Static electricity can do much more than levitate a person's hair with the help of a charged balloon. This scientific phenomenon, technically known as electroadhesion, can also enable a robotic gripper to easily handle material as fragile as an egg and as flimsy as soft fabric.
The first thing a visitor notices on arriving at the headquarters of Genesis Automation in St. Charles, IL, is the company's business hours. Rather than 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there's this: "However long it takes."
With nearly a century of experience manufacturing trucks, it's no surprise that Kenworth is one of PACCAR's most successful arms. Kenworth, along with fellow PACCAR brand Peterbilt, achieved a record 30.7 percent of retail market share for Class 8 trucks in the U.S. and Canada in 2017, up from 28.5 percent in 2016.
Collaborative robots are an important element of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing initiatives. Many engineers are intrigued by these next-generation machines that can control force and work safely next to people on assembly lines without traditional safety guarding.
DUBLIN—The global collaborative robots market is expected to be worth almost $9 billion by 2025, according to a report by Research and Markets. The forecast pointed to vast growth from 2017, when the market accounted for little more than $420 million.
VDMA Robotics and Automation, the German machine tool builders association, recently unveiled new specifications that will enable manufacturers to implement state-of-the-art assembly lines.
Engineers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed a faster, more accurate way for robots to grasp objects in cluttered and changing environments.
More than 46,000 manufacturing engineers and managers from 47 countries attended Automatica 2018, which took place June 19-22 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre in Germany.