Robotics & Automation News

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industrial internet of things

4 Technology Upgrades That Can Scale Up Your Manufacturing Business In 2020

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There’s no doubt that technology plays a vital role in the world we live in, and the impact it makes on the evolution of the manufacturing industry is no exception. Once seen as the blue-collar industry, things have instantly changed in manufacturing due to technological advancements.

In addition to making it more interesting in terms of innovation, technology has demonstrated more efficient and quicker ways of operating, making it vital for the whole manufacturing process of countless industries.

Nowadays, the opportunities and challenges that new and upgraded technologies provide are a big part of the day-to-day operations of nearly all manufacturers around the world. [Read more…] about 4 Technology Upgrades That Can Scale Up Your Manufacturing Business In 2020

Investcorp acquires Ubisense SmartSpace business and Ubisense brand

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Investcorp has acquired the Ubisense SmartSpace business as well as the Ubisense brand for an undisclosed amount.

Arma Partners acted as the exclusive financial adviser in the deal and says Ubisense is “a leader in the industrial internet of things” space.

SmartSpace is an enterprise software and sensor platform that generates and interprets vast amounts of location data to create visibility of real-world objects and their interactions in real-time, enabling complex manufacturing processes with high levels of variability to be more flexible, easier to manage and easier to control.  [Read more…] about Investcorp acquires Ubisense SmartSpace business and Ubisense brand

General Electric to connect 10,000 Aggreko assets to its IIoT network

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General Electric has signed a multiyear supply agreement with Aggreko, a supplier of temporary power and temperature control solutions.

The plan is to connect up to 10,000 assets to GE’s Distributed Power myPlant Asset Performance Management (APM) solution over the next five years.

GE says its myPlant APM is an “original equipment manufacturer-agnostic”, industrial internet of things solution for reciprocating engines and generators, which will provide Aggreko with a digital toolset to manage its equipment fleet.  [Read more…] about General Electric to connect 10,000 Aggreko assets to its IIoT network

General Electric: An industrial giant learning to live in a small world

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After years of rebranding itself as a “digital” company, General Electric is returning to being a plain old $100-billion industrial giant that builds aircraft engines and equipment for the energy industry.

According to the New York Times, GE spent “several billion dollars” building its digital business, with former CEO Geoff Immelt telling the Harvard Business Review that the company “put about $4 billion into developing analytics software and machine learning capabilities”.

The idea seemed to have been, and still may be, to provide the equivalent of an operating system for machinery and equipment which are connected to the industrial internet of things, and, in the process, become one of the top 10 software companies in the world. [Read more…] about General Electric: An industrial giant learning to live in a small world

Smart manufacturing platforms: Industrial giants face diverse competition

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Whether you call them IIoT platforms or smart manufacturing platforms, large industrial companies are finding themselves competing with each other but also new companies from different markets, specifically the computer tech world

Every factory is different. It’s in a different location, makes different things, and uses different methods and systems. 

However, every factory shares some aspects of its operation with every other factory.

At the base level, it obviously requires a building. That building needs to have power and other utilities supplied to it. The machinery – whether it includes robotics and automation equipment or not – these days, are more than likely connected to computing devices and the internet.  [Read more…] about Smart manufacturing platforms: Industrial giants face diverse competition

Industry analysis: 8 technologies that will transform manufacturing

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Advisory firm ABI Research has listed what it regards as the most transformative technologies in manufacturing.

The company outlines how the technologies fit together with each other in its report Smart Manufacturing.

The eight transformative technologies the report highlights are:

  1. Additive manufacturing
  2. Artificial intelligence and machine learning
  3. Augmented reality
  4. Blockchain
  5. Digital twins
  6. Edge intelligence
  7. Industrial Internet of Things platforms
  8. Robotics

The manufacturing sector has already seen increased adoption of IIoT platforms and edge intelligence, says ABI.  [Read more…] about Industry analysis: 8 technologies that will transform manufacturing

Opinion: The intersection of paperless work instruction and IIoT cobots

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By Randy Blaylock, VP of sales for eFlex Systems

Interoperability has arrived and the ability of machines, devices, sensors, and people to connect and communicate with each other via the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is no longer conceptual.

It is practised every day on plant floors worldwide. Information systems can create a virtual copy of the physical world by enriching digital plant models with sensor data.

This requires the aggregation of raw sensor data to higher-value context information.  [Read more…] about Opinion: The intersection of paperless work instruction and IIoT cobots

WinSystems launches Intel E3900-based single board computer with flexible edge computing for industrial IoT

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WinSystems, a provider of embedded computer solutions used in industrial and other rugged high-performance applications, has introduced its small-footprint SBC35-C427 single board computer.

The company says the “innovative design” is based on the latest Intel Atom E3900 series processor.

WinSystems says the new computer is “unique” in coupling edge computing with multiple configurations and expansion options for adding functionality, along with an extended operating temperature range.  [Read more…] about WinSystems launches Intel E3900-based single board computer with flexible edge computing for industrial IoT

Fast-growing sectors within robotics and automation

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If we were to think of robotics and automation as one industry – which we at this website in fact do – we could argue that it’s one of the fastest-growing industries in the world right now.

Certainly if we were to include software automation systems – such as robotic process automation – it would probably be the biggest.

But Robotics and Automation News tends to concentrate on physical machines – such as robotic arms or autonomous vehicles – which can be seen in a typical manufacturing or logistics facility.

And we try and understand what other sectors are most closely related to robotics and automation – manufacturing and logistics being two obvious ones.

[Read more…] about Fast-growing sectors within robotics and automation

Alchemy IoT launches with $4 million funding to integrate AI into IIoT without need for coding

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A new company called Alchemy IoT says it has $4 million seed funding to “simplify the industrial internet of thing using artificial intelligence”.

The company says it addresses the high costs and complexities of AI-based IoT for small- to mid-sized industrial customers with “no-code” cloud-based application, which enables its customers to be up “and running in 48 hours”.

Alchemy IoT describes itself as “a provider of IoT asset intelligence for industrial applications”.  [Read more…] about Alchemy IoT launches with $4 million funding to integrate AI into IIoT without need for coding