Robotics

Businesses across all industries around the world have had to reconsider their infrastructure, processes and workforces as a result of the pandemic. With additional pressures to meet increased customer demand while restricted by COVID-induced social distancing measures, organisations have had to adapt in order to survive, with many turning to technology to do this.

ROLEC’s new taraSMART (IP 54) modular suspension arms offer advanced technical features at a lower price point. They are similar to ROLEC’s proven profiPLUS arms but are simpler and more cost-effective.

Haptic technologies, familiar to most through the buzz of the keypad on a touchscreen, are actuator applications that target the sense of touch. Many common haptic applications only target a particular area, for example, smartphones affecting the hands and fingers, but haptic exoskeletons expand their effects to a full-body experience, with potential use in industries from gaming to the medical field.

According to a recent report from the World Economic Forum, 85 million jobs could be lost and displaced by new technologies in the next five years. It’s no surprise that workers, particularly in manufacturing, worry how these developments will affect their jobs. Here, Nigel Smith, President and CEO of TM Robotics, explains why humans workers shouldn’t fear industrial robots, but rather see them as a bringer of new opportunities.

Powered by the latest developments in the area of robotic technology and vision sensors, the robot sensor market is expected to perform quite well over the coming years. This is rather overt from the several new breakthroughs that are making headlines every day. Robot sensors that can detect several aspects such as light, distance, color, touch, speed, motion, and collision are being sought after, by leading companies globally.

On February 18th, the Red Planet received its latest visitors in the form of the Perseverance rover, with the Ingenuity helicopter hitching a ride, and NASA has now announced that it is extending the drone's mission on Mars.

With increased competition, often on a global scale, manufacturers need to differentiate themselves by tailoring products more closely to customer demand. This, of course, carries with it an implicit reduction in batch sizes and has seen the rise of ‘high-mix, low-volume production. Cobots can enable manufacturers to effectively meet individual customer requirements with greater product variety in smaller batches.

OMRON Industrial Automation Europe has signed a new distribution agreement with OnRobot, the Danish manufacturer of tools for collaborative robot (cobot) applications. This will enable OMRON to offer OnRobot’s products – which can be fully integrated with the OMRON TM cobot – to its customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

ABB's RobotStudio offline programming and simulation software has been upgraded with a new virtual robot braking distance function designed to create an exact simulation of the real-world stopping distance of a robot. Enabling the robot’s braking distance to be accurately calculated, the function overcomes the need to add safety margins into cell designs, enabling space savings of up to 25%. 

80% of all human learning occurs through vision. When you consider how much information we gain through sight, it’s unsurprising that industrial robots also need to see to be effective. In this article, Nigel Smith, Managing Director of TM Robotics, explains the best practices for robotic machine vision.