Robotics & Automation News

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Robotics and automation news is good for ABB, says CEO

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Industrial giant ABB is reporting a 3 per cent growth in total orders across its operation, but most of it seems to be coming from robotics. 

Net income was $525 million – for the second quarter ending July 6. Gross profit, however, was down 5 per cent, and was only $1 billion. Total revenues were up 1 per cent at almost $8.5 billion.

ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer says: “In Q2, ABB continued to build its growth momentum as our targeted initiatives are delivering. Order growth was broad-based and across all regions.

“Our industry-leading digital offering, ABB Ability, is taking off and starting to contribute to growth.

“Operational performance in the power grids and industrial automation divisions was solid in the quarter. Electrification products and robotics and motion improved margins sequentially, but were not able to fully compensate commodity price headwinds and overcapacity during the quarter.  [Read more…] about Robotics and automation news is good for ABB, says CEO

Hillcrest Labs launches ‘industrial grade sensor for consumer products’

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FSM300 Module vs Quarter_NEW_ExtraLarge crop

Hillcrest Labs has a new sensor system which the company says is “four times better” than competitor solutions.

Hillcrest says its new FSM300 delivers industrial-grade sensor fusion accuracy at prices suitable for consumer products with “four times greater accuracy versus competitor solutions in some tests”.

The FSM300 is what’s called a attitude and heading reference system, which is a sensor system, and an inertial measurement unit, which like a gyroscope.  [Read more…] about Hillcrest Labs launches ‘industrial grade sensor for consumer products’

Dana to supply driveshaft assemblies and motion systems for New York Wheel

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Photo credits: S9 Architecture / Perkins Eastman

New York City is planning to construct what will be the world’s largest ferris wheel, and a company called Dana is providing the crucial components.

Dana announced that it is providing driveshaft assemblies and gearboxes for the New York Wheel – which will be the world’s tallest observation wheel.

This attraction is currently under construction on the north shore of Staten Island in New York City and will stand 630 feet (192 meters) high when completed in early 2018.  [Read more…] about Dana to supply driveshaft assemblies and motion systems for New York Wheel

Got milk? How a Swiss company builds filling and packaging systems for milk, coffee and other products

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Scaled technology and functioning interfaces are essential for Swiss Can Machinery, which is why the company’s filling and packaging systems have a modular design throughout, and why it uses a product program with a scaled structure for the drive technology. 

The filling and packaging systems at Swiss Can Machinery – which was established by brothers Marc and Michael Grabher – shows how this objective can be achieved.

The company turns to stainless steel motors for the actuators; for example, when these systems are used for filling and packaging pharmaceutical products.  [Read more…] about Got milk? How a Swiss company builds filling and packaging systems for milk, coffee and other products

Spinea launches new servo actuator for precision motion

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Spinea has launched its new DS 095 DriveSpin servo actuator motor for precision control.

Recently announced by Spinea and available in the UK from Heason Technology, the DriveSpin DS 095 series integrates the industry leading TwinSpin high-load capacity trochoidal gear unit and a powerful AC servomotor with servo feedback for a cutting-edge rotary actuator solution for precision motion applications.

The inline (non-hollowshaft) design of the DS 095 fulfils the gap between the DS 70 and DS 100 models to provide a rated torque of up to 85 Nm and maximum lost motion and hysteresis values of less than one arc-min.  [Read more…] about Spinea launches new servo actuator for precision motion

Delta presents its latest innovations in industrial automation at SPS IPC Drives Italia

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Delta, a provider of power and thermal management solutions and industrial automation solutions, is showcasing its complete portfolio of next-generation industrial automation products and solutions at SPS IPC Drives Italia 2017.

The company says its solutions are designed to augment the productivity of manufacturing and industrial processes in a broad spectrum of applications.

These include the new compact modular mid-range PLC AS series, featuring slim and modular design with max. 1,024 I/O and remarkable program capacity of 128K steps for multi-axis control to support advance automation machinery, as well as the new ASDA-A3 servo system, boasting a high performance motor with 6,000rpm and a vibration suppression function to enhance the operation integrity of advanced machines.  [Read more…] about Delta presents its latest innovations in industrial automation at SPS IPC Drives Italia

Miniature 700-watt servo motor drive with integrated motion controller

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Granite Devices, a Finnish servo drive manufacturer, has released a new industrial servo motor drive contributing high degree of time and cost saving features to the machine automation market.

A “Swiss-army knife of motion control”, Ioni starts a new era of servo drives by bringing snap-on installation, built-in SIL2 safety functions and unforeseen compactness in 700 W class in just 70 x 37 x 7 mm form factor.

Ioni implements industry standard, torque, velocity and position controls for AC, brushless DC, brushed DC, linear servo motors and stepping motors between 2 W and 700 W power.  [Read more…] about Miniature 700-watt servo motor drive with integrated motion controller

Aerotech demonstrates patent-pending motion control sensor

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Aerotech has launched a motion control sensor with a parallel-kinematic design which provides unmatched geometric performance, says company, adding that it also offers superior positioning resolution and linearity with the direct-metrology capacitive sensor.

Aerotech’s QNP3 series XYZ piezo positioning stages combine sub-nanometer resolution, high dynamics, and excellent geometric performance in a compact three-degree-of-freedom (DoF) package.

They come with a 40 mm x 40 mm clear aperture with closed-loop travels up to 100 µm x 100 µm x 10 µm (open-loop travels to 120 µm x 120 µm x 12 µm).

The design is ideal for optical and scanning probe microscopy or other inspection or manufacturing applications where two-sided part access is required with three-DoF manipulation.  [Read more…] about Aerotech demonstrates patent-pending motion control sensor

Cone Drive launches Harmonic Solutions in Asia

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Cone Drive, a precision motion control technology provider, is expanding the reach of its new Harmonic Solutions product range into the Asia market at the Shanghai International Modern Industrial Intelligent Equipment Exhibition (SIA) in May 2017.

The Asia launch follows commercial launches in the US at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in September 2016 and Europe at Motek in October 2016.

Having launched its product range in the US and Europe, Cone Drive is to enter the market in Asia which represents 85 per cent of the global harmonic market.

Cone Drive says the high quality engineering and manufacturing standards of its Harmonic Solutions are ready to meet the Asian market’s demands by providing engineered solutions for applications in robotics, aerospace, metrology, defense, medical, machine tooling industries, and more.  [Read more…] about Cone Drive launches Harmonic Solutions in Asia

Automate 2017 show prepares to open to record crowds and highest exhibitor numbers

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The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) has been offering previews of Automate 2017, North America’s premier biennial event devoted to leading-edge technology and business innovation to be held at Chicago’s McCormick Place April 3-6.

This year’s show is over 40 percent larger than the last show in 2015 and features more than 400 exhibitors showing their latest technologies for the entire spectrum of the automation industry.

More than 20,000 attendees are expected to attend Automate 2017 from across the United States and more than 70 countries. Registration is free for attendees walking the show floor.

The Automate 2017 show and conference centers on the technology, innovation and automation solutions that are transforming manufacturing and service businesses globally.  [Read more…] about Automate 2017 show prepares to open to record crowds and highest exhibitor numbers