Market trends and business perspectives
Omron has introduced what it claims is the “industry’s fastest” 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands.
The compact vision sensors can three-dimensionally recognize the position and orientation of target objects.
Incorporating this technology with robots will enable fast and accurate assembly of bulk parts by automating the conventional human-intensive process. [Read more…] about Omron unveils ‘industry’s fastest’ 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands
Factories and plants in industries – such as chemical processing, pulp and paper, water and waste-water treatment, have seen the benefits of remote valve monitoring.
Traditional retrofitted monitoring solutions, however, are costly and slow to deploy for factories with thousands of manual valves of different types.
There is a more cost-effective alternative – factories have evidenced a 90 percent reduction in retrofitting investment, by using industry-grade wireless sensors and Industrial IoT technologies. [Read more…] about Factories can save up to 90 per cent in valve monitoring costs with wireless IoT sensors
B&R now offers SafeRobotics functions for tripods to safely monitor all types of delta kinematic systems – or delta robots.
The company says serial axes can also be included in the calculations, for example when tripods are mounted on moving platforms.
Safe robot monitoring is implemented using the safety functions Safely Limited Position, Safely Limited Orientation, Safely Limited Joint Position and Safely Limited Speed. [Read more…] about B&R brings safety to delta robot kinematics
Technology research and development company Cambridge Consultants has unveiled what it describes as a “dexterous robot with the human touch”. (See video below.)
Breakthrough innovation specialist Cambridge Consultants has developed Hank, a robot with flexible robotic fingers inspired by the human hand.
Hank uses a pioneering sensory system embedded in its pneumatic fingers, providing a sophisticated sense of touch and slip, meaning it can emulate the human ability to hold and grip delicate objects using just the right amount of pressure.
[Read more…] about Cambridge Consultants unveils ‘dexterous robot with the human touch’Swisslog, a warehouse automation company, has received a major order from Ikea Supply in Malaysia.
The contract is valued at approximately €43 million.
The project comprises of 215,000 pallet locations of clad-rack, 21 warehouse pallet stacker cranes Vectura, the pallet conveyor system ProMove, the electric Monorail System and the core of the system, the Swisslog software SynQ.
[Read more…] about Swisslog wins major order from Ikea in MalaysiaSensors supplier Sick showcased a new “smart logistics” system at the recent ProMAT Show, one of the world’s largest material handling exhibitions.
Sick says its system demonstrates how to obtain greater efficiency throughout supply chain operations.
Sick presented its new innovations under the banner of “Logistics Gets Smart”, and says they are designed to provide “highly efficient solutions for intralogistics applications”. [Read more…] about Sick demonstrates ‘smart logistics’ system for warehouse automation
By Mark Donovan
The next industrial revolution is arriving on a shore near you. It’s called Industry 4.0, and like its three predecessors, it’s about to bring sweeping changes to manufacturing that will globally affect everyone.
Industry 4.0, and the resulting manufacturing changes that are coming with it, have spawned a new type of production plant called the smart factory.
Central to the smart factory is the prolific use of autonomous and collaborative robots that work symbiotically with each other and alongside human beings to yield a more productive and efficient manufacturing plant. [Read more…] about Innovative sensors are empowering the smart factory robot, says AMS
