Automation is the norm in manufacturing, but it is increasingly turning up in other industries as well. One of the success stories for robots is retail. Retail is a field in which a lot of the work is dull and poorly paid, so it’s clearly ripe for robots. But one of the big factors for… Read more »
Amazon, FedEx, and the U.S. Post Office are all toying with self-driving vehicles and/or robot delivery. Why not put the two ideas together? That’s where Ford Motor Company’s new project is headed. Ford is planning to launch its own self-driving ride service in the next couple of years, and it sees package delivery as a… Read more »
Your Rexroth electric motion control system can throw plenty of error messages. Perhaps one of the most frustrating is F9003: the watchdog error. A watchdog timer is designed to alert you to software or firmware issues. The program will normally reset the watchdog timer regularly. For Rexroth, that timer is set in milliseconds, so the… Read more »
Amazon has been all about automation from the beginning. Amazon holds two patents on a wristband that senses when workers are slowing down. It vibrates to remind slackers to get back to work. Words like “privacy” and “surveillance” tend to come up when people think about this kind of technology. “After a year working on… Read more »
The Battle Bots are coming back to a screen near you in just about one month. Once again, tough and predatory robots, some with fiendish faces or animal shapes, will be guided by teams of human beings in gear from cowboy to steampunk (not to mention onesie pajamas) through robot combat. See all 69 robots… Read more »
Robots are good at lots of jobs, but not at all jobs. Assembling paper cups? Totally a job for a robot. Folding laundry? Absolutely not. In fact, housework is an area in which robots would be very welcome, but in which they just don’t shine. Folding laundry is super difficult because laundry is so variable… Read more »
Robots in manufacturing are a given. Robots in agriculture are a hope for the future. Robots in retail and food service are becoming a reality. Now, robots are moving into another area that has been experiencing labor shortages: construction. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, 79 percent of construction companies want to hire… Read more »
Where’s our flying car? Where’s our robot butler? How come people still have to work so hard in factories? The truth is, a lot of exciting technology is being delayed by human choices. One of those choices is the use of proprietary machine languages. When you have machines from multiple makers, the devices’ special sauces… Read more »
Increasing automation is affecting American workers, and expected to continue to do so. The Brookings Institution reckons that 25% of American workers will face employment challenges as a result of the current rise in automation. They’re bullish on automation, but they still say we need to be ready for disruption. We know that robots ought… Read more »
It’s tough being a third-party repair shop for Rexroth and Indramat motion control systems. Rexroth continues to support legacy components, but Rexroth has never sold parts to third-party repair shops. Bob’s BBQ & Servo Repair Shoppe can’t get new parts. We’ll leave it to your imagination where they get the parts they use. They can’t… Read more »
