Robotics & Automation News

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Drilling company Nabors fully automates existing land rig with first-of-its-kind robotics module

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Nabors Industries has launched its Canrig Red Zone Robotics (RZR) Rig Floor Module, a modular rig upgrade that automates routine drilling activities.

Nabors retrofitted an existing rig – X29 – with RZR (pronounced razor) and has successfully drilled multiple horizontal wells for ExxonMobil in the Permian Basin.

In 2021, Nabors and ExxonMobil proved fully automated land drilling is possible with Nabors’ newbuild R801 robotic drilling rig. Now, the companies have advanced to the next phase of their collaboration to validate the use of modular rig retrofits as a viable path to scale drilling rig automation. [Read more…] about Drilling company Nabors fully automates existing land rig with first-of-its-kind robotics module

RapidDirect Introduces Automated DfM Feedback Tool Can Help Optimize Your Part Design

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RapidDirect’s automated DfM feedback tool offers quality manufacturability tips for your parts production.

This improved automated DfM tool provides a reliable analysis of your parts design for crucial issues that can affect their manufacturability or attract additional manufacturing costs. Read on to learn about the new DfM feedback tool, how it works, and its advantages. [Read more…] about RapidDirect Introduces Automated DfM Feedback Tool Can Help Optimize Your Part Design

DB Schenker to open highly automated logistics center in the Czech Republic

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DB Schenker, one of the world’s largest logistics service providers, will be opening a new site in the Prague region next year.

The “highly automated” fulfillment warehouse will expand the company’s logistics capacities and shortens delivery times.

Along with retail operations, the new distribution center will also manage B2C e-commerce activities, including an extensive value added services area addressing the demand for personalized products requested by consumers. [Read more…] about DB Schenker to open highly automated logistics center in the Czech Republic

MIT demonstrates reprogrammable materials that ‘selectively self-assemble’

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By Rachel Gordon, MIT CSAIL

While automated manufacturing is ubiquitous today, it was once a nascent field birthed by inventors such as Oliver Evans, who is credited with creating the first fully automated industrial process, in a flour mill he built and gradually automated in the late 1700s.

The processes for creating automated structures or machines are still very top-down, requiring humans, factories, or robots to do the assembling and making.

However, the way nature does assembly is ubiquitously bottom-up; animals and plants are self-assembled at a cellular level, relying on proteins to self-fold into target geometries that encode all the different functions that keep us ticking. [Read more…] about MIT demonstrates reprogrammable materials that ‘selectively self-assemble’

aiMotive and Parkopedia partner to provide automakers with automated parking solutions

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Autonomous technology specialist, aiMotive, and indoor mapping provider and connected vehicle services company, Parkopedia, are now able to offer automakers scalable, autonomous parking solutions which minimise everyday parking hassles for drivers, without relying on the presence of additional infrastructure within parking facilities, thanks to a recent partnership.

The “out-of-the-box”, cost-effective and scalable parking navigation solution is able to provide navigational support for drivers within both indoor and outdoor parking facilities by utilising aiMotive’s perception technology, combined with localisation information provided by Parkopedia’s highly accurate Indoor Mapping service, which is described as “a unique, cost-effective, scalable indoor mapping solution for automakers looking to future-proof their navigation and deliver the driver convenience services expected today”.

Within Indoor parking facilities, such as underground and multistories, the line of sight to satellites is blocked which prevents access to GPS. [Read more…] about aiMotive and Parkopedia partner to provide automakers with automated parking solutions

Vecna Robotics unveils ‘major software release’

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Vecna Robotics, a specialist in material handling automation solutions, has unveiled what it describes as “a major software release and hardware upgrades” to its AFL-class autonomous forklift.

The new capabilities expand the company’s reach within warehouse and factory floors by optimizing material transport between other machinery and equipment, with specific focus on low-lift workflows.

The update supports numerous above-ground workflows including: inbound staging to AS/RS induction; delivering materials to ergonomic lift stands for work-in-process flows; and loading and extracting from robotic palletizers and stretch wrappers. [Read more…] about Vecna Robotics unveils ‘major software release’

Most Popular Programming Languages for Automation

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Basically, programming languages are sets of rules for communicating with machines. To get the most out of automated testing, one should require practical knowledge in at least one automation programming language.

The Udemy JavaScript course review might be helpful for those thinking about such an opportunity. Read on to learn more about these crucial and powerful tools in the IT industry. [Read more…] about Most Popular Programming Languages for Automation

Realtime Robotics integrates robot motion planning and control software with Siemens Process Simulate

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Realtime Robotics, the leader in collision-free autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, today announced that it has teamed with Siemens to integrate its RapidPlan software with Siemens Process Simulate, in the company’s Tecnomatix portfolio.

This integration enables Siemens customers to utilize Realtime’s innovative robot motion planning and control software as a part of their regular workflow, without leaving Process Simulate.

Customers using the integration can easily visualize, prioritize and simulate robot task plans, and validate them through virtual commissioning. Support for servo weld guns has also been added. [Read more…] about Realtime Robotics integrates robot motion planning and control software with Siemens Process Simulate

Aerobotix partners with FerRobotics to develop ‘first-of-its-kind’ end-of-arm-tool automated sander for flammable dust

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Aerobotix and FerRobotics, two robotics companies based in the US and Austria respectively, have partnered to create what they say is the first Class II, Division 1 (C2D1) End of Arm Tool (EOAT) automated sander.

Meeting industry demand for a hazardous-environment solution that will achieve time and cost efficiencies, and enable much safer work environments, this special orbital sander – based on the industry-proven Active Orbital Kit (AOK) with patented Active Compliant Technology – lessens human involvement in hazardous tasks.

Each year, according to the International Labour Organization, tens of millions of workers globally are afflicted with silicosis, an incurable lung disease caused by crystalline silica dust inhalation, leading to thousands of deaths. [Read more…] about Aerobotix partners with FerRobotics to develop ‘first-of-its-kind’ end-of-arm-tool automated sander for flammable dust

Mercedes-Benz claims its ‘Drive Pilot’ is world’s first internationally certified Level 3 automated car technology

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Mercedes-Benz says its Drive Pilot automated driver assistance system has become the world’s first internationally certified Level 3 automated car technology. The company adds that it backs redundancy for safe conditionally automated driving.

When it comes to conditionally automated driving (SAE Level 3), safety and reliability are the top priorities for Mercedes-Benz. Drive Pilot is therefore based on a system architecture that enables safe control of all situations that could potentially arise.

To this end, braking, steering, power supply and some parts of the sensor system are designed with physical and functional redundancy. By adopting this safety‑focused approach to system design, Mercedes-Benz is setting completely new benchmarks in automated driving. [Read more…] about Mercedes-Benz claims its ‘Drive Pilot’ is world’s first internationally certified Level 3 automated car technology