RIA Announces National Robot Safety Conference and International Collaborative Robots Workshop
The 28th Annual National Robot Safety Conference will be held October 17-19, 2016, followed by the International Collaborative Robots Workshop October 20, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Westin Hotel according to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA).
Boston Dynamics posts video of one of the quietest robots ever being built
John DiPietro for NHVoice: Lately, Boston Dynamics has released a new video of its robot called Mini Spot. In the video, the robot is seen running around outside, planning around objects in a home and climbing up stairs. The best part of the video is how delicately the robot picks up a wine glass and puts into the dishwasher.
The wine-glass act has been highlight as it could be judged as to how much skilled is the robot in handling delicate things. For robots to safely operate around humans they need to be able to sense their environment and capable of knowing how mighty they are.
Mini Spot weighs 55 lbs and is all electric and runs for around 90 minutes on a charge depending on what is it doing. The robot is having many sensors, including depth cameras, a solid state gyro and proprioception sensors in its limbs. Cont'd...
New Protocols Enable Robots to Cooperate with One Another on Complex Jobs Using Body Language
Sometimes all it takes to get help from someone is to wave at them, or point. Now the same is true for robots. Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have completed work on an EU project aimed at enabling robots to cooperate with one another on complex jobs, by using body language.
Teaching robots the physics of sliding and pushing objects
Jiaji Zhou for RoboHub: The Manipulation Lab at the CMU Robotics Institute proposes a computational model that relates an applied robot action to the resultant object motion. Their research won the Best Conference Paper Award atICRA 2016.
Understanding the mechanics of manipulation is essential for robots to autonomously interact with the physical world. One of the common manipulation scenarios involves pushing objects in a plane subject to dry friction. We propose a planar friction (force-motion) model that relates an applied robot action to the resultant object motion. Cont'd...
Safety for Collaborative Robots: New ISO/TS 15066
Collaborative robots are the latest technology, and may provide just the solution you are looking for to improve your production process, but you must still make sure any risks associated with your robotic application are recognized and managed appropriately.
Foxconn Replaces 60,000 Labourers With Robots in China
Subhrojit Mallick for GIZMODO India: Apple and Samsung phone manufacturer, Foxconn has already taken a step towards the dystopian future. The South China Morning Post reported the manufacturing giant has replaced 60,000 laborers with robots. The total strength of Foxconn factory workers reduced from 110,000 to 50,000, marking a huge shift towards automation of routine jobs.
The Foxconn technology group confirmed to the BBC that they are automating many of the manufacturing tasks associated with their operations by introducing robots. However, they maintained the move will not affect long-term job losses. Cont'd...
Rethink Robotics Brings Strategic Global Partners Together in Boston
From China to Germany, channel partners convene to discuss the future of collaborative robots in manufacturing
Rethink Robotics' Sawyer Makes Inaugural Appearance at Hannover Messe
Sawyer robots to demonstrate three different manufacturing tasks on the show floor
Rethink Robotics Continues Global Expansion with New Distributor Partners in EMEA
Rethink Robotics' Sawyer Robot to Be Distributed by World-Class Automation Providers in France, the U.K. and Israel
Collaborative Robots Are Broadening Their Marketplaces
In a human-machine study conducted by an MIT professor, it was shown that teams made of humans and robots collaborating efficiently can be more productive than teams made of either humans or robots alone.
Collaborative Robots Will Transform Logistics Says DHL Group
Patrick Burnson for Logistics Management: “Robots work in many industries but haven’t made an impact on logistics yet because of the complexity of the work – handling a wide array of different things in an infinite number of combinations, close to people and in confined spaces,” says Matthias Heutger, Senior Vice President Strategy for the Group.
“Current research shows that 80 percent of logistics facilities today are still manual. Recently, however, technology is just starting to catch up to meet demands for flexible and low-cost robots that could collaboratively work in logistics.”
The report highlights that the development of the next generation of robots that can see, move, react to their environment and work at precision tasks alongside people, is on a fast track powered by the explosion in labor-intensive e-commerce and diminishing and ageing workforces. Cont'd...
Man Vs Machine
The result of this rung-in change is intended to be that man and machine respectively do what they can do best. The weaknesses of one are compensated for by the strengths of the other.
Rethink Robotics Announces Major Distribution Partnerships in Germany
Sawyer is a smart, collaborative robot that can be trained by demonstration and change tasks quickly to fit the individual needs of the factory.
Mercedes Boots Robots From the Production Line:
By Elisabeth Behrmann & Christoph Rauwald for Bloomberg Business: “Robots can’t deal with the degree of individualization and the many variants that we have today,” Markus Schaefer, the German automaker’s head of production, said at its factory in Sindelfingen, the anchor of the Daimler AG unit’s global manufacturing network. “We’re saving money and safeguarding our future by employing more people.”
Mercedes’s Sindelfingen plant, the manufacturer’s biggest, is an unlikely place to question the benefits of automation. While the factory makes elite models such as the GT sports car and the ultra-luxury S-Class Maybach sedan, the 101-year-old site is far from a boutique assembly shop. The complex processes 1,500 tons of steel a day and churns out more than 400,000 vehicles a year.
That makes efficient, streamlined production as important at Sindelfingen as at any other automotive plant. But the age of individualization is forcing changes to the manufacturing methods that made cars and other goods accessible to the masses. The impetus for the shift is versatility. While robots are good at reliably and repeatedly performing defined tasks, they’re not good at adapting. That’s increasingly in demand amid a broader offering of models, each with more and more features. Cont'd...
Getting Started with Collaborative Robots - Part 5 - Get Management On Board with Robots
Even if you are part of management yourself, you will need to justify the integration of the robot with solid arguments. We suggest the "Scotty maneuver": under-promise, over-deliver!
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