ROYAL OAK, MI—With orders to automate the auto industry increasing, systems integrator Comau Inc. has reopened its production facility here, investing $2 million in office and plant upgrades.
CAMBRIDGE, MA—MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that they say will enable robots to learn and adapt to humans so they can soon work side-by-side on factory floors.
CHARLOTTE, NC—Precise motion controllers are certainly important in advanced manufacturing equipment. But just as the performance of a super athlete depends on a combination of brains and physical ability, so do high-precision linear motion systems. Without mechanical systems capable of taking full advantage of the instructions supplied by the motion controller, many processes would be impossible.
PAYSON, UT—Liberty Safe, a manufacturer of gun storage safes, completed testing of a new $10 million fully computerized assembly line here. The line will double the company’s output to more than 700 safes a day.
LEWIS CENTER, OH—Systems integrator Xigent Automation Systems Inc. has acquired a larger facility here to meet growing demand for automated assembly systems.
TOKYO—Canon Inc. is moving toward fully automating assembly of digital camera in an effort to cut costs. The move toward machine-only production could be completed as soon as 2015.
SCHAUMBURG, IL—To facilitate maintenance and repairs, automation engineers are increasingly taking a modular approach to system design and standardizing on configurable components, whenever possible.
ARETXABALETA, Spain—Spanish systems integrator Mondragon Assembly has won contracts to design and build two automated assembly systems for solar panels.
