Machine learning is one of the most exciting areas for innovation in industrial automation. Predictive maintenance and process optimization are the two areas with the strongest traction and the highest degree of usefulness, but a fully autonomous factory isn’t impossible. Machine learning means that machines use the data they receive to improve their results and… Read more »
While some worry about robots snatching away their jobs, the robotics industry is celebrating growth in the U.S. So where are the robot makers? At least half are in the Midwest, where the Steel Belt became the Rust Belt. Top robot cities Detroit is the leader in robot-related industry, with 66 companies employing 3,012 human… Read more »
A lack of qualified human workers continues to be an issue for manufacturing. Maybe we’re overlooking an opportunity. Industrial robots could learn to praise human operators. Can robots praise humans? Sure. Robots can be programmed to say anything. Sophia, a humanoid robot who was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, made headlines with her admiration of Kazakh… Read more »
This is just an ad. We enjoyed it, so you might like to watch it during your coffee break, too. But we’re not going to pretend that there’s a lot of information here. The thing that struck us was the promise to keep up with “the technological storm we’re in.” That’s a metaphorical storm, created… Read more »
Rexroth’s electric industrial motion control systems of the 20th century were revolutionary in their day for their modular design and “personality modules.” These early innovations allow you even now to pull a damaged module off the machine and quickly replace it with another. Downtime is minimized and flexibility is maximized. Rexroth is taking the concept… Read more »
What jobs will robots take on in the future? Cooking fast food is one of the possibilities. On the one hand, robots are not nearly as good at tasting food as humans are. Food is a social thing for people, and interactions with other humans are an important part of the whole mel experience, even… Read more »
May marked 21 months in a row of growth in manufacturing. We’re seeing an average increase of 12.5 million square feet in factory space, which is very near to the 12.6 million square feet seen before the Great Recession. Vacancy rates for manufacturing facilities are down to 3.8% — less than half the ten-year average…. Read more »
Rexroth motion control has been the gold standard for well over a century. Rexroth’s technology powers world-class projects like the Panama Canal and the Eiffel Tower. Naturally, Rexroth has a sterling reputation. That doesn’t mean you won’t hear grumbling on the factory floor. In fact, when the talk turns to Rexroth legacy machinery, you can… Read more »
Controversy continues to rage when it comes to the question of whether robots threaten our jobs. A new article in Wired brings up a different point, though. Author Matt Beane, who has been studying the subject for seven years, agrees that robots can take on dangerous, dull, and dirty work for humans. He just doesn’t… Read more »
