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Ultimation Industries introduces warehouse robots from Nord-Modules

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Ultimation Industries has introduced autonomous mobile robot – also known as warehouse robots – from Nord-Modules. The company says they provide its clients with more flexible material handling solutions. 

They provide more flexible material handling when used in conjunction with Motor-Driven Roller (MDR) and other conveyor systems, according to Ultimation Industries. Ultimation is a woman-owned leader in conveyor technology and automation for over 30 years.

Richard Canny, president of Ultimation Industries, says: “AMRs have become common in large distribution companies such as Amazon and some Fortune 500 companies. [Read more…] about Ultimation Industries introduces warehouse robots from Nord-Modules

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

Universal Robots develops interface for Siemens engineering portal

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Universal Robots, the world’s largest collaborative robots manufacturer, has developed an interface for the engineering portal of Siemens, one of the world’s largest industrial technology companies.

The companies say that integrating Universal Robots’ collaborative robots into complex machines and manufacturing environments will soon be a process machine builders and systems integrators can “seamlessly handle” through the Siemens Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) portal.

The UR collaborative robots will become part of the Simatic Robot Library within Siemens’ TIA environment through an interpreter interface planned to be completed within the fourth quarter of 2021. [Read more…] about Universal Robots develops interface for Siemens engineering portal

Yaskawa Motoman has sold 500,000 industrial robots

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Yaskawa Motoman, one of the world’s largest industrial automation companies, has sold 500,000 industrial robots.

The company says cumulative shipments of Motoman Yaskawa’s industrial robots reach 500,000 units last month – February 2021.

Yaskawa has attracted a wide range of customers worldwide since its first all-electric industrial robot in Japan Motoman-L10 was shipped in 1977. [Read more…] about Yaskawa Motoman has sold 500,000 industrial robots

Fuzzy Logic Robotics launches platform that enables users to go from CAD to control with one software

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Startup company Fuzzy Logic Robotics has launched a new, “easy-to-use and universal” software platform which it says “reduces robotics programming costs by 10”.

The first release of Fuzzy Studio, during Hannover Messe Industry 2021, is described as a “game changer” for unlocking flexible robotic production.

Fuzzy Logic Robotics highlights some of the features available in Fuzzy Studio as follows:

  • Drag and drop CAD parts into the 3D digital twin, automatically generate complex trajectories and deploy to the production robot in one click – all with one universal software platform.
  • From offline simulation to real-time control, Fuzzy Studio removes the gap between simulation and reality to reduce downtime and streamline the robotics workflow.
  • Designed from the ground up to drastically reduce the need of robotics expertise thanks to no-code real-time digital twin technology.
  • With two clicks, swap between any make and model of robot to find the right one for the application – no need to switch softwares and redo time-intensive design work.
  • Handles even the most complex robotic applications and accessible to any size of company.

[Read more…] about Fuzzy Logic Robotics launches platform that enables users to go from CAD to control with one software

Scientists develop soft robot for exploration in the deepest underwater place on Earth

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Scientists at Zhejiang University in China have developed a soft robot which has been able to navigate the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth.

The research team led by Professor LI Tiefeng from the Center for X-Mechanics at the Zhejiang University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Zhejiang Lab conducted inter-disciplinary research with its partners and pioneered in proposing the principle of pressure adaptation in mechatronic systems, and their findings were reported in the journal Nature.

Typically, at such depths in the oceans, a vessel without a pressure-resilient “armor” would be “destroyed by the overwhelmingly hydrostatic pressure”. [Read more…] about Scientists develop soft robot for exploration in the deepest underwater place on Earth

ABB says its robots have boosted productivity at Nestlé’s Brazilian plants by ‘over 50 percent’

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ABB says its robots have boosted productivity at Nestlé’s Brazilian plants by more than 50 percent. The company says its SafeMove collaborative robot technology “enhances employee safety while increasing efficiency at Nestle’s confectionary factories”. (See video below.)

ABB robots are supporting Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, to improve the productivity of pallet loading in its chocolate manufacturing facilities in Brazil “by 53 percent”, using a new ABB palletizing robot solution.

While the company currently uses ABB Robotics palletizing solutions, the latest requirement was for a more compact cell that could fit into a smaller area and easily be replicated at other sites. An important requirement was for the robot to safely interact with employees, who occasionally need to enter the palletizing area to speed up pallet changes. [Read more…] about ABB says its robots have boosted productivity at Nestlé’s Brazilian plants by ‘over 50 percent’

Mecademic to launch tiny new SCARA robot

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Mecademic, a maker of tiny industrial robot arms, is planning to launch a very small new SCARA robot.

The company describes the MCS500 as “with the world’s most compact SCARA robot” and says it is coming soon.

Mecademic says its new SCARA robot is designed and built using the same principles as Meca500 and is “a tiny, highly precise, and easy-to-integrate automation component”. [Read more…] about Mecademic to launch tiny new SCARA robot

SICK partners with Universal Robots for speed and separation monitoring system

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Webinar: Fast Solution for Speed & Separation Monitoring in a Collaborative Robot Application

SICK and Universal Robots (UR) are announcing a new safety solution for the safeguarding of accessible robotic applications.

When combined, the sBot safety system and URCap from SICK increase productivity with immediate automated restart and profit from an easy configuration of the safety system directly from the UR teach pendant.

With this partnership, SICK and UR have created the fastest way to implement speed and separation monitoring for cooperative robot applications. [Read more…] about SICK partners with Universal Robots for speed and separation monitoring system

Fanuc enables integration of its CNC machines and robots using new G-Code

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Fanuc America, a factory automation solutions provider, has introduced what it describes as “the next step in complete robotics and CNCs integration for more efficient operations”.

Fanuc CNCs now have the ability to control connected Fanuc robots providing machine tending or other assistance through Fanuc’s Quick and Simple Startup of Robotization (QSSR).

More manufacturing operations are taking advantage of adding more robotics to execute repetitive tasks previously manually performed. Advanced automation offers a competitive edge and greater profit margins to shops of all sizes. [Read more…] about Fanuc enables integration of its CNC machines and robots using new G-Code