Robotics & Automation News

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Güdel to showcase linear motion tech for robots at FabTech

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Adding linear motion to articulated robots is now a widely adopted solution to extend flexibility and work envelopes.

But these benefits only apply if the robot runs smoothly on a track that in many production environments will be exposed to dust, soot, abrasives and fine contaminants, which can cause the track’s roller bearings to stop rotating, leading to malfunction and robot downtime.

At FabTech booth W5029, Güdel will showcase its “cam follower advantage”. A cam follower is Güdel’s cylindrical roller bearing mounted on a stud that rides on the guide rail, providing significantly increased resilience to harsh industrial environments compared with traditional profile guides commonly used in 7th axis tracks. [Read more…] about Güdel to showcase linear motion tech for robots at FabTech

Mastering Motion Control With Bosch Rexroth’s Indramat Range

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Industrial automation and motion control are the backbone of modern manufacturing and production processes, orchestrating precision, efficiency, and innovation.

One of the forerunners in this dynamic landscape is Bosch Rexroth’s Indramat range, a comprehensive platform encompassing servo drives, motors, and control systems.

Let us learn more about the Indramat range, from past to present, and the role of its servo drives in mastering motion control. [Read more…] about Mastering Motion Control With Bosch Rexroth’s Indramat Range

Motion & Control enterprises acquires Ultimation Industries

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Motion & Control Enterprises has acquired Ultimation Industries, its fourth acquisition of 2023.

Headquartered in Roseville, MI, Ultimation provides highly engineered automation and material handling solutions as well as quick-ship distribution of material handling equipment products offered through a robust e-commerce platform to customers across the US, Latin America, and Europe.

The company serves a broad range of end-markets, including energy, automotive, logistics and vertical faming. [Read more…] about Motion & Control enterprises acquires Ultimation Industries

Realtime Robotics raises $9.5 million in additional funding

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Realtime Robotics, a developer of collision-free autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, today announced that it has secured an additional $9.5 million in funding from Shinhan GIB and Kyobo Life Insurance.

Driven by the strong response to its RapidPlan industrial robotics motion control and collision avoidance software, Realtime will use this additional investment to drive further product enhancements, incorporate feedback from customers and partners, and scale to support additional go-to-market efforts.

RapidPlan reduces the annual costs of robotic automation by two-thirds and makes the robot programming process up to 5x faster, all while eliminating collisions and removing the majority of manual, time-consuming adjustments. [Read more…] about Realtime Robotics raises $9.5 million in additional funding

Apex Motion Control launches new collaborative robot

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Apex Motion Control, a specialist in smart robotic and automation equipment, has released its latest product line – the Flexi-Bot and Flexi-Bot MAX.

These new collaborative robots (cobots) have been designed with the food, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries in mind, offering a user-friendly solution to ongoing labor shortages and the dull, dangerous, dirty, and repetitive tasks involved in industrial manufacturing.

Jamie Bobyk, marketing manager with Apex Motion Control, says: “We’ve listened to the needs of the food, dairy and pharma producers and have developed a Collaborative Robot that is well-suited to these industries with stricter guidelines. [Read more…] about Apex Motion Control launches new collaborative robot

Thomson moves Swedish manufacturing operations to larger facility to ‘make room for continued business growth’

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Thomson Industries, a provider of linear motion control solutions, is moving its Kristianstad, Sweden, operations into a larger space to meet what it says is “growing demand” for its motion control technology.

The Kristianstad plant has been a steadily growing supplier of Thomson electric linear actuators and linear motion systems to European customers and is on track for further growth. The new facility is larger, more advanced and will effectively support future business growth.

Peter Swahn, site manager, Thomson Industries, says: “Strict adherence to safety, quality, delivery, inventory management and productivity excellence has fuelled our success, so much so that we have outgrown our facilities. [Read more…] about Thomson moves Swedish manufacturing operations to larger facility to ‘make room for continued business growth’

AutomationWare prepares for future with new robotic joints

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AutomationWare says it is “looking forward” to the rest of 2023 with the new version of its robotic joints (actuators) in J and T versions and UNI EN ISO 9001 certification for the design and production of systems for automation and industrial robotics.

The era of modular and scalable robotics based on AutomationWare’s J&T actuators begins and Robotics becomes Lego
Innovating the world of high-performance actuators.

AutomationWare has chosen a personal approach to the world of robots, producing high-tech actuators, which it uses both to produce robotic solutions itself (especially collaborative arms with special configurations, sizes and payloads) and to meet the demands of customers oriented towards tailor-made, in-house robotic solutions with degrees of freedom necessary for their application. [Read more…] about AutomationWare prepares for future with new robotic joints

Celera Motion launches ‘world’s first’ platform to simplify PCB design work for robotic solutions

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Celera Motion, a business unit of Novanta, has launched its Summit Designer, which the company describes as “an innovative new tool” that delivers standard market-ready PCB designs for robotic applications to save significant cost, work and time to market.

Summit Designer is an open-source PCB design library featuring a diverse and vast offering of market-ready application-specific PCBs that are designed, supported and updated by experts.

It is an optimal way to effortlessly develop compact robot joints, multi-axis AGV/AMR systems, industrial end-effectors and surgical robots, among many others. [Read more…] about Celera Motion launches ‘world’s first’ platform to simplify PCB design work for robotic solutions

Interactive cyber-physical human: Generating contact-rich whole-body motions

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Performing human-like motions that involve multiple contacts is challenging for robots. In this regard, a researcher from the Tokyo University Science has envisioned an interactive cyber-physical human (iCPH) platform with complementary humanoid (physical twin) and simulation (digital twin) elements.

iCPH combines human measurement data, musculoskeletal analysis, and machine learning for data collection and augmentation. As a result, iCPH can understand, predict, and synthesize whole-body contact motions.

Humans naturally perform numerous complex tasks. These include sitting down, picking something up from a table, and pushing a cart. These activities involve various movements and require multiple contacts, which makes it difficult to program robots to perform them. [Read more…] about Interactive cyber-physical human: Generating contact-rich whole-body motions

Celera Motion unveils ‘world’s smallest’ servo drives

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Celera Motion, a business unit of Novanta, has launched what it says are “the world’s smallest servo drives”.

Named the Denali Series, the new compact, ultra-fast servo drives are perfect for a variety of service robots, surgical robots, industrial grippers and lab automation applications.

Denali is the latest addition to Celera Motion’s line of premium-performance Ingenia servo drives. [Read more…] about Celera Motion unveils ‘world’s smallest’ servo drives