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c-Industrial-Automation
First look at 2015 statistics on industrial robots from the IFR report
Frank Tobe
13 Feb 2016
A first look at numbers from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) report on industrial robots shows that worldwide robot sales grew again in 2015, and were 15% more than 2014. Explosive grow...
Using force feedback in robotics
Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette and Robotiq Inc.
15 Jan 2016
For many years, industrial robots were not able to monitor their surroundings. With the introduction of different sensors for robots, they are now able to feel what they are handling and see what the...
3 supply chain trends to watch for in 2016
Meghan Hennessey and Clearpath Robotics
08 Jan 2016
The New Year is upon us and with that comes predictions of what 2016 has in store. Will Automated Guided Vehicle (AGVs) continue to drive materials on the factory floor? What is ‘Industry 4.0’ and...
IoT may be 2016’s hot new trend, but in industrial robotics it’s been around for a decade
Alex Owen-Hill and Robotiq Inc.
06 Jan 2016
As everyone starts to look for "the big technology trends of 2016", it seems that one technology is overshadowing all others - the Internet of Things. We take a look at why robotics is actually ahead ...
Why co-bots will be a huge driver of innovation and growth for robotics
Frank Tobe
04 Jan 2016
This article was first published on IEEE Spectrum Automaton and is republished here with permission. For the IEEE version, click here; for the unabridged version, continue reading.
Collaborative ro...
The future of robot off-line programming
Albert Nubiola
28 Dec 2015
If you drive a car, it makes little difference what brand it is: all cars are driven in essentially the same way. The same applies to computers. If you have a Windows PC, the user interfaces won’t b...
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Construction Drilling, with Konrad Fagertun
Audrow Nash
27 Dec 2015
Transcript below.
In this episode Audrow Nash interviews Konrad Fagertun, Chief Operating Officer of nLink in Norway....
Registration now open for #ICRA16’s Airbus Shopfloor Challenge
Airbus Group
23 Dec 2015
The Airbus Shopfloor Challenge invites robotics teams from around the world to create innovative robotic solutions for a real-life manufacturing challenge, and compete live at the IEEE 2016 Internatio...
“Made in China” initiative is nurturing robotics according to plan
Frank Tobe
21 Dec 2015
The IFR (International Federation of Robotics) estimates that by 2018, one-third of all the industrial robots installed worldwide will be in China and said, "China is engaged on a historically unprec...
Evaluating what’s easy and what’s hard to automate in your workshop
Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette and Robotiq Inc.
17 Dec 2015
If you haven’t already introduced a robot into your workshop, or if you are in the process of introducing such a device, you may be wondering … what is the best place to start? What is easy and wh...
BCG study finds that reshoring with robots works
Frank Tobe
10 Dec 2015
Two important findings from Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) recent survey of US manufacturing executives: (1) Of those who plan to add capacity, most plan to do so in the US, and (2) a rising perc...
How many axes does my robot need?
Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette and Robotiq Inc.
09 Dec 2015
Anyone who has been in robotics long enough is eventually tasked with figuring out how many axes they will need for their robot. Most robots have somewhere between three and seven axes, but how d...
New collaborative robots — and product lines — at iREX 2015
Samuel Bouchard and Robotiq Inc.
07 Dec 2015
We visited iREX 2015 last week at the Tokyo Big Sight. It was great to be in robotland and to be immersed in Japan's point of view on robotics. Some well-known collaborative robot manufacturers are ...
#iREX2015 collaborative robots video roundup
Samuel Bouchard and Robotiq Inc.
04 Dec 2015
Several new collaborative robots were shown at the IREX show in Japan. Check out the video....
While Amazon doubles its number of warehouse robots to 30K, competing systems emerge
Frank Tobe
02 Nov 2015
Amazon announced that at the end of September they had 30,000 Kiva robots at work in 13 fulfillment centers, effectively doubling the number of Kiva bots that it had in 2014. "Our intent is to use...
Blueberry picking robot could win $250,000 prize
Silicon Valley Robotics
29 Oct 2015
Here’s an interesting robotics challenge – a coalition of blueberry farmers are offering a $250,000 prize for automation solutions that improve blueberry picking. The deadline for entries in the c...
In-situ Fabricator: An autonomous construction robot
NCCR Digital Fabrication (DFAB)
09 Oct 2015
Digital fabrication enables the seamless combination of digital design with physical construction processes. To fully exploit this emerging technology within architecture, robotic fabrication must be ...
Robots in Depth: Melonee Wise on building robots, and robot companies
Per Sjöborg and Robots in Depth
06 Oct 2015
Robots in Depth is a new video series featuring interviews with researchers, entrepreneurs, VC investors, and policy makers in robotics, hosted by Per Sjöborg. In this interview, Per talks to Melo...
