By 2020, the industrial sector will be producing nearly 15 trillion gigabytes of data. With increasing amounts of data, manufacturers must find more effective and efficient ways to put this data to use. Rockwell Automation is releasing expanded and scalable analytics offerings to help customers more quickly and easily gain insight from their investments in automation technology. “Our Connected […]
Software
New Omron controller functions simplify setup of automation using vibration suppression
Omron Automation now offers an array of Sysmac library functions on its expanded Sysmac Studio integrated development environment. One is a set of vibration-suppression Function Blocks to eliminate wobbling, spilling, sliding, and persistent oscillations. That reduces production cycle times by increasing the speed of material-handling tasks. More after the jump. The first Function Block — […]
New Omron controller functions simplify setup of automation involving weighing tasks
Omron Automation now offers an array of Sysmac library functions on its expanded Sysmac Studio integrated development environment. One is a set of weighing-system Function Blocks to let engineers easily design weighing tasks using load cells. More after the jump. The Function Blocks eliminate the complicated programming usually required to communicate with weighing indicators and […]
Festo introduces productivity tools for the semiconductor industry
At Semicon West 2016 — July 12-14 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco at the Festo Semicon Booth #1029 — Festo unveils for the semiconductor electronics and assembly industry both tools and products that lower engineering overhead and bring machines to market faster. Servo kit for electric press-fitting applications The new servo press solution is the latest […]
Improving safety design for machines
Safety design tools help optimize the design process to get machines safety-compliant and operational faster. George Schuster Rockwell Automation When it comes to specifying and designing machine safety systems, manufacturers and machine builders face a long list of challenges. They’re responsible for conducting risk assessments, determining which safety devices to use and which standards to […]
ABB announcements at Hannover Messe spotlight IoT, remote monitoring
Several announcements from ABB at this week’s Hannover Messe industrial trade fair in Hannover, Germany showcase the future of IoT, connectivity and remote monitoring. Two announcements in particular illustrate how these trends are shaping the development of Industry 4.0. The first is that ABB has extended its discrete automation offering to deliver more connectivity and […]
WITTENSTEIN free sizing software cymex 5 announced at Hannover Messe
This week at Hannover Messe 2016, WITTENSTEIN alpha is unveiling new cymex 5 sizing software. This multifunctional software helps engineers design drive trains more reliably, economically and energy efficiently. This is achieved through an optimization which identifies downsizing potential and thus guarantees the highest possible energy efficiency and power density throughout the drive train. More after […]
Embedded software enables IoT in today’s vehicles
by Anil Khanna, Andrew Patteron, Mentor Automotive IoT connectivity for next-generation automotive apps is made possible by new software devised with audio and video networking in mind. There’s a shifting landscape when it comes to today’s modern automobiles. Automakers face the challenge of satisfying consumer expectations for rich, multimedia experiences within the vehicle cabin. Meanwhile, […]
New online configuration tool STOBER FITS for design
STOBER Inc. recently released STOBER FITS, an online motion-design configuration tool that lets engineers quickly and easily specify and select STOBER power-transmission and control products. The focus of the tool is to improve overall customer experience — expediting selection, sizing and specification processes for engineers through a unified and convenient online process. Determining what STOBER product is needed and ordering it […]
Interview: Lenze’s Burns on today’s automation software
In a recent phone conversation, I got the chance to talk with Doug Burns, director of business development at Lenze Americas Corp., about how new automation-software developments are dramatically reducing machine development time and simplifying the programming of motion control and robotics. In our conversation, we also discussed how robots are increasingly common in packaging, but a lot […]