Editors’ Picks




Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 35.10
…2015 and now includes extensive collaboration between Auburn, NIST, NASA and the global standards organization ASTM International. The nationally recognized organization conducts research, trains and educates graduate and undergraduate students, and develops and promotes technological innovations that advance the pace of the additive manufacturing industry. The new system is comprised of a customized digital radiology vault from Pinnacle X-Ray Solutions that accommodates additive manufacturing machines designed and built by Auburn researchers to fit within the X-ray vault. Thissolution enables Auburn engineers and their partners to conduct three-dimensional non-destructive interrogation of mission-critical metal parts as well as provide real-time process monitoring…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 26.28
…the U.S., in the high school division of the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The team tied for first with a European Space Consortium for high school students worldwide but then lost the tiebreaker. In addition to its performance completing the course and mission tasks (video), the team earned: Rookie of the Year Award Technology Challenge Award (beating all universities and high schools) for the student-designed and built carbon fiber wheels Featherweight Award for the lightest high school rover (117 lbs.) STEM Engagement Award for its outreach work with Girl Scouts and elementary students. The competition saw nearly 100 teams…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 5.76
…launched in 2013, Xometry now counts carmaker BMW and NASA among its customers. According to the company, it now serves nine out of the top 10 Fortune 500 aerospace companies, and 44% of the Fortune 500 automotive and auto part makers. Protolabs started in 1999 as an injection molding company and a few short years later added CNC machining to its line of service. In 2014, Protolabs began offering industrial-grade 3D printing services and added sheet metal fabrication in 2017 through the acquisition of Rapid Manufacturing. Today, the company operates 12 manufacturing facilities (seven in the U.S.) as an on-demand…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 17.06
…level of education; teams participating with SAE, FIRST Robotics, NASA HUNCH, NRL, and other organizations are encouraged to enter parts in this division; and Professional—open to anyone with professional manufacturing experience; instructors are encouraged to enter parts in this division. “We get some very interesting, creative parts to judge,” says Peter Mancini, education product manager at CNC Software. “Last year, the winning students were Caelen DeVall from Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Montana, who made a didgeridoo, and Andrew Nicosia from Erie Community College in Williamsville, New York, who made a vacuum engine. “In general, we look for high quality,…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 34.84
…Sciaky EBAM 110 machine. The tanks met or exceeded NASA’s performance and reliability requirements, which will allow the tanks to become a standard product option on LM 2100 satellites. “Sciaky's EBAM technology is now the world's only large-scale metal 3D printing process that has qualified applications for land, sea, air, and space,” said Scott Phillips, president and CEO of Sciaky, Inc. “We are delighted to work with the innovators at Lockheed Martin Space and will continue to push the boundaries of additive manufacturing.” In addition to meeting NASA’s strict requirements for strength, durability, and light weight, Lockheed Martin was able…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 38.01
…Mars settlers! Please print your habitat here. If what NASA envisions becomes a reality, such a sign may very well greet the pioneering earthlings who decide to relocate to Mars. In late 2015, as part of its Centennial Challenges program, NASA held a design competition “to build a 3D-printed habitat for deep space exploration, including the agency’s journey to Mars. The multi-phase challenge is designed to advance the construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and beyond.” The teams were asked to not only render their concepts in Building Information Modeling (BIM) software but also to “autonomously…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 14.27
…according to its web site. Fictive's customer list includes NASA and Ford, among others. With both Xometry and Fictiv, the highly automated ordering system manages the file transmission, inspection, and job quote requests. But the humans are also in the loop. When it comes to reviewing parts to ensure they won't cause manufacturing issues, both companies employ a pool of expert engineers for the task. The New Manufacturing Climate Cronin said Xometry's service providers are mostly based on the U.S. The recent U.S. government's steel and aluminum tariffs could have an effect on part manufacturers and service providers who obtain…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 8.51
…president of production management and a veteran of Boeing, NASA and Apple. “It sorts batches into individual orders and does so at speeds that are faster than human operators.” Why a putwall? Williams says that putwalls are areas that are very manual and labor intensive, and, that the Kindred solution is flexible and scalable. “It’s very easy to remove an existing putwall and drop in one of our cells. You can pilot it quickly to prove the solution and determine if there is an ROI.” Williams says that Kindred uses advanced artificial intelligence to teach the robot how to distinguish…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 36.60
…a way to lightweight aircraft and other structures, a NASA-led consortium is exploring ways to shorten the cycle for material development and certification—the goal being to boost competitive advantage among US manufacturers. The Advanced Composites Consortium (ACC), which includes 13 members, including aerospace manufacturers, university partners, and more recently a single software provider, conducts research focused on the accurate prediction of the strength and life of composite structures, rapid inspection of composites, and efficient development of manufacturing processes. Collier Research, maker of HyperSizer optimization software, is the sole software member, committed to using its rapid design tools to explore how…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 16.10
…would present a daunting safety hazard. Uber Teams with NASA on 'Flying Car' Project Following the hiring of a NASA engineer to develop flying cars earlier this year, Uber has announced that by 2020, it plans to launch at least a few flying cars in Los Angeles, with a real commercial service to follow a few years later. The company has insisted that it wants to help build an ecosystem that makes a flying service possible and Uber‘s chief product officer, Jeff Holden, said in a statement. “UberAIR will be performing far more flights over cities on a daily basis…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 10.17
…John Langford, CEO, Aurora Uber is also working with NASA, the FAA, and the National Air Traffic Control Association to work on a different approach to air traffic control. Flying Cars Building out the infrastructure is just one part of the puzzle. The other roadblock is perfecting an all-electric VTOL plane that is quiet enough that it could be used to bring people from the cities to the suburbs, or even across cities, in a short amount of time. Uber, for now, has decided not to build its own aircraft, but partner with other manufacturers who are designing planes to…
Found in Robotics News & Content, with a score of 12.05
…Industrial cybersecurity ● Government, military, and national defense ● NASA and space programs ● Automotive industry, including the racing industry ● Amusement parks, including roller coaster and ride design The need for automation professionals far outpaces available supply; career options in industrial cybersecurity are particularly bright. For example, the manufacturing-sector in the US employs nearly 12 million people (the equivalent of 1 in 6 private sector jobs) and supports almost 5 million more jobs. However, 5% of manufacturing jobs remain unfilled due to a lack of skilled candidates. By one estimate, the US alone will need more than 120 million…