The fourth installment of the Automated Warehouse research series captures market sentiment about stationary robots. | Credit: WTWH Media

Warehouse operators are grappling with a formidable challenge in the fast-paced logistics world: a severe shortage of available labor. With the increasing demand for operational efficiency, the optimization of warehouse processes has become an imperative rather than simply an objective.

In this fourth session of our Automated Warehouse webinar series, we will explore the current state of stationary robotics, specifically examining how these systems are being integrated with human workers through smart controls. Attendees will learn valuable insights derived from recent bespoke research conducted directly with warehouse operators.

Stationary robots can be found in various workflows, performing a diverse array of tasks. To better understand what kinds of systems are being used in fulfillment operations, distribution centers, and warehouses, we asked respondents about their stationary robot setups. The responses from these participants provide a snapshot of the state of the market.

The session is targeted at robotics OEMs, systems integrators, and warehouse operators. This webinar will be the last in this initial series of research projects that started with mobile robotics and then dug into the digitization of warehouse workflows, and how fixed conveyance is being used today.

The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10, at 2:00 p.m. EDT and will share approaches and examples with warehouse operators seeking to modernize and gain better control over workflows. Attendees will learn more about the following:

Insights from market research: Our experts have conducted a fresh market survey, uncovering the latest trends and developments in warehouse technology. By attending this webinar, you’ll gain exclusive access to this research, providing you with a competitive edge in the industry.

Q&A: You will have an opportunity to have your burning questions answered live.

Register now to save your spot and stay current on the market trends.

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NEURA has developed cognitive robots in a variety of form factors. Source: NEURA Robotics

Talk about combining robotics and artificial intelligence is all the rage, but some convergence is already maturing. NEURA Robotics GmbH and Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies Inc. today announced a strategic partnership to introduce “cognitive robotics” into manufacturing.

“By pooling our sensor and AI technologies and expertise into an ultimate platform approach, we will significantly shape the future of the manufacturing industry and set new standards,” stated David Reger, founder and CEO of NEURA Robotics.

Reger founded the company in 2019 with the intention of combining sensors and AI with robotics components for a platform for app development similar to that of smartphones. The “NEURAverse” offers flexibility and cost efficiency in automation, according to the company.

“Unlike traditional industrial robots, cognitive robots have the ability to learn from their environment, make decisions autonomously, and adapt to dynamic production scenarios,” said Metzingen, Germany-based NEURA. “This opens new application possibilities including intricate assembly tasks, detailed quality inspections, and adaptive material handling processes.”

Omron has sensor, channel expertise

“We see NEURA’s cognitive technologies as a compelling growth opportunity for industrial robotics,” added Olivier Welker, president and CEO of Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies. “By combining NEURA’s innovative solutions with Omron’s global reach and automation portfolio, we will provide customers new ways to increase safety, productivity, and flexibility in their operations.”

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Omron Robotics is a subsidiary of OMRON Corp. focusing on automation and safety sensing. It designs and manufactures industrial, collaborative, and mobile robots for various industries.

“We’ve known Omron for quite some time, and even before I started NEURA, we had talked about collaborating,” Reger told The Robot Report. “They’ve tested our products, and we’ve worked together on how to benefit both sides.”

“We have the cognitive platform, and they’re one of the biggest sensor, controllers, and safety systems providers,” he added. “This collaboration will integrate our cognitive abilities and NEURAverse with their sensors for a plug-and-play solution, which everyone is working toward.”

Omron Robotics’ Olivier Welker and NEURA’s David Reger celebrate their partnership. Source: NEURA

Collaboration has ‘no limits’

When asked whether NEURA and Omron Robotics’ partnership is mainly focused on market access, Reger replied, “It’s not just the sales channel … there are no really big limits. From both sides, there will be add-ons.”

Rather than see each other as competitors, NEURA and Omron Robotics are working to make robots easier to use, he explained.

“As a billion-dollar company, it could have told our startup what it wanted, but Omron is different,” said Reger. “I felt we got a lot of respect from Olivier and everyone in that organization. It won’t be a one-sided thing; it will be just ‘Let’s help each other do something great.’ That’s what we’re feeling every day since we’ve been working together. Now we can start talking about it.”

NEURA has also been looking at mobile manipulation and humanoid robots, but adding capabilities to industrial automation is the “low-hanging fruit, where small changes can have a huge effect,” said Reger. “A lot of things for humanoids have not yet been solved.”

“I would love to just work on household robots, but the best way to get there is to use the synergy between industrial robotics and the household market,” he noted. “Our MAiRA, for example, is a cognitive robot able to scan an environment and from an idle state pick any known or unknown objects.”

MAiRA cognitive robot on MAV mobile base. Source: NEURA Robotics

Ease of use drives NEURA strategy

NEURA and Omron Robotics promise to make robots easier to use, helping overall adoption, Reger said.

“A big warehouse company out of the U.S. is claiming that it’s already using more than 1 million robots, but at the same time, I’m sure they’d love to use many more robots,” he said. “It’s also in the transformation from a niche market into a mass market. We see that’s currently only possible if you somehow control the environment.”

“It’s not just putting all the sensors inside the robot, which we were first to do, and saying, ‘OK, now we’re able to interact with a human and also pick objects,'” said Reger. “Imagine there are external sensors, but how do you calibrate them? To make everything plug and play, you need new interfaces, which means collaboration with big players like Omron that provide a lot of sensors for the automation market.”

NEURA has developed its own sensors and explored the balance of putting processing in the cloud versus the edge. To make its platform as popular with developers as that of Apple, however, the company needs the support of partners like Omron, he said.

Reger also mentioned NEURA’s partnership with Kawasaki, announced last year, in which Kawasaki offers the LARA CL series cobot with its portfolio. “Both collaborations are incredibly important for NEURA and will soon make sense to everyone,” he said.

