Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

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MassRobotics selects winners of Form & Function University Robotics Challenge

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MassRobotics has announced the winners of its 3rd Form & Function University Robotics Challenge.

Fifteen teams from around the globe showcased their robotics and automation projects, competing for cash prizes. The idea of this challenge is to create a robot that looks good (Form) and works (Function).

Components and software were donated to the teams by our sponsors: Altium, AMD, Analog Devices, Autodesk, Copley Controls, Danfoss, Festo, Harmonic Drive, Igus, Lattice Semiconductor,Maxon, Mitsubishi Electric, Novanta, helping the student teams utilize the latest offerings in the industry. [Read more…] about MassRobotics selects winners of Form & Function University Robotics Challenge

MassRobotics opens applications for third annual ‘Form and Function Robotics Challenge’

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Robotics accelerator MassRobotics has launched its third annual Form and Function Robotics Challenge.

This year’s competition is supported by Altium, AMD, Analog Devices, Autodesk, Copley Controls, Danfoss, FESTO, Harmonic Drive, Igus, Lattice Semiconductor, Maxon, Mitsubishi Electric, and Novanta.

The MassRobotics challenge is designed for college student teams to showcase their unique robotics projects. Teams from anywhere around the world are encouraged to enter. [Read more…] about MassRobotics opens applications for third annual ‘Form and Function Robotics Challenge’

Tormach robots help ‘triple’ welding efficiency of concrete company

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The opportunity to automate a simple pair of tack welds on mild steel components was all it took to lead Advance Concrete Form of Madison, Wisconsin, on the path to robotic automation.

But given the unqualified success of this application, the company is keen to find new ways to automate at its busy headquarters.

In fact, Plant Manager Adam Wepfer is on the lookout daily for new ways to add efficiency to Advance Concrete’s daily operations at its primary facility. And the company’s Tormach ZA6 industrial robot has been a star performer in freeing the company’s skilled welders to perform more complex tasks. [Read more…] about Tormach robots help ‘triple’ welding efficiency of concrete company

Awards update: Robotics and Automation News Awards 2021 to go ahead

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Robotics and Automation News is organising its first-ever awards event, despite the challenges caused by the global pandemic.

We had originally wanted to hold a live event, either by renting space at one of the big trade shows or a separate conference centre.

However, this is highly unlikely to happen, so we are planning a virtual awards ceremony for sometime in late October or early November 2021. [Read more…] about Awards update: Robotics and Automation News Awards 2021 to go ahead

Scientists use ‘swarmalation’ to design active materials for self-regulating soft robots

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During the swarming of birds or fish, each entity coordinates its location relative to the others, so that the swarm moves as one larger, coherent unit.

Fireflies on the other hand coordinate their temporal behavior: within a group, they eventually all flash on and off at the same time and thus act as synchronized oscillators.

Few entities, however, coordinate both their spatial movements and inherent time clocks; the limited examples are termed “swarmalators”, which simultaneously swarm in space and oscillate in time. [Read more…] about Scientists use ‘swarmalation’ to design active materials for self-regulating soft robots

Hyundai partners with Samsung Engineering to unveil robotic system for piping and steel frame manufacturing

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Hyundai Robotics has signed a deal with Samsung Engineering for the “construction of the Smart Piping Shop” and a business agreement for “the automation of steel frame manufacturing”.

Seo Yoo Seong, COO of Hyundai Robotics, and Choi Sung-an, president of Samsung Engineering, attended the signing ceremony held at Samsung GEC (Global Engineering Center) in Sangil-dong, Gangdong-gu recently.

This agreement is for the automation of the manufacturing of pipe spools and steel frames, which are core materials of plant construction. [Read more…] about Hyundai partners with Samsung Engineering to unveil robotic system for piping and steel frame manufacturing

Robotics and Automation News Awards 2021

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Vote for your favourite companies using this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c6DppSIyB8vSMo4fUWC1nGlXH5cmWTN4oS0EBSYS0ag/edit

After five years of publication, Robotics and Automation News is launching an awards competition to highlight and honour some of the many companies in the sector that we cover on a daily basis and which have done particularly well in terms of their technical innovations and their success in their respective markets. 

