Comedian Whitney Cummings had a robotic version of herself built for her new Netflix special. It was entertaining. Funny? You decide. The footage from the robot factory might be the most intriguing part of the shtick. But at the end of the day, it’s a robot programmed by a human being to do specific things… Read more »
Apart from manufacturing, where automation is ubiquitous, autonomous vehicles are one of the most highly anticipated areas of real-world automation. Where the vast majority of robots in the news are proof of concept, early research, and likely to make a big difference in our lives someday, self-driving vehicles exist in the real world and could… Read more »
Industry Week‘s new survey of manufacturers has uncovered a lot of tech procrastinators. When it comes to the Industrial Internet of Things, 75% of respondents from companies with revenues under $100 million are either in the planning stages or waiting for the right time to start planning. 30 percent of companies larger than $100 million… Read more »
You’ve tracked the problem down to a Rexroth device — or it may say “Indramat” or even “Rexroth Indramat.” In any case, it’s showing you an error code. Now what? First question: do you have the manual? Rexroth electric motion control is the best motion control on the planet. Servos, drives, and controls often work… Read more »
Much of the excitement in automation at this point has to do with sensors. A new collection of sensors is being developed to provide a new way to communicate with robots. Researchers at the University of Houston gathered strain sensors, temperature sensors, and UV light sensors. Then they incorporated all these elements, along with things… Read more »
Rexroth power supply modules won’t play nice with a pacemaker. In fact, many of the components of your industrial motion control and machinery in general can create problems with pacemakers. Here are some of the things that can cause interference with pacemakers: Large motors Large power supplies Electromagnets Generators (including your power supply module, which… Read more »
There’s a lot of talk about whether robots will take away American jobs or add new ones. Joe Kennedy, Senior Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation thinks we should look at this another way. In an essay at the ITIF blog, Kennedy expresses concern that fear of robots could lead to regulations which… Read more »
Dor Skuler, co-founder and chief executive of Intuition Robotics, believes that it is unethical to build robots that look or sound like humans. It’s wrong, he thinks, for a robot to pretend to be human. Of course it’s not robots that pretend to be human. It’s more that human beings are trying to convince other… Read more »
The new support robots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been unveiled. Made by Toyota, they range from super cute greeter robots to autonomous vehicles designed to pick up javelins on the field. Toyota is of course a major player in the industrial automation space, but they see the Olympics as an opportunity to strut… Read more »
Robert Bosch, the parent company of Bosch Rexroth, has decided to sell its packaging machinery division to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. This is not the first time Bosch has gotten involved in mergers and acquisitions. In fact, Bosch Rexroth is the result of a 2001 merger between Mannesmann Rexroth AG and the Automation… Read more »