NEURA to be at Robotics Summit & Expo

Reger will be presenting a session on “Developing Cognitive Robotics Systems” at 2:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 1, Day 1 of the Robotics Summit & Expo. The event will be at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and registration is now open.

“I’ll be talking about making robots cognitive to enable AI to be useful to humanity instead of competing with us,” he said. “AI is making great steps, but if you look at what it’s doing, like drawing pictures or writing stories — these are things that I’d love to do but don’t have the time for. But if I ask, let’s say, AI to take out the garbage or show it a picture of garbage, it can tell me how to do it, but it’s simply not able to do something about it yet.”

NEURA is watching humanoid development but is focusing on integrating cognitive robotics with sensing and wearables as it expands in the U.S., said Reger. The company is planning for facilities in Detroit, Boston, and elsewhere, and it is looking for leadership team members as well as application developers and engineers.

“We don’t just want a sales office, but also production in the U.S.,” he said. “We have 220 people in Germany — I just welcomed 15 new people who joined NEURA — and are starting to build our U.S. team. In the past several months, we’ve gone with only European and American investors, and we’re looking at the Japanese market. The U.S. is now open to innovation, and it’s an exciting time for us to come.”

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Mecademic Absolute Calibration is intended to improve performance, mitigate risk, and shorten robot deployment times. | Source: Mecademic

Mecademic, a developer of compact, high-precision industrial robots, this week announced Mecademic Absolute Calibration, or MAC. It is a service that the company said can enhance its robots’ accuracy “out of the box.” 

The Montreal, Canada-based company claimed that MAC demonstrates its ability to deliver robots that meet critical precision and accuracy requirements and eliminates the need for third-party calibration services. 

“The development of our Absolute Calibration service stems from a commitment to uphold the high quality standards we set for our products and to fully leverage our robots’ capabilities,” stated Ilian Bonev, co-founder of Mecademic and professor of industrial robotics at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), a public research university in Montreal.

“This advancement reflects our dedication to innovation and excellence,” he added. “It provides our clients with a solution ready to integrate and operate right out of the box without needing external calibration. This capability is a game-changer for industries requiring utmost precision and accuracy in their operations.”

MAC addresses demanding industrial applications

Mecademic said it created MAC to service industries where the slightest deviation can affect the outcome, such as optics, photonics, electronics, medical devices, and aerospace and automotive components. The company said the service ensures that its robots meet the rigorous demands of micro-application automation.

The MAC service enhances robots with advanced calibration techniques. These include the use of coordinate measuring machines (CMM) to meet or exceed the highest standards of accuracy, according to the company. 

By integrating this service in-house, Mecademic asserted that it offers “a seamless, efficient solution that enhances performance, mitigates risk, and shortens deployment times across all applications requiring high-precision automation.”

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Mecademic offers a range of robots, tools

Mecademic offers a range of compact systems for highly precise operations, including:

• MECA500: A small and compact six-axis industrial robot arm, the Meca500 works as a plug-and-work automation component, making it easy into integrate with a computer or programmable logic controller (PLC). The company built it for inspection and testing, as well as laboratory automation. 
• MCS500 SCARA: This SCARA robot is designed for straightforward integration so that it can deliver for maximum efficiency and precision immediately. It said this robot is suitable for pick-and-place, assembly, lab automation, and other applications. 
• End-of-arm tooling (EOAT): Mecademic has designed three different end effectors, two electric parallel grippers, and one pneumatic module. The company said its tools offer nearly universal compatibility, making them easy to integrate with robots. 
• Software: Mecademic has two software offerings. The first is MecaPortal, a Web interface that allows users to interact with its robots in multiple ways. The second is RoboDK for Mecademic Robots. This is a Mecademic-specific version of the simulation and offline robot programming tool. 

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Brooke Chalmers, who studies computer science, and Jason Kobrin, who studies mechanical engineering, work on the Mars Rover in the Richards Hall Makerspace. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

When the student leaders of the Northeastern University Mars Rover Team decided they were going to participate in the inaugural Winter Canadian International Rover Challenge, they thought it would be good practice more than anything else.

They didn’t expect to win the competition. Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

The Northeastern team took home the gold last month, beating McMaster University for the top spot with a score of 237.71 points to McMaster’s 137.13.

“It was pretty huge for us in terms of team morale,” said Brooke Chalmers, a third-year student at Northeastern and the integration lead and software co-lead for the Mars rover group. “It really felt like all the hours that we put in during the prior weeks paid off in a way.”

It’s the first competition win for the six-year-old club, which is composed of students studying computer science, engineering, and life science.

The university team of about 50 students had been hard at work developing and iterating on its latest robotic rover: the Watney, Mark V. 

Coming in at 50 kg (110 lb.), the rover features a 5052 aluminum alloy chassis, six 3D-printed nylon wheels, a robotic arm with end-of-arm tooling (EOAT), a life-detection module for sample collection, and 14 onboard cameras. 

The Canadian competition was broken up into four challenges designed to put students’ rovers through simulated environments similar to tasks a rover might have to complete while on Mars’ surface. Each challenge was ranked using a 100-point scale.  

In the Arm Dexterity Challenge, for example, students were tasked with controlling the rover’s robotic arm to restore power to a campsite. The challenge involved navigating the robot through four control panels where the robotic arm had to press buttons and flip switches, explained Jason Kobrin, a fourth-year student at Northeastern and a mechanical operations co-lead for the Mars rover group.

The robotic arm on the Northeastern team’s Mars Rover. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Northeastern team redesigns robot arm for strength

Of the four teams taking part in the challenge, Northeastern scored the highest for the challenge, with a score of 49.49 points. 

