MUNICH, Germany—Many industries are not yet automated as extensively as possible, according to a new report by the International Federation of Robotics and the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association.
CAMBRIDGE, MA—Researchers at MIT have developed a robot that can mimic silk worms and spiders and weave a cocoon-like structure with a little programming help from humans.
PALMDALE, CA—Northrop Grumman Corp. has delivered the first F-35 center fuselage produced by its Integrated Assembly Line (IAL). The IAL maximizes robotics and automation, providing additional capacity and assembly capability while meeting engineering tolerances that are not easily achieved using manual methods.
HOUSTON—GM and NASA are jointly developing a robotic glove that auto workers and astronauts can wear to help do their jobs better while reducing the risk of repetitive stress injuries.
MARYVILLE, TN—Tier one automotive supplier Denso Manufacturing Tennessee Inc. is hiring more than 20 technicians for electrical assembly, robotics, maintenance and other departments.
Vision systems used to guide robots pose different challenges for manufacturers than vision systems used for part inspection. The biggest challenge is guiding robots in 2-1/2D applications, where guidance is used so the camera maintains a proper perspective of a part that is level but included in a stack.
