capacity up to 812,000 vehicles.

Škoda Auto has invested €214.5 million in the new building, creating more than 650 new jobs. (See infographic below.) [Read more…] about Škoda opens new $200 million paint shop featuring 66 robots

Fanuc to demonstrate cobots and automation technology at Westec 2019

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Fanuc America, supplier of robotics, CNCs and robomachines will demonstrate robotic and automation solutions for the aerospace, medical, industrial machinery and consumer goods industries at Westec 2019, 24-26 September in Long Beach, California, USA.

It will show the Fanuc CR-15iA collaborative robot, which uses iRVision to locate a part and then loads it into a chuck to simulate machining. The robot unloads the part and the cycle repeats.

Fanuc’s CR-7iA collaborative robot will demonstrate a variety of pre-programmed movements. Visitors will be able to use the hand-guidance mode, which allows them to instruct the robot to perform different movements and record paths.

[Read more…] about Fanuc to demonstrate cobots and automation technology at Westec 2019

Robotic surgery startup claims to be first to enable laser cutting of bone tissue

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A robotic surgery startup in Switzerland claims to have become the first to enable the laser cutting of bone tissue. 

Bones in humans have been cut using saw for “thousands of years”, says Advanced Osteotomy Tools, adding that the company now offers the “technology reinvent bone surgery”.

The instrument AOT has developed is called “Carlo”, short for “cold ablation robot-guided laser osteotomes”. [Read more…] about Robotic surgery startup claims to be first to enable laser cutting of bone tissue

New Scale Robotics launches ‘first multi-tool mount system’ for smallest collaborative robots

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New Scale Robotics has launched what it says is “the first multi-tool mounting system for the smallest collaborative robots”.

The new NSR-MTM-3-URe Multi-Tool Mount (NSR-MTM) System allows users to mount and control up to three grippers or other tools on one Universal Robots (UR) e-Series cobot. [Read more…] about New Scale Robotics launches ‘first multi-tool mount system’ for smallest collaborative robots