Kobrin said the team has spent the past year completing redesigning the robot’s arm, which used to be one of the rover’s weak points during previous competitions. It’s now one of the rover’s biggest strengths. The robot arm has six degrees of freedom and can carry loads up to about 10 kg (22 lb.). 

“In order to improve that, we redesigned our arm this year to use better motors and to be easier to control overall,” he said. 

It’s by taking part in these competitions and through regular testing where the team was able to narrow in on the rover’s shortcomings and improve its capabilities, Kobrin said. By working on the rover, students are also getting the opportunity to improve their own skills. 

“Every week, it’s continuous improvement,” he noted. “Whether it’s adding a new portion of software code [or] whether designing a new mount for our cameras, every little improvement makes a huge difference.” 

“For everybody to be able to design and build this robot to function well but also to be able to control it in high-pressure situations and to reach the goals we were seeking to reach, is just really impressive,” added Kobrin. 

The team thought the two-day event hosted in Niagara Falls, Ontario, would be a great primer to test out the capabilities of the machine before the team took part in the upcoming annual University Rover Challenge (URC). The URC is the Mars Society’s premier Mars rover student competition held at the Mars Desert Research Center outside Hanksville, Utah. 

The URC competition is old hat for the group, having participated in the challenge in 2019, 2022, and 2023. The competition was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

“We went into this competition thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to use this as an opportunity to prepare for URC. We’re going to test stuff to make sure it all works,’” Chalmers said.

The students will be competing at the University Rover Challenge this spring. Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Difficult terrain and team excitement

The team had its best showing during the Winter Transversal Challenge, with a finishing score of 84.72 points. For the challenge, the rover had to roll through treacherous and uneven terrain while avoiding obstacles.

“All the challenges involved some degree of the rover driving around and moving over difficult terrain, but this challenge was focused entirely on that,” said Chalmers. 

With the overall win, Chalmers said she’s hopeful that new members will be excited to join. 

“Most people on the team have been talking about this with their friends and family and talking about what we are doing, which is really cool,” she said. “I know a few of my friends have expressed interest in joining the team since. It’s very exciting to have something to talk about and have something to show for all the effort we put in.”

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About the author

Cesareo Contreras is a Northeastern Global News reporter and has covered robotics extensively. This article is reposted with permission.

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RightHand Robotics Inc. has hit the ground running in 2024. Earlier this year, it released RightPick 4, an upgraded version of its piece-picking system that can handle items up to 25% larger and 50% heavier than RightPick 3.

The Charlestown, Mass.-based company worked closely with integration partner Vanderlande on many of the new features in RightPick 4. The companies’ close partnership is key to both successful deployments and future technology development, according to David Schwebel, head of sales and strategic business development at RightHand, and Jake Heldenberg, North American head of solution design for warehousing at Vanderlande.

The Robot Report caught up with Schwebel, Heldenberg, and Paul Eyre, RightHand’s director of channel sales, at MODEX last week. They shared insights on industry trends, RightPick’s latest capabilities, and more.

End users approach robotics differently this year

So, how has the show been for you?

Schwebel: This is probably the best-attended MODEX ever, and it’s actually even better than ProMAT last year.

What we’re hearing is that we’ve gone past moments of inspiration and education. We’re in the engagement phase. Quite often, the people that are coming by are saying, “I already trust what I see. I’ve seen the Vanderlande SIR system. I wanted to see the new features and things that you’re doing at RightHand. Now how can I engage further?”

We’re seeing great experiences and great collaborations. So, now it’s all about taking their information, understanding their workflows, and finding the right individuals to bring it across to you.

They sold more than 44,000 rooms in Atlanta this year, which was about 25% larger than it was at MODEX two years ago. And with all that, they’re expecting more than 50,000 to 56,000 people to walk through the halls. 

Eyre: I’m just coming up for air to be honest, which is great. What I’m seeing in my conversations is that customers are now expressing a level of trust in the technology. They’re moving from exploration into engagement with the technology, and they really want to start adopting the technology.

I think they’re also starting to get into the technology, so they can maybe instruct their integrators that “These are the types of technologies we’d like to use and we’d like you to adopt.” So, now they’re becoming far more educated and involved in the decision-making process rather than leaving that to integration partners.

And that’s great for us because they come to us, and we’re able to generate leads and give them to our integrators first. I’ve had conversation after conversation with end users saying, “OK, it’s time to do this. Now show me where this has been installed previously. Show me how I can employ these technologies effectively in my solution.”

Schwebel: We’re often hearing that customers held back on investments over the past three years, and they’re finally at a place where they have to refresh their existing environments.

So, between the availability of the capital, the interest, and the engagement, we’re experiencing trust with the product. They see it’s de-risked. They see going through the integrator environment is absolutely the right thing to do. And they’re replicating what they did about seven to 10 years ago. So, we’re in that great crux of “It’s time to engage and engage fast.”

While Vanderlande doesn’t have a booth, how has it been being all over the show?

Heldenberg: The funny thing is, I’ve actually had more engagement this year without a booth. A lot of times, you bring in your current customers or customers you’re already working with.

Walking the show has been really interesting. The questions I’m getting are more specific, and people are saying, “Hey, I’m ready to invest.”

Last year, it was very exploratory. People came here trying to figure out all these new technologies, what’s going to benefit them. And now, each time I run into a customer it’s like, “Hey, we’re ready. We need to move.”

So it has been a very interesting change and shift for me also, just being able to walk and see all the new technologies. If we had a booth, I wouldn’t have a lot of time to walk around. I’ve been able to go take a look at all the different new technologies — some more exciting than others, to be pretty blunt about it. 

What has been some of the more exciting stuff?

Heldenberg: We’ve seen autonomous crane robots, or ACRs, come along, and the AMR [autonomous mobile robot] technology has come up. I see that when it comes to flexibility.

