The phrase “industrial robots” naturally brings to mind the robot arms, dancing or otherwise, that we so often see in factories. Autonomous robots may bring up the Roomba, Pepper the service robot, or DaVinci surgical robotics. But autonomous robots like Sawyer and Baxter, designed as collaborative robots that work with people, rather than in safety… Read more »
A servo motor uses information from sensors, with the help of drives and controls, to control the actions of machines precisely. It could be drones flying packages to shoppers. It could be a robot making Tinder judgements so that people seeking their soulmates online can avoid overthinking their decisions. It could be super-safe cars that… Read more »
There is no title on this brief but poignant film, so we’ve titled it “Error Code” in recognition of the deeper meaning. The drive in the video is calling out for help with an error code, and we see the response of the motor as the camera goes back and forth between the two. The… Read more »
Manufacturing facilities, breweries, printing presses, packaging plants — they’re all obvious places to put automation to work. Here’s another: disaster sites. If it were possible to avoid sending human beings into flaming buildings, flood waters, or chemical spills, it would of course be a good thing. The recent DARPA competition showed how challenging it… Read more »
It’s National Noodle Ring Day, which is as good a day as any for celebrating the half-baked. Yeah, we didn’t now what it was, either, but it turns out that a noodle ring is noodles, maybe with a sauce, baked in a pan shaped like a doughnut. A recent study by Rexroth with the Institution… Read more »
Japan’s international robotics show, iRex, features the latest and greatest from 400 robot manufacturers, and it gives visitors an excellent view of the Uncanny Valley — the point at which the similarity between robots and humans begins to creep us out. One example is the robotic Leonardo Da Vinci, the first in a series of… Read more »
Servo motors started out on steam ships, and its no surprise that they’re on space ships. Along with sensors, wireless communication devices, drives, and controls. The Internet of Things is very much at home in space, where human beings are very much not at home. Industrial automation allows us to see, measure, and learn about… Read more »
Andreas Mangler has brought up a question about Industry 4.0 that doesn’t get asked very often: is it worth the money? We don’t usually ask this question because this is the next Industrial Revolution, and who counts costs in a revolution? Also because it’s fairly obvious that this is the next tech thing, and you… Read more »
The guys who can repair machinery and troubleshoot mechanical communication problems, see where new solutions need to be brought in and where traditional tactics will still work just fine, and design and configure a workplace in their heads — those guys are, on average, 56 years old. That means that a lot of these invaluable… Read more »
Industrial motion control includes robotics, but there’s a whole category of robot ideas that doesn’t apply in factories, breweries, or printing shops. Industrial robots don’t have faces, they don’t have personalities, and they don’t have voices, whether cute or scary. And they don’t do ecommerce. Until now. The Wall Street Journal reports that Pepper, the… Read more »
