AccuFast™ II, an economical laser-based seam finder for Yaskawa Motoman’s arc welding robot line, features improved sensor capabilities. The improved sensor offers increased performance by providing more reliable and repeatable feedback to the robot controller regarding part position. It also provides readings on a variety of materials and at angles of measurement that were not […]
ArcWorld 200 and ArcWorld 500 Workcells with dual workstation design
The new ArcWorld® 200 and ArcWorld 500 welding solutions are designed to be versatile workhorses for small- to medium-sized parts or medium-volume production runs. These customizable models feature a dual-station design allowing for high robot utilization; the operator can load one workstation while the robot is servicing the other. Floorspace requirements are minimal, as they can […]
EcoTrim workcell with ultrasonic cutting technology reduces operating costs and improves trim quality
EcoTrim™ is an economical pre-engineered solution for high-speed ultrasonic cutting, trimming, deburring and chamfering applications. The workcell’s patented ultrasonic cutting technology replaces waterjet, laser cutting, hard tooling and manual trimming or routing methods. With its slim design and efficient operation, EcoTrim is a lean and sustainable alternative that has minimal requirements such as power, water, […]
Automate and ProMat 2013: Crowds chose collaborative cage-free robots
Industrial Robots; Robot Arms; Cameras, Scanners and Vision Systems; Collaborative Cage-free Robots; Mobile Robots; Robot Operating Systems; Warehousing and Materials Handling; New Technologies, and Jobs By Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report There are fewer manufacturers of industrial robots than one might imagine: only a little more than 200 worldwide. Of these, less…
2012 Robo-Stox Wrap-up
If an enterprising firm set up a mutual fund reflecting the worldwide robotics industry, they might choose to separate their picks into three segments, which might look something like this: Industrial Robot Manufacturers Service Robot Makers of security, defense and space robots Service Robot Makers of robots for all other purposes Although I am neither…
“ROS Everywhere!” says Willow Garage’s Steve Cousins
Pieter Abbeel was one of this year’s MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 (TR 35) award winners as was Brian Gerkey of Willow Garage. Pieter and his team at UC Berkeley programmed a robot to learn how to perform tasks such as folding laundry without detailed instructions. Brian oversees development of the Willow Garage open…
China’s Mammoth Intro to Robotics
by Frank Tobe and Manoj Sahi According to Xinhua, the official press agency of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn will deploy 1 million robots over the next three years to improve efficiency and reduce labor for tasks better suited to a robot. The robots will be used…