ACR isn’t going to wow you [throughput-wise] yet against a shuttle system. But on a low-capacity system, [it offers] flexibility and the lack of a single point of failure. I see that is really the next technology that’s going to take off as far as ASRS [automated storage and retrieval systems] goes. That’s what I’ve been most impressed by. In years past, you’d see it, and it’d still look a little clunky, there were still stability issues. All of that is getting resolved.

Item-picking issues we saw last year are already getting resolved. So this year, even with RightHand, the new gripper is a lot better and a lot more advanced. All these new technologies that have sprung up over the past five years are becoming more stable and more robust. And for me, I see nothing but opportunity, especially for the customers.

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What potential customers are looking for

When these customers approach you, what kinds of metrics are they really interested in hitting?

Eyre: For me, it’s throughput, throughput, throughput when it comes to robotics. They’re interested in whether the technology available today can match or exceed the performance of a human. I’m not saying that’s always the case, but the technology is improving to a level where it’s coming up to those levels of matching human performance. 

This makes things very, very interesting for them, because it addresses the issues of labor availability and retention, which are causing a lot of heartburn. It’s becoming acute in a lot of geographies.

Heldenberg: Five years ago, the technology and vision systems were not quite where they needed to be. Like 50% of SKUs were inaccessible. But now, that we’ve seen more things, especially when it comes to small boxes or odd-shaped items, can be picked successfully.

The system can prove it can be consistent over a 16-hour shift. So, the business case is clearly there. A robot doesn’t take a break. It doesn’t need to go to the bathroom.

So what we’re seeing as a level of investment now is people saying, “I want to buy one or two or three of these bots. Let’s put them in and have stations that are prepped and ready because once we prove it on those first few booths, I want them into half of the stations.” So performance is important, but it’s also performance that’s sustained through an entire shift.

Eyre: The range has increased substantially. Picking a large range reliably really lends itself to an increase in autonomy. That means a lack of intervention or reduction of human intervention to resolve exceptions within the robot station is increasing and improving substantially year over year.

You need very, very few humans to support a fleet of robots. So autonomy is something that you have to have KPIs [key performance indicators] for earlier on, and something they’re measuring is the level of human intervention or autonomy.

RightHand shows off RightPick 4 at MODEX

What are some of the improvements in RightPick 4, and has RightHand Robotics gotten a lot of interest in it?

Schwebel: So, effectively through collaboration through both our system integrators coming into our roadmap and some work that we did with Staples, we packaged that all together into a full released product.

This newly released platform allows us to handle items that are 50% heavier, so up to 3 kg or 7.2 lb. without a problem. The range of items that we’re able to handle [has grown]. Now, we’re able to do polybags and apparel. This allows us to handle more than 70% of all the different types of items available in omni-retail and e-commerce.

We’re able to expand the size and range of the setup. The new type of cameras that we have allow us to have a greater environment space to work in. So, if I wanted to have more open borders at the same site at the same time, we could. It’s more frictionless for the system integrators. It literally is an idea where you can have it arrive on-site and four hours later, it’s installed.

We asked Vanderlande to join our booth, where we want to show a consistent workflow loop among multiple stations for its customers, from multipack detection to suction-cup swapping, as well as industrial cameras and spacing. We’re hardening our technologies to make them frictionless for customers.

Can you give some insights about RightPick 4 from the integrator side of things?

Heldenberg: So, as far as RightPick 4, we’re excited about it, that’s what I can say. One of the greatest things about working with RightHand in particular is that when we come to RightHand with a challenge, they really step up.

We have fashion customers, and ultimately they were challenging us and saying, “Hey, we need to automate more. We need to figure out how we can improve productivity, we have labor challenges, and we can’t hire enough people, especially during peak season.’

And so we challenged RightHand point-blank and said, “Hey, this is a challenge for us, and we haven’t found anyone who can really successfully complete the task of automating fashion item picking.”

We also came back with bisected totes, and RightHand immediately began working on the problem. We’re looking at unique ways to pair item picking with new technologies and adaptive sequences. For ASRS, software must be able to split orders, sending some to manual stations.

Ultimately, RightHand stepped up to the plate, and you can see a lot of innovation in RightPick 4 and also in the software and vision system improvements across the board. So now we are much more comfortable going into these fashion customers.

With RightPick 4 and a lot of the innovation, we appreciate it because we know it comes from the challenges that we and many others bring to RightHand. And that’s where I saw RightPick 4 is a great example of all of those challenges culminating together into a good solution.

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ABB has expanded production, staff, and training space in Auburn Hills, Mich. Source: ABB

ABB Ltd. today opened its renovated U.S. robotics headquarters and manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Mich. The company said the site will support ABB Robotics’ development and production of leading systems in and for the Americas.

ABB added that it is investing in long-term growth in the U.S. market, which it predicted will experience an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The company, which is based in Sweden and Switzerland, said this is its third global robotics factory expansion in three years across China, Europe, and the Americas and is part of its efforts to strengthen its “local-for-local” footprint.

“The opening of our refitted state-of-the-art U.S. robotics headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., is a significant part of our global growth story, reaffirming our commitment to industry leadership in the U.S.,” stated Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation Business Area. “Robotics and AI are essential tools for companies in addressing critical labor shortages, localized supply chains, and the need to operate more sustainably.”

“The advances in AI-driven software and hardware make our robots more accessible to a wider range of businesses, enabling them to increase resilience and become more competitive,” he added. “America is now the world’s second-largest robotics market, and our production facility will help ABB support existing customers, as well as new growth sectors across the U.S. and the Americas region.”

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Auburn Hills gets four enhancements

With a 30% increase in space, the $20 million Auburn Hills facility will support ABB’s efforts to be a strategic partner for its growing customer base.

