How Is Modular Robot Design Reshaping Factory Automation?
How industrial robots work constantly adapts to increased demand and novel technologies, but it enhances automation potential the most. What is shifting and how can production engineers and electronics experts in these sectors fully leverage the benefits?
The Art of Building a Robot
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Sensors and gripper arms can simply be attached and removed as needed. You dont even have to be a specialist to quickly and easily replace a defective part, which makes the robots extremely flexible and economical to operate.
MIT's Modular Robotic Chain Is Whatever You Want It to Be
Evan Ackerman for IEEE Spectrum: As sensors, computers, actuators, and batteries decrease in size and increase in efficiency, it becomes possible to make robots much smaller without sacrificing a whole lot of capability. There’s a lower limit on usefulness, however, if you’re making a robot that needs to interact with humans or human-scale objects. You can continue to leverage shrinking components if you make robots that are modular: in other words, big robots that are made up of lots of little robots.
In some ways, it’s more complicated to do this, because if one robot is complicated, robots tend to be complicated. If you can get all of the communication and coordination figured out, though, a modular system offers tons of advantages: robots that come in any size you want, any configuration you want, and that are exceptionally easy to repair and reconfigure on the fly.
MIT’s ChainFORM is an interesting take on this idea: it’s an evolution of last year’s LineFORM multifunctional snake robot that introduces modularity to the system, letting you tear of a strip of exactly how much robot you need, and then reconfigure it to do all kinds of things. Cont'd...
RENCO Modular Rotary Encoders Ideal for Mobile Robots
The RENCO encoders slim and lightweight design allows motor designers more flexibility, especially in these applications where space and weight is critical.
Echoing Government's Productivity 4.0, IoT Automation Boosts Taiwan's Competitiveness
Facing challenges of labor shortages and aging labor forces, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs is implementing "Productivity 4.0" to stimulate economic growth and upgrade industries.
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Featured Product
ElectroCraft's Motion Control for Mobile Robots
ElectroCraft is showcasing its award-winning mobile robot technology including their powerful and compact wheel drives, high-torque-density brushless DC motors, precision linear actuators as well as servo motor drive technology at a variety of conferences and tradeshows including the Boston Robotics Summit. Robotics Summit is the premier symposium for the sharing of ideas, technology, and market developments for robotic technologies across industries. Beyond a showcase and pitch of product, ElectroCraft is eager to participate in the collaborative discussion of challenges and opportunities that will shape the near and long-term robotic marketplace.
Robotics and Automation - Featured Company
DESTACO
DESTACO is now the worldwide leader in the innovation, design, manufacture and support of clamping, gripping, transferring, indexing and robotic tooling solutions for workplace and automation needs.
