Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

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New data acquisition and visualisation duo launched

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Loggito is a new decentralised and highly scalable data acquisition system. In combination with the web-based measurement technology software ProfiSignal Web, Delphin Technology AG provides a pioneering complete package to link decentralised data acquisition with global data visualisation wherever you are.

As the central coordinator of a measurement network, the Loggito Logger provides internal data storage capabilities, preprocessing options for the acquired data, as well as connectivity to PCs and the cloud.

With the pioneering “cloud at the edge” measurement technology, the Loggito is also capable of utilising the full functionality of the cloud. The measurement network can be extended by using either the wired Loggito USB module or the wireless Loggito Wireless module.

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ATI Develops Universal Compliance Compensator

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ATI Industrial Automation’s new U1-050 Universal Compliance Compensator combines a variety of features to achieve the highest level of adaptability in tasks such as automated assembly, bin picking, loading and unloading machines, robotic finishing, and more, claims the company.

The U1-050 UCC complies in many directions to overcome misalignment between the tool and the workpiece. The patented mechanism is ideal for demanding high-endurance applications and offers simultaneous X-Y lateral compliance, X-Y-Z axis rotation, and Z compression. The pressurized internal reset piston returns the device to a repeatable center.

The stiffness can be tuned for specific payloads by varying the pneumatic pressure, which makes the device extremely versatile. ATI’s UCC can be configured for either a PNP or NPN compliance sensor and has an option for environmental protection if it is needed. The UCC comes with a standard 50 mm ISO mounting pattern which, in many cases, eliminates the need for interface plates.

Nord drives picked for airport baggage handling system

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A baggage handling system OEM has chosen Nord Drivesystems’ IE4 AC vector drives for a new system installed at a Canadian airport.

Glidepath carried out the work at Victoria Airport in British Columbia, Canada, installing a new handling system with a capacity of 750 pieces of luggage per hour.

“The baggage handling system is made up of 85 conveyors with a total length of some 250 m,” says Jason Williams, project engineer at Glidepath.

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Robots need not apply: New research finds human strengths needed in digital age

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New research from ManpowerGroup suggests that automation is good news for humans – if they have the right skills.

ManpowerGroup’s report — Robots Need Not Apply: Human Solutions in the Skills Revolution — surveyed 20,000 employers across 42 countries on the impact of automation on headcount, the functions most impacted and the soft skills that are both of greatest value and hardest to find.

The report finds that as companies go digital, in the near-term most will need more people, not fewer. As technology transforms organizations, skills needs are changing rapidly and companies are struggling to find the talent they need.

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Heidenhain acquires Austrian encoder company AMO

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Heidenhain has recently acquired AMO, an Austrian specialty encoder company and moved AMO North America sales operations and products coordination to Heidenhain in the US. Encoder production and engineering will remain in Austria.

AMO is well known for meeting the precision feedback requirements in applications where high resolution is needed, particularly in highly contaminated machine environments, such as in automation, medical and semiconductor applications, as well as some metal forming, bending, and manual machine tool applications.

AMO encoders are inductive based, and can survive many types of rough environments including coolants, slurries, heavy dust particles, high vibration and still maintain accuracy and high resolution.

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iQuest releases augmented reality app for manufacturing and industry

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iQagent, app creator for industrial applications, has released iQagent AR for IOS on the App Store. iQagent AR is the next evolution of the award-winning app iQagent, first released in 2012.

This new version leverages Apple’s ARKit to allow off-the-shelf creation of persistent augmented reality scenes containing process data and resources from existing plant systems. Once created, the scenes can be accessed by other devices running iQagent AR.

iQagent uses QR codes as ‘Point Of Interest’ (POI) markers to identify equipment. Users create POIs for equipment and process areas and associate relevant data points and resources.

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AGI acquires two companies in agricultural material handling field

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Ag Growth International (AGI) Inc. has acquired CMC Industrial Electronics (CMC) and Junge Control Inc. (JCI).

CMC is a supplier of hazard monitoring sensors and systems used in agricultural material handling applications. It also manufactures commercial bin monitoring sensors and systems.

CMC has strong relationships with domestic and multinational customers and provides AGI with new products to better serve its customers in an environment of increasingly stringent safety standards.

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Sharp Intellos robot protects US speedway venue

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The Sharp Intellos Automated Unmanned Ground Vehicle (A-UGV) has been named as the ‘Official Security Robot of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS)’, providings an added layer of safety and security protection for the ‘highest capacity sports venue in the world’.

“Sharp Electronics’ outdoor security robot is ideally suited to help safeguard the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s expansive, fenced property”, states Cliff Quiroga, Vice President for Sharp Robotics Business Development.

The robot is a multi-terrain, mobile sensor, data-gathering robot that can capture video, audio, and environmental information, while providing a visible deterrent without the aid of a human driver, says the company.

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Omron Microscan to show new traceability products at ATX West

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Omron Microscan will show new products for incorporating traceability into machine design this coming February 6 – 8 at ATX West 2018 in California, USA.

The company will showcase several new products that facilitate the integration of track and trace capabilities into industrial automation systems at Booth #4395.

Highlighted demos will include the PanelScan® PCB Traceability System, a user-friendly solution for in-motion traceability of multi-array PCBs that keeps production lines moving, claims the company, and the MicroHAWK ID-30, ID-40, and ID-45, claimed to be the world’s smallest high-performance barcode readers.

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Canvass Analytics partners with True North Automation on industrial automation

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Canvass Analytics, a provider of AI-enabled predictive analytics for the Industrial Internet of Things, and True North Automation have announced a new partnership designed to enable industrial companies to achieve predictive industrial automation in the manufacturing plant environment.

The Canvass Analytics software ingests millions of operational data points from a plant’s connected machinery and leverages industrial artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the entire data analysis process, creating predictive data models that continually adapt to data changes in real-time.

Together, True North Automation and Canvass Analytics take process automation one step further by taking the outcome of the predictive model and automatically applying the prediction to the control system.

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