Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

manual

Changing Material Handling Industry Accelerates AGV Robotics

by

By John Hayes, Balyo USA

Economic policies from Industry 4.0, Logistics 4.0, and connected warehouses point to the imperative to lower costs, increase productivity, and guarantee quality. There are as many forklift truck operator positions to be filled as there are IT developer and R&D engineer jobs combined.

In the United States, 65 percent of the businesses surveyed by Deloitte (as part of its annual Supply Chain report) noted that it is “extremely difficult” to hire qualified warehouse labor.

Moving pallets is expensive. One of the global Fast Moving Customer Goods (FMCG) leaders estimates spending “almost 380 million dollars per year” for tasks that create no additional value for the business. [Read more…] about Changing Material Handling Industry Accelerates AGV Robotics

Do we really need a professional translator for instruction manuals?

by

Whether we like it or not, it is a well-established fact that we need instruction manuals. Indeed, in some instances it may be a legal requirement for the manufacturer of the product to supply one.

In fact, numerous directives in Europe, the US and much of the rest of the world make it compulsory to provide information, most often in the form of an instruction manual. [Read more…] about Do we really need a professional translator for instruction manuals?

Robotic versus manual plasma cutting

by

Plasma cutters are very powerful machines that have the ability to cut through metal. Some of them are powerful enough to go through very thick pieces. In fact, they can go through them like a knife through butter.

Plasma cutters are an essential piece of equipment for some welders. In fact, it does the complete opposite of a welding machine. Instead of fusing pieces of metal together, a plasma cutter is used to tear it apart.

During some point of work, it is necessary to cut through some pieces that you don’t need or when you are trying to shape something together. [Read more…] about Robotic versus manual plasma cutting

Quality control automation with the help of technology

by

Quality control inspection is one of the most crucial parts of the manufacturing process for most of the companies and industries. Especially if a small error in the production can result in a massive loss for the company, it becomes imperative to invest in better quality control systems.

A non-automated quality control system requires a large human force that results in increased costs and is still not entirely reliable. On the other hand, automated quality control can help to grow your business by cutting on manual inspection costs.

Read on to know more about the automated quality inspection and how your firm can benefit from its installation. [Read more…] about Quality control automation with the help of technology

Effects of Commercial Robots in a Working Environment

by

Robots have begun taking over the manufacturing and processing tasks in industries. Research has revealed that the robot market is expected to grow. Various industries have started taking robots seriously and are considering them as avenues of pioneering automation in the future.

Industrial robots or rather commercial robots are excellent because they can excel in workspaces that had previously been occupied by manual operators and execute their previous chores more meticulously.

Commercial robots come with safety measures that allow manual operators to work around them without fear of getting injured. [Read more…] about Effects of Commercial Robots in a Working Environment

ATI Industrial Automation launches new orbital sander for robots

by

ATI Industrial Automation has introduced the AOV-10 Axially-Compliant Orbital Sander, specifically designed for robotic surface preparation and finishing.

With built-in compliance, the AOV-10 is well-suited for many different robotic applications—even those that require a light touch.

A pneumatically-actuated compliance mechanism allows for dynamic control of contact forces and ensures an ideal result every time. [Read more…] about ATI Industrial Automation launches new orbital sander for robots

BA Systemes unveils new ‘compact and robust’ AGV

by

Logistics technology company BA Systemes has unveiled what it describes as a “compact and robust” automated guided vehicle for warehouse operation, mainly to handle pallets. (See video below.)

The company says its GF 10.1 AGV has been designed to be “modular and easily adaptable” to the various specificities of its customers.

BA Systemes says the new AGV can handle all types of pallets, from traditional Euro pallets to GMA pallets with perimeter base. [Read more…] about BA Systemes unveils new ‘compact and robust’ AGV

Indian government to replace sewage workers with robots by 2020

by

An Indian company called GenRobotics has developed a range of robots to undertake work down manholes and in sewage environments, and has been receiving orders from a number of states in its home country as well as many places abroad. 

GenRobotics was launched in relatively quiet circumstances in 2015, but then, last year, the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, was in attendance at the launch of the company’s second-generation robots.

Malaysia and the UAE are among the outside nations from which orders have been received for GenRobotics machines, and they join Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, in the south, and Haryana, in the north of the massive country of more than 1 billion people. [Read more…] about Indian government to replace sewage workers with robots by 2020

ABB Robotics to develop collaborative robot solutions for healthcare

by

ABB is to introduce collaborative robots to medical laboratories as it opens a new healthcare hub at the Texas Medical Center (TMC) innovation campus in Houston, Texas.

The facility will be ABB’s first dedicated healthcare research centre when it opens in October 2019.

ABB’s research team will work on the TMC campus with medical staff, scientists and engineers to develop non-surgical medical robotics systems, including logistics and next-generation automated laboratory technologies.

[Read more…] about ABB Robotics to develop collaborative robot solutions for healthcare

Universal Robots certifies ATI’s automated tool changer QC-11

by

ATI Industrial Automation’s QC-11 Automatic Tool Changer is a vital component of many robotic applications and is now certified to work with collaborative robots from Universal Robots.

The QC-11 enables automatic exchange of robotic end-effectors without any manual intervention. With an ATI Automatic Tool Changer, a robot can use multiple end-effectors in a single process.

Preceding the QC-11 in the UR+ program are ATI’s Axia80 Force/Torque Sensor and MC-10 Manual Tool Changer. There are more than 150 products in the UR+ portfolio featuring plug-and-play solutions for UR cobots.

[Read more…] about Universal Robots certifies ATI’s automated tool changer QC-11