Found in
Scott Samples Company: GE Appliances Title: Robot Wrangler Location: Lafayette, Ga. Experience: 15 years at GE Appliances’ Roper Corp. focused on manufacturing, continuous improvement and robots Modern: We’ve got to start this with your title. Robot wrangler. That’s a first for most people. Please tell us about it and what you do every day. Samples: You’re right. There aren’t a…
Found in
Everybody wants to be able to handle complexity in their operations. But not everybody has the capex budget to make that possible.” So notes Michael Perry, vice president of marketing and business development at Dexterity. While that’s a point well taken, it doesn’t mean there might not be some wiggle room to innovate along the way. And that’s exactly what…
Found in
New truck design increases load visibility With a 512-inch lift height and 5,500-pound capacity, Toyota’s moving mast reach truck increases productivity and operator visibility at full height. The combination of a transparent roof and mast design offers the operator excellent upward visibility with minimal load view obstruction. In addition, the tilting operator compartment allows easy fork tip visibility without requiring…
Found in
This started as a story about lift truck batteries. That lasted about 45 seconds. That’s when Damon Hosmer of Raymond said: “Don’t forget about hydrogen.” Lead acid still accounts for probably 80% or more of all batteries. Lithium-ion is moving up to 15% or more. That leaves the balance for hydrogen as a power source. At less than 5%, that’s…
Found in
Michael Larsson Company: Dematic Title: President, Dematic and KION Group Executive Board Member Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. Experience: 32 years at ABB (including 22 at ABB Robotics), three years at Dematic and long-time advocate of the FIRST Robotics program. Modern: Clearly, you’ve been involved in robotics for many years. So much so, there’s even a story going around that your…
Found in
Unfortunately, we only have 3,600 seconds in an hour. Otherwise, who knows what picking technologies could do with some extra time. But since more seconds is not an option, we need to find other ways to get more done every hour. So, we do. Luther Webb, Trew’s vice president of data science, has a graph in mind. His title should…
Found in
Rest assured, no matter how many autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) you have already seen, you’ve only scratched the surface. And if that feels a little overwhelming, it’s more than OK. You won’t need therapy. Go back to the early 2000s and all you basically had was Kiva. Remember those pioneering orange bots that carried goods on shelves to pickers? Amazon’s…
Found in
Rest assured, no matter how many autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) you have already seen, you’ve only scratched the surface. And if that feels a little overwhelming, it’s more than OK. You won’t need therapy. Go back to the early 2000s and all you basically had was Kiva. Remember those pioneering orange bots that carried goods on shelves to pickers? Amazon’s…
Found in
In talking to experts for this article, it became evident that simply saying “special purpose robots” can be a tongue twister. At the same time, it also became evident that the capabilities of this class of autonomous mobile robots is a mind twister, too. (By the way, I’m sure you have by now tested yourself on your verbal dexterity saying—special…
Found in
This all started with an award. Kind of. More accurately, the award started with research. More specifically, the research started with a problem. Lots of problems, actually. Just ask Clint Chapman, senior manager of strategic partner relations at Yaskawa Motoman. For some time now, Chapman, along with Roger Christian, Yaskawa Motoman’s division leader for new business development, have been working…
Found in
Never underestimate the power of dock safety. Sounds simple enough as a premise. However, don’t underestimate the number of ways things can go sideways at any dock whether you have two or 200 of them. And, the potential for injury is acute. Consider this simple (or not so simple) sequence that must happen multiple times a day 100% correctly. A…
Found in
Here’s a question about shopping that’s probably out on social media some place: Is shopping a chore or a leisure activity? Oh, boy. That should get the conversation going. Whichever side you come down on, rest assured retailers are going out of their way to err on the side of leisure. “This is a complicated problem to solve,” says Sean…
Found in
The only thing the world has more of than totes, bins and containers is stuff to put in them. Furthermore, that stuff is constantly changing, as are the ways you and others want to stage, store and transport it all. Just ask Ed Granger, sales manager at Quantum Storage. He tells the story of an airline components manufacturer that has…
Found in
You might wonder: What’s up with automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) these days? And it would be a good question. Some would say it’s all about automating labor out of inventory movement activities. Others would point to new options for optimizing workflow. And then, someone else would bring up the autonomous mobile robot (AMR). Really? Yes, AGVs have been around for…
Found in
In a world truly obsessed with labor (un)availability and automation, the conventional warehouse continues to trudge on. You may even be managing one. But secretly, you probably have higher aspirations than to trudge. And as much as you might like to read here how to make labor more plentiful, that’s not going to happen. Sorry. But what you can find…
From geometry preparation to AI-assisted analysis, integrated CFD workflows…
Software-based GripperAI manages mixed picking through basic geometry
Safety, communication and motion control components enable smooth operation
North America’s largest robotics and automation event winds down
