ABB has announced that it is to start producing robots in the United States. The company made the announcement at the opening of a new robotics plant at its facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The new plant is ABB’s third robotics production facility, alongside Shanghai, China, and Västerås, Sweden, and will manufacture ABB robots and […]
Robotics
Industrial robotics see more consideration of kinematics
by Lisa Eitel, Senior Editor, @DW_LisaEitel— In today’s advanced manufacturing environment, it would be hard to find a production facility that hasn’t implemented robotics in some process or other. That’s according to Skye Gorter, automation specialist at Cowper Inc. “Robotics have had tremendous impact on manufacturers’ ability to get higher repeatability, precision, and throughput, as […]
Integration: The key to staying successful in today’s growing automation market
by Michelle DiFrangia, Assistant Editor, @wtwh_michelle According to research by MarketsandMarkets, the global market for industry control and factory automation will grow at a CAGR of 8.53% through 2020—so that all industries combined will spend $301.9 billion on automation by 2020. In addition, many research organizations estimate that there will be about 50 billion devices […]
Engineers, don’t overlook (easier) robot setup with new buses
In preparation for a recent feature on trends in robotics, we spoke with Skye Gorter, an Automation Specialist at Cowper Inc. Gorter has almost 20 years’ experience in the automation industry, specializing in motion control, machine vision, and custom robotics. He supports customers with technical expertise and recently began integrating systems for R&D setups. Here’s […]
New switch mount lets users add sensing to grippers
Now, there’s a new switch mount that lets users easily add position sensors to select jaw grippers. PHD Inc., a manufacturer of industrial automation components, sells the switch-mounting kits for its Series 8400 and Series 190/191 grippers. Here’s a PDF that details the sensor-mounting kit. The mounting kits include a switch plate with slots for either […]
New Family of Small, Flexible Robots from ABB
The ABB Robotics IRB 1200 is an entirely new family of small robots that features a compact footprint and a large work envelope, providing flexibility, ease of use and short cycle times to a wide range of material handling, machine tending and small parts assembly applications. The IRB 1200 is designed with no offset in […]
Kollmorgen drives the lightweight helpers of Universal Robots
Ian Young, Key Account Manager, Kollmorgen, Ratingen Universal Robots (www.universal-robots.com) developed the UR5 and UR10 models for small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. The handling units lift a payload of five and ten kilograms, but only weigh 18 and 25 kilograms themselves respectively. This low weight makes it possible to move the units easily without […]
New SIL 3 Safety Encoders from HEIDENHAIN
Safety-related position encoders have been available from HEIDENHAIN for several years. However, those encoders have been rated to SIL 2, PL d, Category 3. While this meets the requirements of most applications, sometimes there is a need for SIL 3, PL e, Category 4-rated equipment. These applications involve high risks for the operator, such as […]
James Fisher Nuclear Selects Moog Motion Control System
Moog Industrial Group has supplied a motion control system and engineering services to James Fisher Nuclear Ltd (JFN) for the ModuMan 100 Manipulator Arm which will be used for nuclear decommissioning. A manipulator is used to grasp and move materials without direct human contact. Typically a manipulator is an arm-like device with a number of […]
New Precision Ring Drive from Nexen
Vadnais Heights, Minn. – Nexen’s new Precision Ring Drive (PRD) provides precision motion control for indexing and rotary positioning systems. Offering a unique combination of design and performance capabilities, the PRD meets positioning demands for next-generation machine designs. By merging Nexen’s innovative Roller Pinion System technology with a precision-grade bearing and gearhead, the PRD provides […]