“We had our first manipulator roll off the line in 2016, and ABB is still the first major robotics company to manufacture systems in the U.S.,” said John Bubnikovich, president of ABB’s U.S. Robotics Division. “We want this and our other competence centers to get closer to customers, to understand their needs and requirements from a segment standpoint.”

He told The Robot Report that the expanded facilities include four key parts: a Customer Experience Center, training space, more flexible production, and modernized employee workspaces.

From left: Marc Segura, John Bubnikovich, and Sami Atiya cut the ribbon opening ABB’s new facility. Source: ABB

Customer Experience Center

Bubnikovich said ABB’s new Customer Experience Center will “showcase its latest and greatest technologies.” It will also provide a venue for ABB to collaborate with educational institutions and customers on digital and AI-powered automation.

“Robots used to be complicated and needed a lot of people to deploy, but it’s now easier,” Bubnikovich said. “Education and outreach are critical factors to growth. An SME [small-to-midsize enterprise] can now effectively apply robots without an army of engineers.”

New training center

While ABB had already trained 5,000 staffers and users to date, the expansion will increase the number of people going through application and robot training, he said.

Complete with a new training center, the Ann Arbor facility will educate more than 5,000 workers and students each year. In addition to capitalizing on the concentration of technical skills in the community, ABB said it will train workers with no prior experience or degree with the skills needed to build a successful career in the robotics and automation industry.

“There will be something for everyone — from basic robot programming to advanced applications like painting,” said Bubnikovich.

ABB expands localized production

The localized production capability will provide flexibility, supply chain resilience, and the opportunity to learn from the experiences of ABB’s units around the world, he added.

“Operations are creating engineering development platforms, or EDPs, in local regions,” said Bubnikovich. “For instance, Mexico recently surpassed China for imports into the U.S., and we can leverage some modular assembly in Mexico for efficiencies of scale.”

“We have three global factories — Auburn Hills, Sweden, and Shanghai — and we’re adding models and autonomous mobile robots [AMRs] for local use,” said Bubnikovich. ABB acquired AMR maker ASTI in 2021. “Our robots will be integrated into production processes throughout the factory. This will help our understanding of how customers apply robots differently, even in the same application space. What better way to demonstrate our products?”

The expanded facility will support ABB Robotics’ specialist centers including its Packaging and Logistics hub in Atlanta; its Life Sciences and Healthcare hub at the Texas Medical Center in Houston; and its AI Research Lab in San Jose, Calif.

“We also opened up a Root-Cause Analysis [RCA] center to increase responsiveness,” Bubnikovich said. “It used to take 60 days to do RCA because we had to send equipment back to Sweden, but now it takes under 10 days. The competence to diagnose a problem and make adjustments — that guarantees quality in addition to local manufacturing,”

The new training center will show that robots have changed manufacturing jobs for the better. Source: ABB

A modern workplace

The workplace modernization is intended to help ABB attract and retain talent, plus build a culture of internal collaboration, said Bubnikovich.

“Jobs in an automated plant are higher-skilled work than just assembly,” said Bubnikovich. “They include doing maintenance on robots, fine-tuning programming, and other things as you evolve production for efficiency and synergy. This investment will be a win-win.”

ABB invests in Michigan manufacturing

ABB noted that the expansion will create jobs with support from a $450,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant.

ABB Robotics has invested $30 million in training since 2019 across four locations, opening its Auburn Hills manufacturing facility in 2015. The latest investment in Auburn Hills is part of the previously announced approximately $170 million that ABB is investing in its electrification and automation businesses across the U.S.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tours renovated ABB facility. Source: ABB

“ABB’s $20 million investment in Auburn Hills will create more than 70 good-paying, high-skill jobs and build on Michigan’s advanced manufacturing leadership,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the opening ceremony. “Around the world, ABB’s technology supports the production of electric vehicles, medical devices, electronics, and even pastries.”

“Today’s expansion at their robotics headquarters will tighten the supply chain and cut down on production delays, while building on ABB’s long-standing investments in local workforce development and hands-on education,” she said. “Let’s keep competing to bring more cutting-edge investments home to Michigan.”

“Through our expanded facility, partner ecosystem and comprehensive AI-enabled product portfolio, we are pushing the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels,” said Bubnikovich. “We look forward to increasing support for our customers, to expanding our role as an employer, and to energizing the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future.”

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Cambrian is developing machine vision to give industrial robots new capabilities. Source: Cambrian Robotics

Machine vision startup Cambrian Robotics Ltd. this week announced that it has raised $3.5 million in seed+ funding. The company said it plans to use the investment to continue developing its artificial intelligence platform to enable robot arms “to surpass human capabilities in complex vision-based tasks across a variety of industries.”

Cambrian Robotics said its technology “empowers to automate a broad range of tasks, particularly those in advanced manufacturing and quality assurance that demand high precision and accuracy within dynamic environments. The London-based company has offices in Augsburg, Germany, and the U.S.

Cambrian noted that its executive team, led by CEO Miika Satori, has over 50 years of combined experience in AI and robotics. Joao Seabra, chief technology officer, is an award-winning roboticist, and Dr. Alexandre Borghi, head of AI, previously led research teams at a $3 billion AI chip startup.

“We are incredibly excited about the possibilities that our recent fundraising opens up,” said Satori. “Our primary goals are to enhance the scalability of the product and strengthen our sales and operations in our main target markets.”

“In addition, we are bringing new AI-vision-based skills to robot arms, further pushing boundaries in the field of robotics,” he added. “We are equally thrilled to begin collaborating with our new investors, whose support is pivotal in driving these advancements forward.”

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Cambrian Robotics vision already in use

Cambrian Robotics claimed that its AI-driven vision software and camera hardware enables existing robots to automate complex tasks that were previously only possible with manual methods. It said its systems enable robots to execute intricate assembly processes, bin picking, kitting, and pick-and-place operations “with unmatched accuracy in any lighting condition — a true breakthrough compared to current industry-leading AI vision capabilities.”

