Robotics & Automation News

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factory automation

Enhancing Industrial Automation: Why Compact Mini PCs Are Quietly Becoming the Default Choice for Robotic Controllers

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In most modern factories, the control cabinet has changed a lot compared to even a few years ago. There’s more happening inside it – vision systems, sensors, controllers, networking gear – and somehow engineers are expected to fit all of it into the same limited space.

That’s where compact industrial computers have started to take over roles that used to belong to bulky industrial PCs or even desktop-class machines sitting awkwardly outside the system.

The shift isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about practicality: less space, fewer points of failure, and systems that can run continuously without constant attention. [Read more…] about Enhancing Industrial Automation: Why Compact Mini PCs Are Quietly Becoming the Default Choice for Robotic Controllers

Scaling automation in contract manufacturing: Interview with Rodrigo DallOglio of Flex

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As manufacturers face increasing pressure to improve productivity, quality, and resilience while managing growing product complexity, automation is becoming a central part of modern factory operations.

Technologies such as collaborative robots, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and emerging forms of physical AI are moving beyond pilot projects and into large-scale production environments.

One company at the forefront of this trend is Flex, one of the world’s largest contract manufacturers, which serves customers across industries including automotive, healthcare, industrial equipment, communications, and consumer electronics. [Read more…] about Scaling automation in contract manufacturing: Interview with Rodrigo DallOglio of Flex

Best Rugged DC‑DC Converters for Industrial and Military Applications

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Modern defense systems, autonomous vehicles, robotics platforms and industrial automation equipment all depend on reliable power conversion.

Rugged DC-DC converters are crucial in maintaining stable power delivery in environments where vibration, shock, electromagnetic interference and extreme temperatures can quickly compromise standard commercial electronics. [Read more…] about Best Rugged DC‑DC Converters for Industrial and Military Applications

Why Optical Metrology is Replacing Tactile Measurement for Complex Component Validation Source

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Manufacturers validating complex components have long relied on tactile measurement, but a meaningful shift is underway as optical metrology earns its place alongside and, in many contexts, ahead of traditional methods.

The reasons are practical: non-contact measurement eliminates the risk of surface deformation, measurement speed improves dramatically, and the volume of usable surface data captured in a single pass far exceeds what point-based probing can deliver.

A coordinate measuring machine, or CMM, builds its dimensional picture one contact point at a time. That approach works well for straightforward geometries, but it struggles when components are fragile, organically shaped, or subject to tight validation cycles where throughput matters. [Read more…] about Why Optical Metrology is Replacing Tactile Measurement for Complex Component Validation Source

Slamcore secures $14 million funding from investors including Rockwell Automation

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Slamcore, a developer of spatial intelligence software, has announced a $14 million funding round from top investors, including ROKStar Ventures, a subsidiary of Rockwell Automation, one of the world’s largest industrial automation and digital transformation companies. 

The round brings Slamcore’s total funding to $40 million, with backing from investors including Toyota Ventures, Interwoven Ventures, MMC Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners and IP Group.

The investment arrives as global industrial operators face an urgent dual challenge: the need for productivity gains amid rising safety risks on factory and warehouse floors. [Read more…] about Slamcore secures $14 million funding from investors including Rockwell Automation

Application engineering for assembly systems is quietly becoming manufacturing’s biggest competitive edge

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Manufacturing isn’t just about machines anymore. Now, success relies on engineering those machines well, keeping them connected and adjusting them to match what’s actually happening on the factory floor.

Application engineering for assembly systems is pushing this change, especially as factories aim for higher output while cutting errors.

Companies like Atlas Copco are all in, using advanced core technologies to help manufacturers build smarter, more flexible and more sustainable production lines. [Read more…] about Application engineering for assembly systems is quietly becoming manufacturing’s biggest competitive edge

Festo introduces two-finger pneumatic gripper for cobot applications

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Collaborative robots operate within strict payload and mounting constraints. Pneumatic gripper installations that rely on external valves, sensors, and wiring add weight, increase footprint, and complicate routing along compact cobot arms.

To address these constraints, Festo has introduced the HPPH two-finger pneumatic parallel gripper, a compact, lightweight design that integrates control, sensing, and collaborative safety functions directly into the gripper body.

By reducing external components, the HPPH preserves payload capacity and simplifies mounting and wiring on collaborative robot platforms. The HPPH is available through Festo and the Universal Robotics Marketplace. [Read more…] about Festo introduces two-finger pneumatic gripper for cobot applications

Doozy Robotics launches global expansion to scale AI-powered humanoid workforce for factories

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Doozy Robotics, the Singapore-based Physical AI humanoid company building autonomous industrial workforces, has announced a coordinated global expansion across the United States, GCC, and Asia, marking its next phase of growth ahead of a planned Series A.

The startup is backed by investors including Cocoon Capital, who have supported the company through a period of great commercial traction.

Founded by Suresh Chandrasekar and Ajmal Thahseen, Doozy is building a vertically integrated ecosystem rather than selling isolated machines. [Read more…] about Doozy Robotics launches global expansion to scale AI-powered humanoid workforce for factories

Perspective from Harting: The industrial reality check – why factory winners execute, not just innovate

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Rodriques Johnpeter, global industry segment manager, Harting

Manufacturers are operating in a moment where disruption is the norm, not the exception. Supply chain volatility, inflationary pressure and labor constraints all collide with a parallel push to embed automation and AI into plants that were never designed for today’s technologies.

Most facilities – well over two-thirds globally – are still brownfield sites, built around legacy machines, heterogeneous controls and fragile integrations that have been patched together over decades.

These environments leave almost no room for extended downtime or wholesale rip-and-replace projects, which is where many digital transformation strategies quietly break down.​ [Read more…] about Perspective from Harting: The industrial reality check – why factory winners execute, not just innovate

Boston Dynamics trains Atlas humanoid robot to pick up and place washing machine

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Boston Dynamics has released new behind-the-scenes footage showing its latest electric humanoid robot, Atlas, performing heavy lifting and manipulation tasks that the company says are designed to prepare the system for real industrial work. (See video below.)

The demonstration centers on Atlas lifting and carrying a mini-fridge weighing roughly 50 pounds, although Boston Dynamics says the robot successfully handled a loaded fridge weighing more than 100 pounds during testing.

The company says the breakthrough is not simply the robot’s physical strength, but the development of AI-driven control systems capable of adapting to “real world adaptability: handling heavy objects by bracing and accounting for the mass and inertia; using whole-body control, not just hands to maneuver”. [Read more…] about Boston Dynamics trains Atlas humanoid robot to pick up and place washing machine