ABB has added a virtual robot braking distance function to its RobotStudio offline programming and simulation software, that calculates and simulates real-world stopping distances, avoiding the need to add safety margins to cell designs, and allowing space savings of up to 25%.
NSK claims to have an answer to the problem of machine tool quadrant glitches that occur during circular interpolation routines. It has developed a “world-first” technology that stabilises friction when a ballscrew reverses its direction of motion, significantly reducing the occurrence of these glitches.
Circular interpolation is performed on machine tools such as CNC machining centres and milling machines, as well as EDM (electro-discharge machining) machines. Defined as motion along a circular arc, it requires precise coordination of two machine axes.
A Dutch machine-builder has developed a welding cell based on a cobot (collaborative robot) that makes it easier for manufacturers to automate the welding of small batches, to introduce new products, and to allow people and machines to work together safely.
The German automotive powertrain supplier Mahle is developing a magnet-free motor that, it claims, will operate with an efficiency of more than 95% at almost all operating points. The motor uses an inductive – and thus contact-, wear- and maintenance-free – technology to transmit power between the motor’s stationary and rotating parts.
The industrial communications standards organisation ODVA has extended its EtherNet/IP specification, allowing the network to connect with “resource-constrained” in-cabinet devices such as pushbuttons and contactors. Previously, cost, size, and power restrictions have limited the use of EtherNet/IP at the edge, where many nodes are still hardwired.
The Israeli-Japanese automation joint venture MusashiAI has announced a spin-out company which claims to be offering the world’s first “control tower” for monitoring and managing the activity of robots, materials and people on factory floors. The flexible, modular system uses computer vision and AI (artificial intelligence) to control and monitor movements of goods, forklifts and fleets of AGVs (automated guided vehicles) and AMRs (autonomous mobile robots) using spatial mapping. It avoids the need to install expensive tracking hardware on robots or machines, making it possible even for small companies to automate their indoor operations.
PiezoMotor, the Swedish specialist in piezoelectric-based micromotors, has announced a tiny actuator for applications in production automation, medical engineering and laboratories. The Link linear drive, which weighs just 3 grammes and is barely larger than a thumbnail, needs no gears and is ideal for applications with restricted installation space.
Omron has collaborated with a UK robotics systems integrator Reeco Automation to develop a cobot-based palletiser that, they claim, costs up to 50% less than a conventional robot palletiser and has a 60% smaller footprint. They believe that the development will make end-of-line robotic automation economically attractive to producers of all sizes for the first time.
The Russian cyber-security specialist Kaspersky has announced the first “cyber-immune” protection technology for industrial automation systems, designed to connect field devices such as sensors securely to industrial IoT (IIoT) services. The Kaspersky IoT Secure Gateway 100 system avoids the need for extra protection for gateways and connected equipment, such as anti-virus software, device controls or data diodes.
The German robot-maker Kuka has announced a new operating system for its machines that, it says, will be as easy to use as a mobile phone and will mark the start of “a new era in robotics”. The iiQKA.OS system, which was previewed at the 2021 virtual Hannover Fair, will be the basis for an entire ecosystem, providing access to programs, apps, services and equipment that are easy to install, operate and use, and will allow newcomers to implement automation without specialised training, while improving and simplifying the process for experts.
At the virtual Hannover Fair, Festo has unveiled a superconductor-based levitating transport system that can be separated from its electrical cooling system and operate autonomously for up to two hours. This will allow contact-free handling and movement of objects and is aimed, in particular, at applications requiring high levels of cleanliness, such as laboratory automation, biotechnology or semiconductor production.
Siemens has announced a software tool which, it claims, for the first time, allows drive installations and their behaviour in machines and plants to be simulated, adapted and optimised. Called Sinamics DriveSim Basic, the tool is said bridge the gap between logical and mechanical simulation.
A French start-up aiming to make industrial robots simple enough for anyone to use, has announced a software platform that, it claims, will cut the cost of robot programming by a factor of ten. Fuzzy Logic Robotics (FLR) says that its Fuzzy Studio software will allow any factory to automate using robots quickly, simply and cost-effectively, even for complex applications involving tasks such as welding, gluing, grinding, painting and dispensing.
Boston Dynamics, the US company behind YouTube-starring robots such as Spot the robot dog, has entered the warehouse automation market with a wheeled box-handling robot that can pick up, transport and stack boxes autonomously. It can handle It can up to 800 boxes each weighing up to 23kg (50lb) in an hour.
Yaskawa is introducing a range of high-speed, solid-rotor motors paired with variable-speed drives, which it says will offer “unrivalled” cost and size advantages in power ratings from 300kW–1.5MW and at speeds from 6,000–15,000 rpm.
