Earlier this week at the big industrial technology show Hannover Fair in Hannover, Germany, ABB Robotics officially launched YuMi, the dual-armed robot designed to work side-by-side with human workers. (I wrote about this robot’s development last year during ABB’s Technology Days in Michigan.) YuMi joins a growing number of robots designed to work alongside human […]
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Motor drives play key role in global energy savings
The month of April features Earth Day, the one day each year that focuses attention on the varying and interconnected challenges and solutions to problem’s impacting the Earth’s ability to sustain life. These include pollution, energy demands, climate change, and a host of other issues. For some time now, motor and drive manufacturers have been […]
More money for manufacturing, but is it enough?
During a visit to Cleveland earlier this week, President Obama announced nearly $500 million in new manufacturing initiatives. The plan is to use the $500 million in a number of ways, including $150 million ($75 million of which would be federal funds, with the other $75 million coming from private investment) for creating a competition […]
Technology Tuesdays Podcast: Peter Dettmer on manufacturing and education
For this week’s Design World Technology Tuesdays Podcast, I spoke with Peter Dettmer, Co-program Director for Automated Manufacturing Systems Technology at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, WI. We spoke about one of the biggest challenges to recruiting young people into the manufacturing industry; reshaping the image of manufacturing from a dirty, greasy job in […]
Wisconsin technical college develops automated manufacturing program
Rick Jacobs Co-program Director for Automated Manufacturing Systems Technology Madison Area Technical College Madison, Wisconsin For many people, the word “manufacturing” conjures up images of monotonous manual labor in dingy factories. Part of Peter Dettmer’s job is correcting that misperception. Dettmer co-chairs the Automated Manufacturing Program at Madison Area Technical College (Madison College). Madison College […]
Getting girls interested in STEM part of National Engineers Week program
This year National Engineers Week runs from February 22nd through the 28th. The annual event, which seeks to promote understanding of and interest in engineering to the wider public, features events throughout the week. And one day, February 26th, is Girl Day, devoted to educating young girls on the possibilities of engineering. One group promoting this […]
Technology Tuesdays Podcast: Don Labriola on stepper motors
For this week’s Design World Technology Tuesdays Podcast, I spoke with Don Labriola, P.E., President of QuickSilver Controls, Inc., about hybrid stepper motors and the concept of microstepping error, including the role stiction plays in stepper motor performance. Click below to listen to this week’s podcast.
The push and pull of rare-earth magnets
Much of the world’s sophisticated high-tech electronic products would not be possible without the use of so-called rare-earth materials. In the industrial world, modern, high-power electric motors rely on powerful magnetic materials for their power density edge. Traditionally, these motors have incorporated rare-earth magnets such as neodymium iron boron (NdFeB). Recently, prices of rare-earth materials […]
Precise speed control reduces glass imperfections
Glaston America, a manufacturer of glass tempering ovens based in New Jersey, recently selected the Unidrive M family of variable speed drives from Emerson Industrial Automation USA LLC to improve the quality of its products. The company’s biggest customer is Cardinal IG, a manufacturer of residential glass. To ensure its glass tempering ovens meet the […]
Interview: Rockwell and Design World talk IT/OT convergence
Recently, I got the chance to attend the 2014 Automation Fair in Anaheim, California. One of the big topics was the convergence of information technologies and operational technologies – IT and OT. The idea? Integrated platforms that connect enterprises (and their IT and OT) can boost productivity and product quality, especially for manufacturing and industrial […]