Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

engineers

Engineering companies struggling to find and keep talented young workers

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engineering graduates
Picture courtesy of WonderfulEngineering.com

To anyone looking for work, it might sound strange to hear that some sectors of the economy are struggling to find and retain workers, but that’s the situation many engineering companies find themselves in. 

Finding, educating, training and retaining talented young people is not just a dilemma for engineering companies in one region or country, it’s a global issue.

But, paradoxically, while companies in some countries say there’s a problem finding engineering graduates, in other countries such as India, large numbers of engineering graduates are reportedly not having much luck finding jobs.

In those countries where there is a shortage, such as Germany and maybe the US, it’s not at crisis levels yet, but it’s a complication that large industrial companies are trying to alleviate in a variety of ways.  [Read more…] about Engineering companies struggling to find and keep talented young workers

Opinion: Is digitalisation the key to remote plant operation?

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3d printing

By Eric Duchesne, SVP technology experts for Total, who will be addressing at the ERTC Ask the Experts conference in Cologne on 20-21 June 

There have been many advances in the field of digitalisation in recent years.

As the industry moves towards remote operation it is plant optimisation and integrity management which will provide the tools to enhance safety and anticipate potential problems within the plant, ensuring that the right human assets and replacement parts are available when required.

Today, there’s lots of talk about big data, but before we start to consider how we use big data we can dramatically improve the performance of our plants through the more effective interpretation of data that already exists. We need to become proactive rather than reactive.  [Read more…] about Opinion: Is digitalisation the key to remote plant operation?

Elsevier launches four new academic books about robotics

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library books

Elsevier has launched four new books in the area of robotics. 

The publisher says the books are “ideal” and “perfect” resources for researchers and practitioners in the relevant sectors.  [Read more…] about Elsevier launches four new academic books about robotics

NarrativeWave claims first of its kind IIoT platform

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industrial-internet-plm

Today, large industrial assets, such as airplane engines and gas turbines, generate data through sensors.

In fact, there are around 6 billion connected sensors in the world today and by 2020, more than 20 billion sensors will be connected worldwide, according to Gartner.

During a commercial airline flight, data such as the engine’s health and status is sent to diagnostic engineers to be closely analyzed.

Approximately 1,000 gigabytes of data are generated per flight and with over 100,000 flights per day, this equates to over 100,000,000 gigabytes of commercial flight data every day.

That is what you call BIG data.

While big data can be a curse to manage, it is becoming the most critical asset. [Read more…] about NarrativeWave claims first of its kind IIoT platform

Daimler develops ways for industrial robots and factories to save energy under Areus project

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Saving energy has been a serious preoccupation of many industrial companies for many years, but especially in recent years with prices of fuel fluctuating and public concern about the environment growing. 

In the auto manufacturing sector, which buys the most number of industrial robots and uses vast amounts of energy, companies such as Kuka have been looking to make their automation systems more energy efficient.

Now, in the European Union, a project called Automation and Robotics for European Sustainable Manufacturing, or Areus, says it has developed the components of an energy-efficient automobile production system of the future.  [Read more…] about Daimler develops ways for industrial robots and factories to save energy under Areus project

Top five causes of PLC control system failure

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Boulting Technology has released an infographic to help engineers mitigate problems with programmable logic controller (PLC) based control systems. The handy guide highlights the top five causes of failure and can be downloaded free from the Boulting Technology website. 

PLC-based control systems are invaluable to a manufacturing or processing business because they control and regulate critical production systems and processes.

A failed control system can cause significant plant downtime and is likely to be extremely costly; it can also create a hazardous situation when the system is controlling a critical process.  [Read more…] about Top five causes of PLC control system failure

Robotiq launches community for robotics professionals

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robotiq dof

Robotiq has launched an open community – called DoF – where industrial automation professionals can share their know-how and get answers to accelerate their robotics projects. 

DoF, which stands for degrees of freedom, is meant as a medium for sharing ideas and solving automation problems, says Robotiq.

Samuel Bouchard, CEO of Robotiq, says: “We realized that the know-how is locked in the head of automation engineers who can’t talk to each other because they are far apart, focused on making their factory run.

“This is why we created this online community, to bring industrial automation pros together so they can help each other with their automation projects and stop reinventing the wheel on their own.”  [Read more…] about Robotiq launches community for robotics professionals

National Instruments launches new version of LabView

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national instruments labview

Latest version of LabView features 500+ new supported instruments, five new 64-bit add-ons, supports improved Python integration

National Instruments, a provider of platform-based testing systems that enable engineers and scientists, has launched LabView 2016 system design software.

NI says it empowers engineers to simplify development and effectively integrate software from the ecosystem into their systems.

The latest version of LabView introduces new channel wires to simplify complex communication between parallel sections of code. Available on both desktop and real-time versions of LabView, the channel wire method helps improve code readability and reduces development time.  [Read more…] about National Instruments launches new version of LabView

Dassault Systèmes to acquire CST

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Dassault Systèmes has entered into an agreement to acquire Computer Simulation Technology, a provider of electromagnetic and electronics simulation, for approximately €220 million. 

With the acquisition of CST, based near Frankfurt, Germany, Dassault Systèmes will complement its industry solution experiences for realistic multiphysics simulation on the 3DExperience platform with full spectrum electromagnetic simulation.

CST’s Studio Suite software is used by designers and engineers at more than 2,000 leading companies in the high-tech, transportation and mobility, aerospace and defense, and energy industries to evaluate all types of electromagnetic effects during every stage of electronic system design processes.  [Read more…] about Dassault Systèmes to acquire CST

How motion systems transform airline seating from cramped into comfortable

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actuators and airline seats

Promoted

As the demand for air travel keeps on growing, so does the needs of the passengers that come aboard.

Aero planes tend to have very limited space for which much of the facilities have to be fitted in and made to the standards that the customers are willing to pay for.

As such, engineers are tasked with figuring out how best they bring about that element without compromising on the size of the air craft and safety among others, while maintaining the economic aspect of the airline owners.  [Read more…] about How motion systems transform airline seating from cramped into comfortable