In addition, Cambrian can be installed in about half a day, works with all major industrial and collaborative robots, and can pick microparts precisely and in less than 200ms, said the company. Cambrian claimed that its technology is unique in that it can pick a wide range of parts, including transparent, plastic, and shiny metal.

Appliance manufacturers globally have deployed Cambrian for monitoring quality assurance and manufacturing defects that were previously unseen to the human eye, the company said. Cambrian is testing and deploying its vision systems to leading manufacturers including Toyota, Audi, Suzuki, Kao, and Electrolux.

“Although in our factories we have a high level of automation, we still have an important quantity of flexible components and manual processes, which add variability,” said Jaume Soriano, an industrial engineer at Electrolux Group. “Cambrian helps us keep moving toward a more automated manufacturing reality while being able to deal with variable scenarios.”

Cybernetix Ventures leads investment

Cybernetix Ventures and KST Invest GmbH led Cambrian Robotics’ seed funding, with participation from Yamaha Motor Ventures and Digital Media Professionals (DMP).

“Machine vision is a crowded space, but Cambrian has strong differentiation with its unique ability to identify small and transparent items with proprietary visual AI software,” said Fady Saad, founder and general partner of Cybernetix, who will join Cambrian’s board of directors. “Miika and his exceptional team have also managed to bring the product to market with active revenue from top brands.”

Boston-based Cybernetix Ventures is a venture capital firm investing into early-stage robotics, automation, and industrial AI startups. It offers its expertise to companies poised to make major impacts in sectors including advanced manufacturing, logistics/warehousing, architecture, engineering and construction and healthcare/medical devices.

KST Invest is a private fund established by one of the owner families of a leading German industrial automation firm. The fund has the objective to invest in robotics and advanced manufacturing among other themes. “Innovation is the livelihood of any business in industrial automation, specifically the combination of vision and robotics,” it said.

Cambrian is also backed by ff Venture Capital (ffVC), which invested in the company’s seed round. ffVC initially seeded Cambrian after the startup graduated from its accelerator, AI Nexus Lab, in partnership with New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn.

Cambrian is already working with major manufacturers. Source: Cambrian Robotics

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While most industrial automation is currently used by large manufacturers such as global automakers, robot developers and providers are building systems to make it more accessible. RobCo GmbH today said it has raised $42.5 million in Series B funding to support its development and growth trajectory.

Three researchers led by Roman Hölzl, the chair of robotics and artificial intelligence at the Technical University of Munich, founded RobCo in 2020. The company currently has more than 50 employees.

It develops flexible robotic hardware kits for applications at small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) including machine loading and unloading, dispensing, palletizing, and welding. In addition to its patented modular hardware, RobCo offers a low-code and remote approach to deploying systems.

The Munich-based startup also said that its “plug-and-play functionality” can help manufacturers address challenges such as skilled-labor shortages, production scalability, and the transition to Industry 4.0.

“We are only at the beginning of an extensive journey in automation and aim to become a leader in modular robot automation for SMEs in Europe,” stated Hölzl in a release. “RobCo is uniquely positioned with its easy-to-implement robots that offer a positive ROI [return on investment] from Day 1.”

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RobCo offers modular robotic arms

For SMEs, machines are worth the investment only if they can be quickly and flexibly reprogrammed for changing tasks and maximum utilization, said RobCo. The company’s robotic arms are made up of seven or eight modular pieces with varying payload capacities and ranges, depending on the use case.

For example, its machine-tending laser system includes eight modules, has a 4 kg (8.8 lb.) payload, and has an 800 mm (31.5 in.) range. Meanwhile, RobCo’s palletizing offering, which also uses eight modules, has an 8.5 kg (18.7 lb.) payload and 1,300 mm (51 in.) range.

These kits enable users to intuitively assemble robots with RobCo Studio, a vertically integrated hardware and software platform, said the company. With RobCo Studio, deployed robots can be configured, implemented, and managed remotely via a digital twin.

This low-code approach eliminates the need for complex programming or specialized personnel on-site, claimed RobCo. It added that the platform includes “future-proof interfaces,” as well as a sensor and software layer to ensure the longevity of the hardware. 

“Through a comprehensive RobCo automation solution in the palletizing area, we can actively address the ongoing shortage of skilled workers with technology and at the same time save costs,” said Martin Matern, plant manager at DE-VAU-GE Gesundkostwerk Deutschland GmbH in Lüneburg, Germany.

RobCo has designed its modular robotic arm and software for small and midsize enterprises. Source: RobCo

Lightspeed leads investment round

Lightspeed Venture Partners led RobCo’s Series B round as a new investor. Former Apple and NVIDIA investor Sequoia Capital also participated in the round, along with Kindred Capital and Promus Ventures. 

This funding brings RobCo’s total to date to $60 million. The company said it plans to invest the capital into expanding its distribution channels and advancing product development.

“The fact that a venture capital powerhouse like Lightspeed supports our next steps with a $42.5 million financing round tells us that we are on the right path – and is an incredible motivational boost for all of us to take our solutions to the next level,” said Hölzl.

“The use of robotics in the industrial setting was previously reserved almost exclusively for large corporations with the corresponding financial and human resources,” noted Alex Schmitt, a partner at Lightspeed. “High costs and enormous complexity made them partly unaffordable and challenging to manage for small and medium-sized enterprises.”

“RobCo has already made a significant breakthrough in this field with its developments,” he said. “We recognize both technological and commercial potential for the German and international markets. It is crucial to optimally foster this potential and make robotic automation solutions accessible to all companies.”

