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More flexible gear machining for industrial robots

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Today’s industrial robots must fit into smaller spaces, so as much “manufacturing real estate” as possible is dedicated to production. This places pressure on manufacturers to machine smaller, tighter components for these machines. Here, Harish Maniyoor, global product manager for automotive at the machine tooling specialist Sandvik Coromant explains why power skiving is the answer.

The overall number of industrial robots operating in factories worldwide grew to 2.7 million in 2019, according to the 2020 World Robotics Report by the International Federation of Robotics. 

This was a 12 percent increase from 2018 and a historic high. Robots factor into a range of industries, from automotive and aerospace to the food industry and pharmaceuticals – yet all of these sectors have common requirements.

Not only must these robots be smaller, but also lighter with reduced inertia and able to perform more exact movements with optimal speed and efficiency. The challenge is on for manufacturers to machine smaller and more precisely engineered-components – like internal gear reducers – with more flexible designs. [Read more…] about More flexible gear machining for industrial robots

Oqton raises over $40 million investment for its digital manufacturing platform

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Oqton, an American-Belgian software company specialising in artificial intelligence-powered solutions for the manufacturing industry, has raised more than $40 million in a Series A financing round, led by Fortino Capital, a leading B2B software investor, by PMV, the regional Flemish investment fund, and by Sandvik, a global engineering group.

The founding team – Samir Hanna and Ben Schrauwen – and several angel investors, including Carl Bass, who is the former CEO Autodesk, Dries Buytaert, of Drupal and Acquia, and Peter Mercelis, of Layerwise, also participated in the round.

The financing will be used to further develop its platform, while expanding its commercial partnerships in multiple domains and verticals, including additive manufacturing, robotic welding, and CNC machining. [Read more…] about Oqton raises over $40 million investment for its digital manufacturing platform

3D printed diamonds: Large companies forecast to spend $3 billion on 3D printing by next year

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Sales of products related to 3D printing by large public companies is expected to grow by 12.5 percent to top $3 billion by 2020, according to a study from Deloitte.

Much of it will come from greater use of metal parts in applications beyond rapid prototyping – manufacturing and / or repair.

As background, the global manufacturing sector’s revenue as a whole totals approximately $12 trillion annually. [Read more…] about 3D printed diamonds: Large companies forecast to spend $3 billion on 3D printing by next year

Sandvik celebrates 20 years of its giant self-driving mining vehicle with arty film

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Sandvik, the well known Swedish maker of massive mining vehicles, is celebrating 20 years of its driverless “Automated Loader” with an arty film in which it navigates and then melodramatically destroys a glass labyrinth. (See videos below.)

In recent years, self-driving vehicles have become a frequent discussion topic, mainly because there are so many autonomous road-going vehicles being developed by the leading automakers.

But in the mining industry, driverless vehicles have been around a long time and have been busy being productive. The Sandvik loaders are about the size of a truck.  [Read more…] about Sandvik celebrates 20 years of its giant self-driving mining vehicle with arty film