Robotics & Automation News

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How Packing Machines are Making Their Way into Garden Shops

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Packaging machines are increasingly making their way into garden shops. All thanks to the numerous advantages they offer and their cost-effective nature.

First and foremost, packaging machines can help increase the packing efficiency of the process.

They can do this by automating many of the tasks involved in packing products. This includes tasks such as loading products onto the packaging machine, sealing the packages, and labeling them. [Read more…] about How Packing Machines are Making Their Way into Garden Shops

Methods Machine Tools releases its first end-to-end standard automation system for Nakamura turning centers

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Methods Machine Tools, the foremost supplier of high-quality, high-precision CNC machine tools and automation in North America, has released the Turn-Assist 200i and 270i from RoboJob as its first, end-to-end standard automation system for Nakamura-Tome turning centers.

A semi-collaborative system engineered for lathe automation, Turn-Assist is designed to be implemented and run by operators of any skill level. With a simple tablet-style HMI and standard Ethernet IP interface, shops can successfully change over from one part to another within minutes.

Zach Spencer, Methods’ automation manager, says: “By pairing the Turn-Assist from RoboJob with Nakamura-Tome, we have created a unique automation solution for high-mix/low-volume and/or mid-volume with frequent changeovers on round workpieces often associated with Nakamura lathes. [Read more…] about Methods Machine Tools releases its first end-to-end standard automation system for Nakamura turning centers

DMG MORI building Africa’s first machine tool factory

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DMG MORI, a manufacturing technology company with 12,000 employees in 87 countries and $2 billion in annual sales revenues, is building what it says is “Africa’s first machine tool factory” in Cairo, Egypt.

The decision was formally made at a meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. In the presence of Prime Minister Dr Mostafa Madbouly, the company’s chairman, Christian Thönes, and AOI President Lt Gen Abdel Moneam Al Tarras signed the “pioneering cooperation agreement”.

Christian Thönes, chairman of DMG MORI Aktiengesellschaft, says:“Egypt is the door to Africa – a continent full of potential and high demand for future technologies. [Read more…] about DMG MORI building Africa’s first machine tool factory

Rapid Robotics unveils robot with ‘fastest setup time in the industry’

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Rapid Robotics says it has developed a robot with the “fastest setup time in the industry”.

The Rapid Machine Operator (RMO) from Rapid Robotics is “the first industrial robot that can get up and running in a matter of hours”, according to the company.

It’s also the first manufacturing robot that can move between jobs “in less time than it takes to make a cup of coffee”. [Read more…] about Rapid Robotics unveils robot with ‘fastest setup time in the industry’

Small-batch medical shop triples production with robotics

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Figuring out how to meet rising production demand can be deceptive. On the surface, it’s a simple math problem. If you have one machine on the floor and it makes eight parts per day, and you need to produce 16 parts per day, just add another machine, right?

Meeting demand in a consistent, cost-effective manner is a bit more complicated. Sometimes, it takes a little more due diligence to uncover the best way to increase throughput or meet rising demand.

The operations group at Ultradent Products, a leading developer and manufacturer of high- tech dental materials and devices, faced such a problem. In 2017, the company sought to increase production of its industry-leading Valo curing light, used by dental clinicians to cure dental composites, sealants, and various other chemistries. [Read more…] about Small-batch medical shop triples production with robotics

Soft assistive robotic wearables get a boost from rapid design tool

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Scientists created a new design and fabrication tool for soft pneumatic actuators with integrated sensing, which can power personalized healthcare, smart homes, and gaming.

Soft, pneumatic actuators might not be a phrase that comes up in daily conversations, but more likely than not you might have benefited from their utility. The devices use compressed air to power motion, and with sensing capabilities, they’ve proven to be a critical backbone in a variety of applications such as assistive wearables, robotics, and rehabilitative technologies.

But there’s a bit of a bottleneck in creating the little dynamic devices that have advantages like high response rates and power to input ratios. They require a manual design and fabrication pipeline, which translates to a lot of trial and error cycles to actually test and see whether the designs will work. [Read more…] about Soft assistive robotic wearables get a boost from rapid design tool

Ranpak launches new automated packaging machine

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Ranpak, a provider of paper-based packaging solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains, has launched “Flap’it!”, a highly efficient machine that automates the packing of a variety of small products.

The Flap’it! solution automatically adapts to the height of the item and secures the product in place with inner-flaps and integrated cushioning bumpers at the corners. This ensures that products are protected during shipment, significantly reducing costs, damage and product returns.

The system is run by a single operator and can easily be moved around the facility; additionally, it includes a number of safety features and has a small physical footprint. Flap’it! can pack up to 540 packages per hour, nine packages per minute – “five times faster than manual packing”. [Read more…] about Ranpak launches new automated packaging machine

FORT Robotics raises $25 million in Series B funding

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FORT Robotics, a pioneer in communications and control for smart machines, has closed a $25 million Series B funding round, led by Tiger Global.

The company will use the funds to accelerate the rollout of its machine communications platform, which aims to make autonomous machines safer and more secure.

Samuel Reeves, founder and CEO of FORT, says: “Smart machines are transforming the world, but they come with unprecedented safety and security risks. [Read more…] about FORT Robotics raises $25 million in Series B funding

Chalmers University selects Lenovo and Nvidia to build Swedish national supercomputer

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Chalmers University of Technology is using Lenovo and Nvidia’s technology infrastructure to power its large-scale computer resource, or supercomputer, Alvis.

The project has seen the delivery and implementation of a clustered computing system for artificial intelligence and machine learning research, in what is Lenovo’s largest high-performance computing cluster for AI and ML in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Alvis – old Norse meaning “all-wise” or “all-knowing” – is a national supercomputer resource within the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC). [Read more…] about Chalmers University selects Lenovo and Nvidia to build Swedish national supercomputer

ABB launches new robotic depalletizer to ‘reduce complexity and improve efficiency’

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ABB has launched the “ABB Robotic Depalletizer”, a solution for handling complex depalletizing tasks in the logistics, e-commerce, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods industries.

Using machine vision software, ABB’s new solution can quickly assess a wide variety of box types, enabling customers to efficiently process assorted loads with very little engineering effort and short set-up time.

Marc Segura, ABB’s Robotics division president, says: “Changes in consumer behavior are leading to a rise in new sales channels such as omni-channel, direct to consumer and e-commerce. [Read more…] about ABB launches new robotic depalletizer to ‘reduce complexity and improve efficiency’