RFID and Beacon technologies may be in the headlines for retail nowadays, but they got their start in manufacturing. Radio Frequency IDentification uses barcodes to track objects automatically — an early example of the Internet of Things. Now Rexroth is using RFID not only to track locations, but to trigger actions along the assembly line… Read more »
Sometimes we talk to clients who are ready to get rid of their legacy machinery and replace the whole shebang. Typically, the cost to do this often makes the whole shebang look a lot better than it did before they heard that price. The thing is, updating machinery isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. Take the case… Read more »
Energy-saving designs have been a key factor in industrial motion control for several years now. We also believe that keeping your legacy components running as long as possible — instead of sending them to a landfill — is an environmentally-responsible choice. But there’s another environment question to consider: what kind of environment will your machines… Read more »
A new report on industrial motion control from MarketsandMarkets sees increases in the demand for industrial motion control through the end of this decade. A number of factors driving this increase were identified in the report: * Increased demand for energy efficient solutions * Enhanced production capacity * High level security concerns * Increased venture… Read more »
“One day the system went down and no amount of poking it with data from the PLC side could bring it back up,” the narrator explains, ” The MKD servo motor, he says, is “the best bit out of the lot.” The drive isn’t communicating well, so he decides to take it apart. And why… Read more »
MIT has trained robots to deliver beer. Seems like a clear, successful solution to a common problem: wanting beer but not wanting to go get it. There’s a lot more to it, though. If Piet orders a beer and then fails to accept the beer or is away from his lab when the beer-bearing robot… Read more »
Open Core Engineering allows a level of collaboration that makes a real difference in the potential speed of innovation. But the dream of consistent, standardized Open Source software for industrial automation is still a dream. While Rexroth’s Open Core project works with a library of software elements that seeks to reduce and even eliminate the… Read more »
National Instruments and Rexroth are getting together to make the configuration of measuring and testing machines fast and easy — really. Rexroth’s new pre-configured drives run some 200,000 different tasks without requiring any PLC code. Instead, Rexroth’s EasyWizard guides users through the initial commissioning in under three minutes. Using a visual interface and IoT strategies… Read more »
Energy is not in short supply. We may be working our way through fossil fuels pretty briskly, but our entire world is one big, bright bunch of energy. Getting that energy to do things we want — like power machines and keep our buildings lit — is the challenge. One of the most interesting possibilities… Read more »
As reshoring continues to bring manufacturing jobs home to the U.S., China is figuring out how to leverage its impressive manufacturing chops with much less American investment. One way is to improve technical training in China. Instead of an army of low-paid workers, China is ready to focus on manufacturing innovation and highly skilled work…. Read more »