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Olis Robotics error-recovery system will be available with all Kawasaki robot models starting in Q2. Source: Business Wire

Olis Robotics and Kawasaki Robotics Inc. said yesterday that they will jointly offer robots and controls to enable customers to restart production faster, reduce troubleshooting and downtime costs by up to 90%, and gain access to expert support more quickly.

“We’re seeing a growing demand for remote robot monitoring and recovery capabilities,” stated Paul Marcovecchio, director of the General Industries business unit at Kawasaki Robotics, in a release. “Adding Olis to our industrial robots is a game changer for the market.”

“Our new partnership supports the industry gamut, from smaller first-time end users and their integrator partners up to more complex AI-driven applications in larger plants,” he said. “All stakeholders can now easily and cost-effectively monitor, access and recover their robot cells remotely.”

Marcovecchio added that Olis Robotics has taken the time to understand the adaptation barriers. “As a result, they created a powerful tool that also addresses end-user concerns such as cybersecurity or the need to retrofit machines,” he said.

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Olis Robotics offers remote monitoring and control

Olis Robotics claimed that it is a leader in remote error recovery for industrial robots. The Seattle-based company said that by providing the best remote-control user experience, it can “catalyze automation adoption.”

Founded in 2013 as a spinout from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Lab, Olis said it has built on over a decade of telerobotics research and development conducted with the U.S. Navy and NASA. When robots fail, the company claimed that its flagship Olis system delivers the data needed for remote monitoring, control, and troubleshooting.

The company also said its users can connect directly to their robots through an on-premise device via a secure connection, avoiding the risks and complexities associated with cloud-based systems. To ensure physical safety, Olis is designed to always obey the robot controller’s safety restrictions.

Kawasaki and partners to demo palletizing at MODEX

Wixom, Mich.-based Kawasaki Robotics (USA) Inc. said it has incorporated more than 50 years of experience with industrial automation for a wide range of applications and markets. The company said it provides a set of standard features on all of its robot models.

At Booth C5475 at MODEX 2024 in Atlanta from March 11 to 14, Kawasaki and Olis Robotics plan to showcase their partnership with CRG Automation, a Louisville, Ky.-based integrator. They will demonstrate a “state-of-the-art” robotic corner board system, integrated with a mixed palletizing and depalletizing cell.

The cell will feature a Kawasaki RS007L robot placing corner boards on pallets being wrapped to ensure overall load stability. The system can handle multiple SKUs of unstructured products.

It will be equipped with Olis Robotics remote error-recovery software, so attendees can see how it alerts users when the robot unexpectedly stops or when it fails to pick or place a part. After such a system failure, the attendees can use Olis to run a tool-inspection routine and perform remote error recovery, allowing the robot to resume its cycle and get back to work.

Fredrik Ryden, CEO of Olis Robotics, noted that Kawasaki robots are built to last for decades, giving end users maximum control of a highly customizable product. “Kawasaki’s commitment to a world-class buying experience and quick ROI [return on investment] in a wide range of applications is a perfect match for Olis,” he said.

Ryden asserted that Kawasaki’s extensive integrator network is another key factor in the new partnership, as Olis provides integrators time-saving bandwidth through the remote support capabilities, enabling them to grow up to 25% faster.

“We’re incredibly excited to start working with Kawasaki integrators to deploy and retrofit Olis units with Kawasaki robot arms,” he added. “It’s a win-win for both the integrator and their customers.”

The Olis remote monitoring and error recovery system will be available for any Kawasaki robot model starting the second quarter of 2024.

Learn more about Kawasaki Robotics here, watch robot application videos here and connect on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

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MoveIt Pro better reflects the platform’s expanded capabilities, says the company. | Source: PickNik Robotics

PickNik Inc. is rebranding its flagship software for robotic manipulation applications. Previously known as MoveIt Studio, the company said the new name of MoveIt Pro better aligns with the platform’s value and expanded capabilities. 

Since its launch in 2021, MoveIt’s features have grown beyond its easy-to-use user interface and powerful behavior-tree builder, said PickNik Robotics.

The Boulder, Colo.-based company said it has been rapidly enhancing its commercial-grade robotics runtime engine. They are intended to further accelerate the development of systems to real-world, unstructured robotics challenges.

With so many new features, the professional tool has outgrown the original MoveIt Studio name, claimed PickNik. The company added that the new name represents the high-level robotics programming environment. 

PickNik is also releasing a new MoveIt Runtime product. This will contain PickNik’s advanced robotics engine and developer tools. 

The programs that will run on the MoveIt Runtime and MoveIt Studio within MoveIt Pro. | Source: PickNik Robotics

Tools included in MoveIt Pro

PickNik said it built the MoveIt Pro for enterprises and professionals looking to rapidly implement automation that can adapt to unstructured and changing environments. The development platform can accelerate time to market and returns on investment (ROI) by enabling rapid prototyping and iteration, it asserted.

MoveIt Pro also sits at the forefront of robotic motion-planning technology, said PickNik. This means its users receive frequent updates that ensure they’re always equipped with the latest tools. 

In addition, the development platform is hardware-agnostic, allowing users to combine open-source innovation with commercial-grade dependability to reduce risks. PickNik said it has an intuitive, visual user interface that streamlines the creation of advanced robotic arm software. 

PickNik also offers an extensive library of reference applications. These allow users to reduce development time. The applications include bin picking, opening doors, pick and place, peg in hole, scan and plan, cutting along paths, and visual servoing. 

Finally, MoveIt Pro is backed by end-to-end services and support for business-critical applications from PickNik’s team of experts. The company sad its comprehensive professional services can accelerate all stages of product development, deployment, optimization, and sustainment.

PickNik partners, prepares Robotics Summit presentation

Last year, PickNik Robotics announced a strategic collaboration with SKA Custom Robots and Machines, an engineering firm known for its work in robotics. The partners planned to use PickNik’s software expertise and SKA’s hardware engineering capabilities to propel the development of advanced robotic systems.

