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Robotic camera offers social distancing solution, say its makers

July 2, 2020 by David Edwards Leave a Comment

The makers of the robotic camera Solo Cinebot say their camera can offer a solution to production companies in this new world of social distancing. (See video below.)

Virtually every government in the world has stipulated social distancing rules, where people have to all stay two metres apart – even at work.

The Solo Cinebot system was the brainchild of Josh Shadid and Aaron Grasso and was created as a “response to filming needs at this unpredictable time”. [Read more…] about Robotic camera offers social distancing solution, say its makers

ADLINK teams up with Intel to launch ROS-based robotics technology

June 9, 2020 by Mai Tao Leave a Comment

ADLINK Technology, a provider of edge computing systems, has launched the ROScube-I with Intel, providing a real-time ROS 2 robot controller for advanced robotic applications.

The ADLINK ROScube-I Series is a ROS 2-enabled robotic controller based on Intel Xeon E, 9th Gen Intel Core i7/i3 and 8th Gen Intel Core i5 processors, and features exceptional I/O connectivity supporting a wide variety of sensors and actuators to meet the needs of a wide range of robotic applications.

The ROScube-I supports an extension box for convenient functional and performance expansion with Intel VPU cards and the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit for computation of AI algorithms and inference. [Read more…] about ADLINK teams up with Intel to launch ROS-based robotics technology

Opinion: Cloud robotics is a game changer, but three challenges lurk

May 21, 2020 by Sam Francis Leave a Comment

By Rhys Davies, product manager at Canonical, publisher of Ubuntu open-source operating system

The service robotics market is projected to soar from $37 billion worldwide this year to $102.5 billion by 2025, according to ResearchAndMarkets. Every week, it seems, we see some cool new application, like the warehouse automation solution shown in the video below.

A major reason for robotics’ emergence as a hot technology trend often spoken in the same breath as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) is the convergence of robotics with the cloud.

Cloud robotics – a term first coined in 2010 by then-Google research scientist James Kuffner – provides vast amounts of processing power and storage resources to expand robot capabilities. [Read more…] about Opinion: Cloud robotics is a game changer, but three challenges lurk

Automation Drives COGS Reduction for Small and Mid-sized Manufacturers

January 20, 2020 by David Edwards Leave a Comment

By Mike Franz, founder and creator of the WorkCenter from ManufacturingPower

Automated access to summary cost and margin information for each SKU delivers light SaaS “MRO/tail-spend” price transparency, returning a minimum 11-14 COGS (cost of goods sold) reduction to the bottom line.

Every manufacturer must pay attention to costs and competitors’ pricing. For better or worse, purchasing professionals are rewarded for capturing the lowest price; few have the time to scour the internet for ever RFQ to see if the bid offered is indeed competitive. Measuring value with price experiments is not realistic.

Full-time competitive pricing professionals could work 24/7 to generate statistically valid and accurate data. For the small and mid-sized manufacturer, the solution is to automate price comparison functionality. Until recently this was prohibitively expensive and often too complex. Automating costs and competitive prices can be achieved in a $5,000 per year SaaS solution. [Read more…] about Automation Drives COGS Reduction for Small and Mid-sized Manufacturers

Arch Systems partners with Flex to develop manufacturing data systems

December 2, 2019 by Abdul Montaqim Leave a Comment

Arch Systems, provider of a machine-data-sensing platform compatible with both legacy and new industrial machines, has reached an agreement with Flex, a supply chain and manufacturing company, to supply real-time access to and analysis of manufacturing data at its facilities.

Gus Shahin, chief information officer at Flex, says: “We’re deploying Arch’s technology at key digital factories to capture the relevant analytics and help us drive production efficiencies, process automation and predictive analytics.

“Arch can pull raw data from existing and new machines to help us generate actionable metrics, one of the core competencies of our digital factory. As part of our Industry 4.0 journey, we are excited to partner with Arch and leverage its leading-edge technology.” [Read more…] about Arch Systems partners with Flex to develop manufacturing data systems

Arch Systems partners with Flex for manufacturing data transformation

November 20, 2019 by Sam Francis Leave a Comment

Arch Systems has formed a partnership with Flex to develop systems to enable data transformation in its manufacturing operation.

The companies says that innovative data extraction from legacy and new machines will help drive production efficiencies, process automation and predictive analytics across Flex sites.

Arch Systems is a provider of a leading machine-data-sensing platform compatible with both legacy and new industrial machines. [Read more…] about Arch Systems partners with Flex for manufacturing data transformation

Controlling complexity: Powerful new tech tools are bringing lean manufacturing principles to life

October 7, 2019 by David Edwards

By Dan McKiernan, president of eFlex Systems

Lean manufacturing principles and practices aimed at minimizing waste and maximizing productivity, have been shaping the manufacturing sector for decades now.

The necessary end-goal for manufacturers is to ensure that products are built correctly, every time, even when changes are made in-process.

While this goal is nothing new, the rise of complexity and customization challenges presents a constant counterpressure against the continuing push for improved consistency and quality. [Read more…] about Controlling complexity: Powerful new tech tools are bringing lean manufacturing principles to life

Mitsubishi launches new range of industrial computers

October 3, 2019 by Mai Tao

Mitsubishi Electric Automation has released a new range of its MELIPC Series industrial-use computers for data computing, edge computing, remote monitoring, and the integration of hardware and software technologies.

The MELIPC Series is targeted towards original equipment manufacturers and end users running general manufacturing applications, and especially those who require a computing and data monitoring solution that takes up a limited amount of space with a small footprint.

Most importantly, MELIPC is designed to enable internet of things on factory floors that have not been introduced to it yet, or improve it where it is already enabled. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi launches new range of industrial computers

Slack expands its usage of Cobalt’s security robots

October 2, 2019 by David Edwards

Communications app developer Slack has expanded its utilisation of Cobalt Robotics’ mobile security robot.

While Cobalt robots have been patrolling the hallways at Slack offices for some time now, the company’s says its recent trip to Chicago for GSX came with “some exciting news about the next phase of our relationship with Slack”.

The new integration with Slack’s widely used enterprise communications and collaboration platform “will help keep safety and security a priority for you and your entire office”, says Cobalt. [Read more…] about Slack expands its usage of Cobalt’s security robots

Nokia partners on wireless digitalisation infrastructure for ports and terminals

July 3, 2019 by Anna

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, a pioneer in terminal automation and energy-efficient cargo handling, and Ukkoverkot, leading private LTE network provider, have signed a two-year co-operation agreement with Nokia to design, build and operate a private LTE network.

Nokia brings the digital automation platform that is well suited for mobile machinery and industrial Internet of Things.

A test network reflecting an actual terminal environment will be built for research and development purposes.