As a website and media outlet, and a group of people putting it together, we are honoured to be in this position.

Over the past few years, we have seen the website grow from literally nothing to one of the most influential websites in the market today, and we have some very strong, well-established competition to compare ourselves and aspire to.

For these awards, we have chosen categories based on popular articles we have published over the past few years. These include:

1. 3D printing: Top 10 3D printer manufacturers
2. Agriculture: 30 farm automation technologies
3. Agriculture: Top 25 vertical farming companies
4. Computing: Top 25 AI chip companies
5. Energy: Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
6. Industrial control: Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
7. Industrial design: Top 10 industrial design software applications by install base
8. Industrial robots: Top 30 robotic arm makers
9. Logistics: 30 robotic solutions for warehouses (autonomous mobile robots, automated guided vehicles, and automated storage and retrieval systems)
10. Logistics: Top 20 autonomous delivery robots
11. Software: Top 10 product lifecycle management applications by install base
12. Transportation: Top 25 autonomous shuttle manufacturers (driverless minibuses)
13. Networks: Industrial cloud providers
14. Various: Robotics and automation software and other companies
15. Systems: End effectors, peripherals, sensors and embedded technologies

Although the above lists include up to 30 companies, we will whittle them down to a shortlist of three to five in each category, and some of the categories themselves are likely to be removed because 12 may be too many. We’ll just have to see how much interest there is – we may omit some categories if not enough people vote in them.

You can vote for a maximum of three companies in each category using the online form, or nominate a judge to us by email. We encourage you to take part in any way you can so we can make this project as broadly representative of the audience’s opinions as possible.

Initially, we can open up voting to readers through an online form. These votes will be counted towards the “readers’ awards”.

We will have separate “judges’ awards”, and the judges will be chosen from a variety of different technical backgrounds or companies.

Closing date for voting is 30th June 2021. Main picture is just for illustrative purposes, and shows MX3D’s innovative robotic arm section.

The EV market continues to grow at an electrifying rate

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It wasn’t all that long ago that we thought Doc Brown powering his DeLorean with banana peels and apple cores was the stuff of science fiction.

And while we haven’t quite gone the way of biofuel, the best electric cars on the market today show that the future is a lot closer than we thought.

We have already moved away from simple hybridization towards vehicles that run on electrons alone, but plug-and-play cars are just a stepping stone on the way to the future. [Read more…] about The EV market continues to grow at an electrifying rate

OnRobot launches new gripper for handling cylindrical objects

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OnRobot, the makers of robotics tools for collaborative applications, has released a compact, large-stroke three-finger gripper.

OnRobot says its 3FG15 makes previously hard-to-automate precision handling of cylindrical parts “easy to program and deploy, and provides flexibility for a wide range of part sizes”.

CEO of OnRobot, Enrico Krog Iversen, says: “Our new 3FG15 three-finger gripper was developed as a response to existing pneumatic three-finger grippers that are bulkier and less flexible. [Read more…] about OnRobot launches new gripper for handling cylindrical objects

TypingDNA Aims to Increase the Adoption of Behavioral Biometrics Worldwide

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Behavioral biometrics company TypingDNA has announced a successful funding round, capping at $7,000,000.

TypingDNA was founded in Romania in 2016. Since 2018 they have a branch in New York and have raised around $8.8 million to date. Google’s AI-focused venture fund, Gradient Ventures, and EU-based fund GapMinde led the latest funding round.

With their funding secured, TypingDNA hopes to expand the adoption of behavioral biometrics worldwide. They will start by increasing the number of platforms their API can integrate with. [Read more…] about TypingDNA Aims to Increase the Adoption of Behavioral Biometrics Worldwide