Robotics & Automation News

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Tackling the lack of specialists with innovative robotics solutions

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Boring, strenuous, and exhausting are things of the past. The work environment of tomorrow looks different: exciting, simple, and easy. Cobots, AGVs (Autonomous Guided Vehicles), and AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) put variety into daily work routines.

Cooperation with the robot transforms previously tedious, strenuous tasks into popular activities that are easy to perform. Numerous exhibitors at automatica, held in Munich from June 27 to 30, 2023, will present examples of such transformations.

While such work facilitation is great, the pivotal question is: To what extent can automation and robotics compensate the lack of specialists? An ever-increasing gap emerges as the baby boomers retire from the workforce. [Read more…] about Tackling the lack of specialists with innovative robotics solutions

Vanguard to invest $6 million in automaton at Georgia facility

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Briggs & Stratton, one of the world’s largest producers of engines for outdoor power equipment, is making an additional investment of $6 million in its Advanced Battery Manufacturing facility in Tucker, Georgia, to improve the safety, efficiency and production capacity of its Vanguard Lithium-Ion Battery Packs through the addition of automated equipment within its manufacturing process.

The 78,000-square-foot facility opened in 2020 to support a strategic supply agreement with Ingersoll Rand to power Club Car vehicles with Vanguard Lithium-Ion Battery Packs.

The Tucker location includes four production lines with the capacity to accommodate future growth as the demand for battery power continues to grow across the off-highway industry. [Read more…] about Vanguard to invest $6 million in automaton at Georgia facility

BlueBotics to showcase its robotics technology at LogiMAT after acquisition by Zapi

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BlueBotics, a Zapi Group company specializing in vehicle automation, will stage a multi-brand automated vehicle demonstration in the Zapi Group/BlueBotics booth (#6B61 in hall 6).

This demo will include: two autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), two automated pallet trucks, and a larger forked automated guided vehicle (AGV) in simultaneous operation, all managed simultaneously by the company’s mission and fleet management software, ANT server.

Dr Nicola Tomatis, BlueBotics CEO, says: “AGV and AMR interoperability is a hot topic in 2023. And while emerging standards such as VDA 5050 and MASS in the US are exciting developments, these are still in their infancy in terms of the vehicle functionality they support. [Read more…] about BlueBotics to showcase its robotics technology at LogiMAT after acquisition by Zapi

Safety Features of Self-Driving Cars

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Self-driving cars are one of the most revolutionary technological advancements of our time. As with any new technology, safety is paramount for these vehicles. To ensure the safety of their passengers and those around them, self-driving cars have various features designed to keep everyone safe.

With advances in technology, self-driving cars will be safer than human operated vehicles. In the US, 30,000 lives are lost each year in motor vehicle accidents, often due to fatigue, human error, and drunk driving.

Autonomous vehicles function without these behaviors, potentially saving thousands of lives. Here is a look at some of the advanced safety features of self-driving vehicles. [Read more…] about Safety Features of Self-Driving Cars

New Scale Robotics enhances its automated gauging system through robotic thread verification

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Thread verification is the latest enhancement to New Scale Robotics’ Q-Span Automated Gauging System, a “do-it-yourself” robotic automation system for quality teams in high-mix, small-batch manufacturing.

The Q-Span Gauging System automates gauging processes by combining existing manual gauges with a collaborative robot, grippers for part handling, easy-to-use metrology and robot control software, and automated data collection.

The robot arm loads parts into a fixture and activates the thread gauge to verify or chase threaded holes or external threads. [Read more…] about New Scale Robotics enhances its automated gauging system through robotic thread verification

Körber develops new robotic system for de-palletizing pallets to trays

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Körber Supply Chain says it has “solved” the pallet-to-tray issues many warehouses face – the company has developed a new “turnkey system solution” for de-palletizing pallets to trays.

With the launch of a new de-palletization system, Körber Supply Chain claims it has become “the first supplier of automated logistics solutions to offer a total turnkey solution for the separation of goods from pallet to tray”.

Körber says its goal is to fully automate and eliminate risks and sudden downtime in the sorting process. [Read more…] about Körber develops new robotic system for de-palletizing pallets to trays

Comau developing new mobile robot solution for three EU projects

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Comau is designing a “powerful mobile robotics platform” as part of an open, highly collaborative production environment, in the context of three different European Projects.

The integrated solution, which leverages Comau’s proven expertise in IoT-enabled technologies and collaborative robotics, is a natural evolution of the company’s automated workflow optimization systems.

Modular, scalable and completely re-configurable, the platform can be easily adapted to different applications without changing the system’s underlying software or hardware architecture. [Read more…] about Comau developing new mobile robot solution for three EU projects

The Role of Technology in the Evolution of Partial Truckload Shipping

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Partial truckload shipping continues to evolve with technology, and it’s become much more popular over the last few years. This freight movement method allows shippers to combine their PTL freight with other shipments to fill a truckload.

Both dry van and reefer trucks containing meat, dairy, and produce can benefit most from shipping multiple loads together. Partial truckload shipping is a great option because it is a much more cost-effective and efficient way to ship a wide range of items nationwide.

Technology only continues to evolve and play a key role in the trucking industry. Automated load matching systems, real-time tracking, and predictive analytics are just a few examples of how shipping continues to change. [Read more…] about The Role of Technology in the Evolution of Partial Truckload Shipping

Factory Visit: Investment bankers tour client’s robot-filled machine shop

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Investment and automation specialists John Slater and Jorge Maceyras, of Focus Investment Banking, make a factory visit to a client of theirs, and find that robotics is integral to the operation.

Do you have any robots?

When we posed that somewhat naïve question to the CEO of an extreme high precision machine shop in 2014, we got the response we deserved.

“Look up on the landing.”

There, we saw a hulking industrial robot our client had acquired years before to satisfy his auto industry customer that had a factory full of such behemoths. The unwieldy, difficult to program, creature had no role in the high mix low volume shop and had long been consigned to serve as the firm’s robot museum. [Read more…] about Factory Visit: Investment bankers tour client’s robot-filled machine shop

Switzerland’s IAR Group establishes new subsidiary in Germany

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The IAR Group from Switzerland, which specializes in industrial automation systems, is expanding and founding a subsidiary in the greater Stuttgart area.

The main objective is to sell its self-developed automation modules for loading and unloading processes as well as automated special machines and robot cells on the German market. To this end, a sales and service team is to be established.

Sébastien Perroud, chairman and CEO of the Zofingen-based IAR Group, says: “I am very pleased about the newly founded subsidiary in the greater Stuttgart area – a milestone in the history of the IAR Group. IAR Deutschland will serve as an important base for us to sell our products and services in the German market.” [Read more…] about Switzerland’s IAR Group establishes new subsidiary in Germany