For some years, robot specialists have been looking to animals to get ideas for robots. It makes sense. Not only do animals cover an impressive array of solutions for mobility and manipulative, but all of their solutions have been proven to work. They may work better in an ocean or a veldt than in a wash-down food processing environment, but they do work. Some of the creatures which have inspired innovation in robotics: octopi kangaroos jellyfish fleas Now lizards have joined the pack. The specific lizard capability the researchers have in mind is the ability to use a tail to [&hellip

Automation is ubiquitous in manufacturing. Many of the increases and innovations in automation in manufacturing result from new capacities. Once a robot can palletize cases of baby wipes, it’s only a matter of time before the robot begins palletizing those baby wipes. That’s not true in all industries. Robots, for example, aren’t very good at agriculture. It’s not a natural playing field for them. As labor shortages hit hard and demand increases, though, agriculture is getting automated anyway. Retail is another area where automation is pushing ahead, but not because retail jobs are tedious, repetitive or dangerous. Retail jobs are [&hellip

Traditional industrial robots are designed to work on their own, a safe distance from human workers. They may be in a cage, behind a guard rail, or even in a separate room from the people working in the same facility. Collaborative robots are able to work alongside humans safely, working together to accomplish a specific goal. Rethink Robots, makers of two of the most famous collaborative robots — Baxter and Sawyer — recently shut down. “We were pioneers and innovators in the industry and responsible for the creation of the collaborative robot category,” CEO Scott Eckert told the Robot Report, [&hellip

https://www.automation.com/automation-news/bosch-rexroth-announces-iot-gateway-v

November 8th is National STEM Day or National STEAM Day — you pick! What’s the difference? STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering Math STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Art Math These are two approaches to replacing the old teaching scheme of Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic with 21st century skills. Nea1rly all the fastest-growing careers in the U.S. are STEM/STEAM-centered jobs, as are the fastest-growing jobs in the manufacturing realm in particular. What’s the point? The STEM/STEAM focus is intended to change education to prepare Amerian students for the jobs of the future, and to close some gaps: The Skills [&hellip

Never mind Mac vs. PC. What does your equipment run? When you decide between Mac and Windows, there are a lot of issues to consider. You have to think about price, of course, but you also need to think about things like vulnerability to viruses, elegance of design, available software, intuitive graphic user interface, and the smoothness of the workflow. Not to mention how cool you look while playing Rocket League and updating Facebook. When you think about what your equipment uses for an operating system, you don’t need to consider how creative the UI makes your servos feel or [&hellip

Rexroth is a German company, historically, but the company has a strong presence in the United States. When Rexroth came to the U.S., America was a manufacturing powerhouse. Is the United States still a manufacturing powerhouse? source: tradingeconomics.com U.S. production has increased significantly  in the past decade. The most recent figures show that we make $5.4 trillion worth of goods per year. That’s a lot of stuff. Over the past quarter of a century, exports of American goods have quadrupled. Employment How many people work in manufacturing? This is where the American colossus shows weakness. In 1950, 30% of American [&hellip

If you haven’t bought the loot to hand out to Trick or Treaters yet, you probably have it on your shopping list for today (or somebody in your household does). What are the factors used to make decisions about this extremely important buying choice? Research by Field Agent shows that one of the top issues is what we might call prestige. “Being perceived as a good treat-giver” is the exact phrasing. That’s second only to the buyer’s willingness to eat the leftovers. There are a few other criteria, including affordability and cool packaging. But quality, or at least popularity, continues [&hellip

When Goss International won the Siemens Award, Jeff Upchurch, senior vice president of Research and Development, said it was all part of their mission to ” improve productivity and short-run agility while reducing waste and maintenance requirements.” This is what automation is about, in a sort of jargon-filled way. Let’s break it down: Improve productivity– that’s the primary reason for automation. Whatever you’re doing with a room full of people, automation lets you do it faster. Better yet, you can usually do it better. A machine can do the job more precisely, more consistently, and with fewer errors. You don’t [&hellip

A new survey has determined that Americans have negative misconceptions of manufacturing. 1. They think that manufacturing is in decline. In fact, manufacturing jobs are on the rise, and manufacturers have trouble filling those jobs. 2. They think that factory jobs don’t pay well. In fact, manufacturing jobs average more than $20.00 per hour, with benefits much better than most U.S. jobs. 3. People think that manufacturing jobs are unsatisfying. In fact, the researchers found that Americans believe that “manufacturing jobs are repetitive, monotonous, underpaid, and involve working in decrepit, dirty factories.” In fact, they say, the typical American factory [&hellip