Robotics & Automation News

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ZF opens new factories in India and the USA

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ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division is leveraging global growth opportunities brought by increasing trends towards decarbonizing commercial vehicles.

Yesterday, the division opened a plant in Oragadam, India (Tamil Nadu Province), where electric components will also be produced for the Indian and Asian markets.

A week earlier, ZF’s US plant in Gray Court started local production of the efficient and hybrid-capable PowerLine transmission for light commercial vehicles for the North American market. With both locations, the CVS division is continuing its global growth and sustainability strategy. [Read more…] about ZF opens new factories in India and the USA

Bosch to use generative AI in manufacturing

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Bosch is piloting generative AI and foundation models in manufacturing. In initial projects in two Bosch plants in Germany, generative AI creates synthetic images in order to develop and scale AI solutions for optical inspection and optimize existing AI models.

Bosch expects that this will reduce the time needed for planning, launching, and ramping up AI applications “from the current six to 12 months to just a few weeks”. Following successful piloting, this service for generating synthetic data is to be offered to all Bosch locations.

There are sound economic reasons for this move: depending on the size of the plant and type of production, artificial intelligence can be used to achieve productivity gains and six- to seven-figure cost savings – per year and plant. [Read more…] about Bosch to use generative AI in manufacturing

Plant Documentation 4.0: An ‘essential enabler’ for Industry 4.0

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LiveDOK software suite from Rösberg makes plant data available digitally to engineers and plant operators, and can be administered, searched and corrected in real time.

Specialist articles on Industry 4.0 generally emphasise the feasibility of consistent, intelligent networking of machines, processes and personnel.

However, one aspect that is often overlooked is that digitalised plants can only be reliably managed if available documentation reflects the current status of the production processes. [Read more…] about Plant Documentation 4.0: An ‘essential enabler’ for Industry 4.0

Global cement producer Votorantim Cimentos achieves multi-site digitalization with ABB

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ABB has delivered advanced automation and digital technologies to global building materials and sustainable solutions company Votorantim Cimentos, as it embraces Industry 4.0 in cement to simultaneously optimize production and decarbonize operations.

Industrial companies, including Votorantim Cimentos Europe, Asia and Africa Region (VCEAA) – which has the worldwide capacity to produce 55.7 million tons of cement per annum, are ramping up their efforts to ensure lower emissions as governments and international organizations push for net-zero emissions by 2030.

Digital solutions ABB Ability Expert Optimizer and ABB Ability Knowledge Manager have recently been installed in the customer’s plants in Spain, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco with proven impacts for enhanced productivity, streamlined processes, reduced maintenance and energy savings. [Read more…] about Global cement producer Votorantim Cimentos achieves multi-site digitalization with ABB

Robotics and Automation in Gardening

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Robotics and automation in gardening can be quite challenging. For example, it is possible to increase crop yields while decreasing labor costs. But this requires that robotics be built with sustainability in mind. Read this article to learn about some of the challenges robotics face in agriculture.  [Read more…] about Robotics and Automation in Gardening

ANYmal robot being put to work inspecting BASF facility

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Robot maker ANYbotics has unveiled its collaboration with BASF, one of the largest global chemical manufacturers, which involves the use of the ANYmal robot for inspections at Ludwigshafen, Germany. (See video below.) 

The two companies say the collaboration “displays the efficiency, quality, and scalability of robotic inspection and data-collection capabilities in complex industrial environments”.

On production floors, robotics and manufacturing have gone hand-in-hand for decades. But on industrial plants, repetitive inspections, environment mapping, and efficiency analytics have mostly relied on manual work. These physical efforts impact economic sustainability, as well as process reliability and data quality. [Read more…] about ANYmal robot being put to work inspecting BASF facility

Grenzebach launches new conveyor technologies

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Grenzebach says its new generation of conveyor technology makes it possible to further increase the availability of float glass plants.

Transporting glass gently, carefully and safely is tricky. Grenzebach says its specially developed drive train with direct drive represents a major step forward.

The number of components in the drive has been minimized and access to key components is now even easier. This enables companies to significantly reduce the cost of spare parts and maintenance. [Read more…] about Grenzebach launches new conveyor technologies

Investment in agricultural automation increases as farmers look to offset labor shortages

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Total investment in agricultural robot startups has increased significantly as farmers look to offset labor shortages partly caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report on the Financial Times website.

Citing data collated by DealRoom.co, the news website says investment in vertical and indoor farming startups has grown by more than 40 percent this year compared with last year.

Indoor farming is basically the process of growing inside large buildings, some of which are like greenhouses and use natural light coming through transparent roofs, while others use artificial lights if their roofs are opaque. [Read more…] about Investment in agricultural automation increases as farmers look to offset labor shortages

Volkswagen opens up its ‘Industrial Cloud’ to other manufacturing and technology companies

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Volkswagen, together with Amazon Web Services and integration partner Siemens, is opening up its Industrial Cloud to other manufacturing and technology companies.

New partner companies will be able to connect with Volkswagen plants and to contribute their own software applications for optimizing production processes to the Industrial Cloud.

VW says the opening up of the platform will help create “a rapidly growing range of industrial software applications for Volkswagen’s plants”. [Read more…] about Volkswagen opens up its ‘Industrial Cloud’ to other manufacturing and technology companies

5 ways robots are cleaning up the world’s oceans

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Written by Pippa Strickland from iDiveblue.com

Robotics have changed our lives in remarkable ways and when you consider the vastness of our oceans (which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface), it makes sense that robotics is being harnessed to conduct research and preserve our ocean health.

From improving ship fuel efficiency to repopulating reefs and removing marine litter, here are five ways that robotic innovations are leading to a brighter future for our ocean-dwelling species. [Read more…] about 5 ways robots are cleaning up the world’s oceans