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Mass customization platform KBMax named ‘visual configuration leader’

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KBMax, a company which provides mass customization services to the manufacturing sector, says it has been named “visual configuration leader” by G2 Crowd, a website which collates and presents reviews from users of software.

KBMax mainly offers its services through its website, and primarily categorizes itself as a “CPQ” platform, a well-known term in sales and marketing which stands for configure, price, quote.

Traditionally, CPQ platforms have not included visual configurators, which enable the customization of a product using online 3D computer-aided design software.

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Preparing metal parts for airplanes

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By Martin Zimmermann, key account manager, Kollmorgen Switzerland

Freymatic is building shot peening plants for the construction of aircraft engines – and, to do this, it’s opting for motion control technologies from Kollmorgen to achieve high-quality requirements.

Peening, or shot peening, refers to the striking of metal with a hammer of some description while preparing it for manufacturing.

The shot needs to hit accurately. This is the only way for their power to be optimally deployed. This power does not do any damage. In fact, with each hit it makes the target stronger, more solid and tougher. And this is why accuracy, airspeed and the right quantity with the right measurements are so crucial. [Read more…] about Preparing metal parts for airplanes

Lilium launches air taxi. Flying cars could take to the skies next

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Flying cars have been around a long time, but only as test vehicles, often engineered and built by tinkerers who may have been seen as somewhat eccentric for even dreaming up such a machine.

But in the past couple of years, these “eccentric tinkerers” have been usurped by corporate bigwigs who maybe see a big market for the technology.

In the most recent development, a German company called Lilium has completed a successful test flight with its all-electric flying car.

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The rise of the Robot Operating System

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Nearly 55 percent of total commercial robots shipped in 2024 will have at least one Robot Operating System package installed, according to ABI Research

The Robot Operating System, or ROS, is a flexible and collaborative open-source framework for building operating systems for robotics.

As its adoption continues to grow, ROS is aiming to become the industry standard for robotics middleware.

According to ABI Research, a market research company, nearly 55 percent of total commercial robots shipped in 2024 – over 915,000 units – will have at least one ROS package installed, creating a large installed base of ROS-enabled robots.

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FEIMEC 2020 launches its new sales cycle as the ‘largest exhibition in the industry in Latin America’

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The third edition of the machinery and industrial equipment trade show FEIMEC will have even more exhibition space than in previous years. Its official launch occurs within a moment of positive expectations for the Brazilian market.

Within the marketplace’s positive expectations for economic growth, the third edition of FEIMEC 2020 – Brazil International Machinery and Equipment Exhibition has been launched.

The exhibition will take place in Sao Paulo on May 5-9, 2020 and will have 62,000 sq m of exhibition space, 700 exhibitors and will receive over 65,000 industry professionals.

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World’s largest robotics conference to take place in Canada for first time

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ICRA, the world’s largest robotics conference, is set to be held in Canada for the first time, offering insights into the future of robotics across the globe.

ICRA, short for International Conference on Robotics and Automation, is organised by the IEEE, the world’s largest engineering association. Specifically, the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.

With global spending on robotics systems and drones forecast to total $115.7 billion this year alone – an increase of 17.6 percent over 2018 – the world’s largest robotics conference is scheduled to get under way in Montreal later this month, unveiling the latest and greatest in robotics research and innovations from 71 countries under one roof.

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Wanted: Robot to load dishwasher. Must be careful

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Chris Roberts, head of industrial robotics at Cambridge Consultants, provides an overview of the jobs robots could potentially do in future

Cambridge Consultants recently announced a new technology for automating one of the most unloved jobs in a commercial kitchen – loading the dishwasher.

This technology combines innovative robotics with cutting edge AI to achieve something hitherto impossible – detecting and handling a wide variety of dirty crockery haphazardly arranged on a tray.

However, the fundamental techniques used in this product can be applied to a wider range of situations and problems. There are many different tasks that it is only now possible to automate.

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Automotive and industrial automation sectors forecast to drive micro motor market revenue to $38 billion

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Demand from the automotive and industrial automation sectors is expected to drive micro motor market revenue to $38 billion, according to a new report by Fact.mr.

With soaring vehicle production and sales, the applicability and adoption of electrical equipment are also witnessing a consistent rise globally.

While automatic, quantitative fuel injection systems have already substituted conventional carburetors, micro motors are also rapidly replacing the anti-lock braking systems, which is foreseen to account for remarkable sales of micro motor within the automotive industry.

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Amazon testing automated custom packaging machine

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One of the things many people have noticed about receiving goods they ordered online is the amount of empty space inside the box. Sometimes, more than 90 percent of the box is empty.

This is obviously inefficient and can result in much additional and unnecessary cost, from the amount of box material wasted, through the amount of wasted space within vehicles in transit, to name just two aspects.

While these inefficiencies have continued, for a long time, machines that automate the process of putting items inside boxes have been available. Not only can these machines box things up, they can also custom-build the box to fit the item on the fly.

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Trump trade tariffs to hit $300 billion worth of Chinese goods

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US President Donald Trump’s proposed increase in tariffs will hit $350 billion worth of goods imported from China, according to economic analysts.

Trump announced his intention to impose the additional tariffs recently in a tweet, but the US and China are currently locked in trade talks and there may be some modifications to the proposal.

The effects of his announcement, however, have been far-reaching, and are said to be the reason for the $1 trillion fall in share prices around the world.

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