Monthly Archives: September 2014

Does Automation Cost Jobs?

A major packaging company is working on a major expansion project at one of its U.S. facilities. The company also has European and Asian facilities, but it’s building 126,000 square feet of office space and manufacturing space which will include customer collaboration space, room for kitting and packing, a railroad dock, and a means of… Read more »

Mapping Industrial Hackers

Researchers set up a decoy computer and made it look as though it was controlling industrial activity. Then they waited for hacking attempts and mapped them. The legacy Indramat controls we specialize in don’t lend themselves to this kind of hacking. They’re not online and not connected with other devices. There are pros and cons… Read more »

Rexroth and Wave Energy

Fossil fuels may be running out, but there is plenty of energy all around us — the hard part is capturing that natural energy and harnessing it for work. Think of ocean waves. If you’ve swum or surfed in the ocean, you know that there’s a lot of power in those waves. The first patent… Read more »

Indramat Manual Request Form

If you’re using Indramat legacy motion control components such as servo motors, drives, and controls, you might not be able to put your hand on the manuals easily. Those Indramat units were installed before you were born, most likely, and the manuals were guarded carefully on a special shelf for a few years. Then, since… Read more »

Connected Engineering

The rise of the internet has changed a lot of things. We all walk around with computers in our pockets and expect instant  connection, instant response, and instant action. Many of us expect a level of service kings and queens wouldn’t have counted on in the past, and we want it in seconds, if not… Read more »

Sercos III

  Rexroth has added some new materials to the educational kit they offer on Advancing Factory Automation. Among the new items is information on Sercos III. Sercos is a bus specifically designed for high quality Ethernet connectivity and communication. Sercos is commonly used in industrial automation applications which implement a protocol structure for control of… Read more »

A Chinese Factory Fighting Back?

A toy company was recently being held up as an example of how well initiatives to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. were working. They were sourcing their goods from China, as so many new companies now do, and they were planning to transition to American-made goods over the course of a year or… Read more »

Next Up for Robotics: Exoskeletons?

Industrial robotic arms are becoming almost as familiar to the average American as the classic humanoid science fiction robot. Now it may be time to look at another option: exoskeletons. Exoskeletons, wearable robotics, are already a staple in the world of sci-fi. Even the simplest of exoskeletons use an array of motion control technology: sensors,… Read more »

Automation and Automotive

This video, a farewell rear projector show from car maker Subaru when they left their headquarters of 48 years, contains some amazing robotic cameo appearances. (Did Godzilla also make an appearance?) 2014 has been a big year for industrial automation, with a projected increase of 7% in IAE (industrial automation equipment) worldwide revenue, doubling the… Read more »

The Most Dangerous Times for Motion Control

Operator safety is a key issue for automation and industrial motion control. Uncontrolled motions made by machines can be deadly to humans in the same work space as machinery. The typical solution is to cage robotic arms or otherwise to keep humans and robots quite separate. It’s not so much that robots are intrinsically dangerous… Read more »