Robotics & Automation News

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monitoring

Cisco releases two new IoT sensor solutions

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Cisco has unveiled two new cloud-managed sensor solutions that the company says can help businesses simplify asset and facility monitoring across their organizations, from indoor IT closets to outdoor Operation Technology (OT) spaces at scale.

Many businesses today operate in commercial buildings with limited capacity and are supporting a growing mobile workforce. It is critical for business operators to have actionable data from their office space and assets to better manage network equipment performance and maintenance.

Remote monitoring using IoT sensors offers a list of benefits to help improve efficiencies including employee safety by preventing unnecessary site visits and equipment checks, reducing network outages and downtime and reducing costs for premature equipment failure. [Read more…] about Cisco releases two new IoT sensor solutions

Dover acquires industrial automation company XanTec

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Dover Corporation, diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of approximately $7 billion, has completed the acquisition of XanTec.

XanTec Steuerungs und EDV-Technik is a developer and supplier of automation and control solutions for industrial machinery of all types with particular focus on plastic and polymer processing machines across the globe.

XanTec now becomes part of the Maag Group, a global provider of integrated and customizable process technology solutions for the polymer, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and food industries within Dover’s Pumps & Process Solutions segment. [Read more…] about Dover acquires industrial automation company XanTec

Truly gigantic farm robot as big as a football field being tested in Arizona desert

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A colossally humungous robot that looks at least as big as a football field has been unveiled by a group of scientists who clearly understand scale. (See video below.)

Called the “Field Scanalyzer”, shown in dazzling pictures and video on the Wall Street Journal website, the totally titanic machine is described as “an automated robotic field phenotyping platform for detailed crop monitoring”.

Phenotyping is the process of predicting a crop’s phenotype – the observable physical properties of an organism – using only genetic information collected from genotyping or DNA sequencing. [Read more…] about Truly gigantic farm robot as big as a football field being tested in Arizona desert

InOrbit raises $2.6 million for its cloud robotics business

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InOrbit, a provider of cloud-based robot management software, has closed $2.6 million in seed round investment.

The funding was led by Animo Ventures, with participation by Yamaha Motor Ventures and Laboratory Silicon Valley, Kärcher New Venture and other key institutional and individual investors.

InOrbit’s software-as-a-service enables robotics companies and operators to develop, deploy and orchestrate autonomous robots at global scale. [Read more…] about InOrbit raises $2.6 million for its cloud robotics business

Robotic camera offers social distancing solution, say its makers

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The makers of the robotic camera Solo Cinebot say their camera can offer a solution to production companies in this new world of social distancing. (See video below.)

Virtually every government in the world has stipulated social distancing rules, where people have to all stay two metres apart – even at work.

The Solo Cinebot system was the brainchild of Josh Shadid and Aaron Grasso and was created as a “response to filming needs at this unpredictable time”. [Read more…] about Robotic camera offers social distancing solution, say its makers

SICK launches new ultra-compact safety laser scanner nanoScan3

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SICK is launching its newest ultra-compact safety laser scanner, nanoScan3. The company says the new product combines smart safety functions with excellent measurement data quality for accurate and reliable localization. 

With an overall height of just over three inches, this space-saving sensor can be used wherever machines and vehicles require maximum performance, but have minimal mounting space.

This enables manufacturers to use small automated guided vehicles or mobile robots equipped with SICK’s leading-edge safety technology. [Read more…] about SICK launches new ultra-compact safety laser scanner nanoScan3

Factories can save up to 90 per cent in valve monitoring costs with wireless IoT sensors

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Factories and plants in industries – such as chemical processing, pulp and paper, water and waste-water treatment, have seen the benefits of remote valve monitoring.

Traditional retrofitted monitoring solutions, however, are costly and slow to deploy for factories with thousands of manual valves of different types.

There is a more cost-effective alternative – factories have evidenced a 90 percent reduction in retrofitting investment, by using industry-grade wireless sensors and Industrial IoT technologies. [Read more…] about Factories can save up to 90 per cent in valve monitoring costs with wireless IoT sensors

Mitsubishi launches new range of industrial computers

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Mitsubishi Electric Automation has released a new range of its MELIPC Series industrial-use computers for data computing, edge computing, remote monitoring, and the integration of hardware and software technologies.

The MELIPC Series is targeted towards original equipment manufacturers and end users running general manufacturing applications, and especially those who require a computing and data monitoring solution that takes up a limited amount of space with a small footprint.

Most importantly, MELIPC is designed to enable internet of things on factory floors that have not been introduced to it yet, or improve it where it is already enabled. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi launches new range of industrial computers

B&R brings safety to delta robot kinematics

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B&R now offers SafeRobotics functions for tripods to safely monitor all types of delta kinematic systems – or delta robots.

The company says serial axes can also be included in the calculations, for example when tripods are mounted on moving platforms.

Safe robot monitoring is implemented using the safety functions Safely Limited Position, Safely Limited Orientation, Safely Limited Joint Position and Safely Limited Speed. [Read more…] about B&R brings safety to delta robot kinematics

Komatsu develops electric mini excavator

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Komatsu Ltd has unveiled its electric mini excavator, based on its accumulated technological expertise of hybrid construction equipment and electric forklift trucks.

Equipped with an in-house developed new charger, high-voltage converter and other devices, it offers excavation performance on a par with the internal combustion model of the same power output, while achieving zero exhaust gas emissions and a dynamic reduction in noise levels.

Komatsu expects a wider range of applications for this machine, including construction work near hospitals or schools or in residential areas, where contractors pay special attention to exhaust gas and noise during work, as well as inside tunnels or buildings.

[Read more…] about Komatsu develops electric mini excavator