Vibration is an important but easily overlooked topic in robotics design. Developers and engineers should focus as much on whether a reducer causes vibration as on its other characteristics. As businesses plan to use automation to augment or replace increasingly expensive human labor, they focus on two decisive factors: the return on investment and the expected service life of a robot. At present, the world's robots reflect a compromise between rigidity and light weight as they are integrated with various artificial intelligence technologies. Compared with traditional industrial robot arms, collaborative robots have more mechanical flexibility. However, cobots with safety features…
Federal government technology partner Noblis Inc. this week announced that it has received a U.S. patent for technology to collectively optimize cooperative actions among autonomous connected machines. Specifically, the Reston, Va. based nonprofit was awarded U.S. Patent 11,283,874. A unified plan This system allows ad hoc collections of nearby machines to independently plan motion paths and earn trust from other machines by consistently carrying out those plans, according to Noblis. “Noblis Orchestrated Autonomy allows pick-up teams of autonomous machines to perform as if they have trained together extensively,” said Karl Wunderlich, Noblis research team lead and the system's inventor. “Further,…
Manufacturers are always looking for gains in quality and throughput. ABB Robotics this week launched its High-Speed Alignment software, which it said uses computer vision to increase the speed of six-axis robots by 70% and their accuracy by 50%. The company said the improvements for electronics assembly will “significantly reduce time to market.” “Sales of smartphones, wearables, and other high-tech devices are growing, and advances in electronics are gathering pace,” stated Liang Rui, managing director for ABB’s Robotics' electronics business line. “As devices become smaller and more powerful, new automation solutions are required to quickly and accurately place components, ensuring…
Accelerate your success at Automate—the largest and most inspiring showcase of automation in North America—from June 6 to 9, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. Witness some of today’s most impactful robotics solutions, from new industrial applications to the latest in autonomous mobile robots. Show registration is free.
Engineer
Among the barriers to entry for automation is the challenge of financing. River Capital Finance this week said it has partnered with Mobile Industrial Robots ApS to offer custom, flexible financing options to companies that want to add robots to their warehouse operations. “With the current labor shortages and rising inflation, the need for warehouse automation is more crucial than ever,” said Mike Jones, senior vice president at River Capital Finance. “We're excited to be able to offer financing solutions to Mobile Industrial Robot's customers so they can easily integrate automated solutions into their warehouses.” Cleveland-based River Capital said it…
Industrial provider Rockwell Automation this week announced it is teaming up with CAD-IT, a Singapore-based systems integrator focused on Industry 4.0 technologies. CAD-IT is now part of Rockwell Automation’s PartnerNetwork and was brought on to support the increasing demand for industrial automation in Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing sub-regions for us. We are very pleased to partner with CAD-IT who is well-versed in the region,” said Marcelo Tarkieltaub, regional director for Southeast Asia Rockwell Automation. “By combining our technologies and expertise with their strong regional network and execution competency, we can make smart manufacturing and…
Kärcher this week expanded its autonomous product line by introducing a professional robotic scrubber. The KIRA B 100 R uses Brain Corp.’s BrainOS, which powers autonomous mobile robots operating in indoor public spaces. KIRA is an acronym for “Kärcher Intelligent Robotic Applications.” “With the new KIRA B 100 R autonomous scrubber and the KIRA CV 60/1 autonomous vacuum introduced late last year, our customers now have robotic solutions for cleaning both hard and soft floor surfaces,” stated Rex Shull, vice president of product manufacturing and engineering at Kärcher. “These intelligent tools help businesses use their cleaning staff more efficiently and…
The global race toward autonomous vehicles has continued, with Robotics 24/7 tracking more than $2.5 billion in technology investments in just in the first quarter of 2022. Haomo.AI this week said it has raised “hundreds of millions” of renminbi, or RMB, in Series A+ financing. One hundred million RMB is equivalent to $15.7 million U.S. “This round marks a new developmental milestone for Haomo,” stated Zhang Kai, chairman of Haomo. “With the help of partners and investors, Haomo will continue to maintain its leading position in mass production of autonomous driving solutions and AI technology.” The Beijing-based company raised nearly…
Autonomous trucking technology maker Locomation released today a greenhouse gas projections analysis that shows a major reduction in carbon dioxide with the adoption of Locomation’s Autonomous Relay Convoy system, or ARC. Even a conservative adoption of ARC on just 25,000 Class 8 trucks running on Locomation’s 68 Autonomous Relay Network (ARN) interstate highway segments by 2030 would yield savings equal to the amount of CO2 emitted from 2 million passenger vehicles annually, according to the report. The analysis, prepared by Boundless Impact Research and Analytics Inc., used the company’s market-penetration projections along with anticipated changes to powertrain technologies over this…
Robotics developers must integrate multiple components, particularly for systems that must safely and effectively interact with people. Cogniteam today announced that the Israel Innovation Authority's consortium of robotics companies will rely on its Nimbus platform to develop next-generation human-robot interaction capabilities. “A simple direction such as ‘go right’ can be confusing for a robot that does not have the capability to understand human gestures,” said Dr. Yehuda Elmaliach, CEO of Cogniteam. “If given the direction ‘go right’ by a pedestrian, it must rapidly understand if it is the robot’s right or the right of the person who is giving directions.”…
Paul Cataford, Titan Medical Inc.'s interim president and CEO, said he is laser-focused on getting U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for Enos, the company’s single-access robotic surgical system. The goal is to offer it for general gynecological procedures by early 2025, he said, with the qualifier that the company still has to go through a lot of regulatory hoops to get there. “It’s a multistep process that takes a long time and a lot of focus,” he said. “That’s what the board and the senior leadership team are really focused on, making sure we stick to that timeline.” An…