Donald Trump has been crowing as companies including Ford Motor Co. (IW 500/4) renounce plans to move factories to Mexico. But the main beneficiaries of this shift back to the U.S. aren't saying much by way of celebration -- industrial robots don't tend to speak. While globalization's detractors blame countries such as China and Mexico for stealing the factory jobs of the West, experts point to less obvious culprits which are harder to scapegoat and to overcome in an interconnected economy with complex supply chains. Since U.S. manufacturing employment peaked in the late 1970s, according to Michael Hicks of the…

This robot from Omron was an impressive sight  at Hannover Messe Fair –. The robotic arm was able to actively play ping-pong with people by measuring the velocity and placement of the incoming ping-pong ball and responding with an automated action to the deliver the ball back. It even won a few matches against people at the fair. |  A Machine Design item  |  January 17, 2017  |    

The significant labour costs and geographic isolation of the New Zealand manufacturing industry has meant that in order to compete with international players, local manufacturers must look to innovate with new technologies and automate their production processes.To compete with global manufacturing hubs, leading Auckland-based injection moulding company, TCI New Zealand (TCI) were looking for an automated solution that would offer a more cost-effective means of producing its customers’ products. TCI found the solution in Universal Robots (UR) - a global developer and manufacturer of six-axis industrial robots. TCI has now deployed two of Universal’s industrial robotic arms: the UR3 and…

All over the world, ageing populations and changing attitudes are making it harder to hold on to workers, believes Dr Rodney Brooks. Brent Balinski spoke to Brooks, founder of Rethink Robotics, about some demographic and technology shifts to watch out for and why it’s best to be realistic. In the markets where Rethink sells its collaborative robots, ageing workforces and a shortage of younger workers available to replace retirees are a combination troubling manufacturers, according to founder, chairman and CTO, Dr Rodney Brooks. It’s a problem that’s been brewing for many years, and an issue in China which he picked…

Digital engineering and the human-machine interface is likely to benefit from a recent international collaboration on the interaction between soft materials and rigid robots at the University of Auckland. The new research-training group between New Zealand and Germany will also have implications for the future of safety and medical ergonomics for the meat, agricultural and automotive sectors. Overall, the aim is to educate a new generation of digital engineering doctoral students at the University of Auckland and the University of Stuttgart in areas including simulation technology, computer modelling, sensor technology, and robotics and control engineering. The interaction of rigid robots…

Industrial robotics have brought automation a long way toward meeting these goals. This technology has also created new possibilities and opportunities in part production, assembly and quality inspection for industries including aerospace, automotive, medical and more. However, industrial robotics can’t solve every issue, and sometimes it can even create new problems.  That’s where the collaborative robot or “cobot,” comes in. This e-book covers the top five cobots available in the market today. We’ll look over technical summaries for each cobot, what applications they are best suited for, what accessories they can use, and what kind of ROI can be expected…