Rethink Robotics finally get their mojo with Sawyer
Frank Tobe
28 Sep 2015
Rethink Robotics displayed their new single-armed Sawyer robot at the RoboBusiness Conference and Expo in San Jose on Wednesday. It was Sawyer's first public outing and the crowd of over 1,600 was pay...
Dobot’s robot arm: Industrial precision at low cost
Dobot
23 Sep 2015
Unsatisfied by the low cost, low precision and poor functionality desktop robotic arms on the market, a group of six hardcore robot makers decided to quit their high-paying industry jobs, and build th...
SMEs need robots that know their limitations and ask for help
Satyandra Gupta
15 Sep 2015
Socrates famously said that “the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." Yet while we often equate human intelligence with the ability to recognize when help is needed and where to see...
Removing steps of common processes
NCCR Digital Fabrication (DFAB)
27 Aug 2015
Being able to control the moment when concrete turns from liquid to solid is crucial for digitally fabricated concrete structures. The timing of this process can be controlled by tuning the chemistry ...
New book by John Markoff explores common ground between humans and robots
Frank Tobe
24 Aug 2015
NY Times tech writer John Markoff traces the origins of the AI embedded in today’s virtual and physical assistants and suggests a humane way to proceed....
When you need someone from Canada to calibrate your robot in New Zealand
Ilian Bonev
20 Aug 2015
Many researchers think that robot calibration is an issue that has been successfully resolved decades ago, but they are wrong. While the underlying theory is well established, its practical applicatio...
194 Chinese robot companies
Frank Tobe
18 Aug 2015
In China, the robotics industry is booming. Companies are deploying thousands of robots in all types of factories, particularly in the auto industry. Chinese companies that manufacture robots and the...
GreyOrange gets $30m for mobile robots
Frank Tobe
14 Aug 2015
GreyOrange, an India and Singapore-based materials handling startup, has received $30m in equity funding to ramp up production of their Butler shelves-to-picker robot system....
Estimating the impact of robots on productivity and employment
Georg Graetz and Guy Michaels
14 Jul 2015
To discover the impact of robots on the average manufacturing worker, we analysed their effect in 14 industries across 17 developed countries from 1993 to 2007. We found that industrial robots increas...
What’s propelling China’s industrial robot revolution
Frank Tobe
03 Jul 2015
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Xi Jinping, China's President, last year called for an “industrial robot revolution.” Since then China has created policies giving value added tax refunds and subsidies to companies m...
RoCKIn2015: A glimpse into the future of Europe’s domestic and industrial robotics industry
RoCKIn Robotics Challenge
27 Jun 2015
Over the last 20 years, robot competitions have emerged as a powerful means to foster progress in robotics research and development (R&D). RoCKIn is part a of new generation of scientific robotics...
Yaskawa robot learns the art of the samurai
Adriana Hamacher
24 Jun 2015
Japanese robotics company Yaskawa Electric Corporation pitted one of the most skilled swordsmen in the world against one of their machines and the results are incredible....
SoftBank invests in Fetch Robotics
Frank Tobe
17 Jun 2015
Fetch Robotics, which just demo’d their Fetch and Freight robot system at ICRA in May, announced receiving $20 million from SoftBank, O’Reilly AlphaTech and Shasta Ventures....
Robots and manufacturing: Facts and figures from the Wall Street Journal
Frank Tobe
04 Jun 2015
A special Wall Street Journal report called Meet the New Robots: Manufacturing, Unleashing Innovation appeared in its own section in the Wall Street Journal this week. Lots of good facts, figures an...
Team RBO from Berlin wins Amazon Picking Challenge convincingly
Andra Keay
29 May 2015
The Amazon Picking Challenge is over and two things stood out. One: how many different arm gripper solutions were possible; and two: just how difficult the challenge still is. The gap between the top...
Swiss-based ABB to manufacture robots in US
Frank Tobe
24 May 2015
Robot manufacturing started in the US in 1961 when 26 Unimates - the first industrial robots - were made and deployed at a GM factory in Ewing, NJ. But, over the years, manufacturing and manufacturers...
Architectural robots: The shape of the robots that will shape your home
Petr Novikov and DOM
21 May 2015
While robots are being deployed in factories at a high pace, their presence on construction sites is close to nil. However, there are many architectural robotics research projects in academia, and du...
AgBot Robotic Seeding Challenge powered by $50K grant for Grizzly RUV
Clearpath Robotics
14 May 2015
By Rachel Gould
The 2016 agBOT Robotic Seeding Challenge challenges participants to build unmanned robotic equipment to plant, measure and track multiple crop seeds to improve farming efficiency...