SKA has experience in construction, medical, life sciences, mining, and inspection robots. PickNik Robotics’ software has been used in various applications, including in agriculture, warehouses, and space. 

Sebastian Castro, senior engineer at PickNik Robotics, will take part in the “Managing Robot Autonomy with Behavior Trees” talk at the Robotics Summit & Expo. The show will be on May 1 and 2, 2024, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. 

During the talk, Castro will give an overview of behavior trees, covering formalism, basic mechanics, and common idioms for robotics applications. He will then contrast behavior trees with alternative approaches and detail the main software packages and resources available for getting started.

Castro will be joined by Andrew Stout, a roboticist and software engineer at the AI Institute. Register now for the Robotics Summit & Expo.

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AutonomyOS is designed to help automate manufacturing tasks. Source: Omnirobotic

Omnirobotic Inc. today said it has closed on $500,000 in funding. The Laval, Quebec-based company said it plans to use the financing to commercialize robots using its proprietary AutonomyOS platform for manufacturers struggling with labor shortages in high-mix production environments.

“Building autonomous machines allows Omnirobotic to address the need for skilled labor at scale,” said Francois Simard, co-founder and CEO of Omnirobotic, in a release. “This model has proven to be much more effective at deploying AutonomyOS at scale.”

“We sold in six months more machines than forecast for a year,” he added. “Manufacturers want to buy proven solutions, not automation projects. Developing standard machines that they can try before they buy proved to be the right approach to getting SMEs to adopt new automation technology.”

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Omnirobotic adds hardware, restructures

Since 2016, Simard and Omnirobotic co-founder Laurier Roy have worked to develop AutonomyOS, a platform to train robots to perform manufacturing processes on never-seen-before parts. Until 2022, the company licensed AutonomyOS to users building autonomous machines.

Last year, Omnirobotic changed its business model to become a machine builder, selling robotic equipment built on AutonomyOS. The company restructured to reflect this change in June.

Investissement Québec, as a representative of the government of Québec, supported Omnirobotic in this transition, restructuring the company’s debt, while existing strategic investors, the management, and all the remaining employees injected new liquidities.

In November, Omnirobotic signed a distribution agreement with Würth Baer Supply Co. to commercialize robots for woodworking. Simard noted that Omnirobotic plans to address additional markets with new products. 

“The new products developed by Omnirobotic using AutonomyOS are addressing well-identified skilled labor shortage in the industry,” he said. “We plan to widen our product line in the metal transformation and composite sectors in the near future.”

“Our autonomous sanding robots are already disrupting the cabinet manufacturing industry by allowing companies counting as few as six people to automate one of the hardest tasks in their shop successfully,” said Simard. “That is why we recently moved to a new 6,500 sq.-ft. [603.8-sq.-m] facility that will allow us to build up to 180 machines yearly.”

Génik invests to serve global customers

Strategic investors led Omnirobotic’s round, which also included participation from Genik and Exelpro management, as well as its own employees. It previously raised $5 million in 2020.

Génik is a vertically integrated company that has designed and manufactured automated systems for more than 30 years. The Saint-Jérôme, Québec-based member of the Excelpro Group said it serves customers around the world.

“Genik is serving some companies using autonomy,” stated Patrick Gariépy, co-founder and president of Genik Automation. “We see the future of automation in this kind of technology, which is why we decided to re-invest in Omnirobotic.”

“We are training some of our engineers on using AutonomyOS and are using it to maintain Genik as an automation leader,” he said.

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ABB says its robotics story started in 1974 with what it calls the “sale of the world’s first commercial, all-electric robot, the IRB 6.” In 2024, 50 years later, ABB’s robotics portfolio is stronger than ever with new industrial robot arms, collaborative robot arms, and autonomous mobile robots.

ABB will be celebrating 50 years of robotic innovation throughout 2024. Marc Segura, president of ABB Robotics, is helping do just that by identifying the following three drivers of robotics-driven AI solutions in 2024 and beyond.

Editor’s Note: the following text has been republished from ABB with its permission.

“The coming year will see a growing focus on the critical role of AI,” said Segura. “From mobile robots and cobots, to enabling new robotic applications in new sectors and creating new opportunities for people to learn and develop, these new frontiers for AI are redefining the future of industrial robotics.”

ABB’s 3DQI quality inspection cell can detect defects less than half the width of a human hair. | Credit: ABB

1. AI will drive new levels of autonomy in robotic applications

Accelerating progress in AI is redefining what is possible with industrial robotics. AI is enhancing everything from robots’ ability to grip, pick and place as well as their ability to map and navigate through dynamic environments. From mobile robots to cobots and beyond, AI is giving robots unprecedented levels of speed, accuracy, and payload carrying ability, enabling them to take on more tasks in settings like flexible factories, warehouses, logistics centers and laboratories.

“AI-enabled mobile robots can transform sectors like discrete manufacturing, logistics and laboratories,” said Segura. “Robots equipped with ABB’s new Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology, for example, have advanced mapping and navigation skills, granting new levels of autonomy, while greatly reducing the infrastructure needed by previous generations of guided robots. This paves the way for a shift from linear production lines to dynamic networks, creating significant efficiencies and taking on more dull, dirty and dangerous tasks, to enable workers to take up more rewarding jobs.”

2. AI will see robots enter new sectors

The potential offered by AI-enabled robotics is influencing sectors far beyond manufacturing. In 2024, these technologies are expected to bring substantial efficiency improvements to more dynamic environments, such as healthcare and life sciences, as well as retail. Another example is the construction industry, where AI-powered robotics can make a material contribution to boosting productivity, enhancing safety and sustainable construction practices while spurring growth.

“The construction industry is a great example of a sector where AI-powered robots will prove transformative, delivering real value by addressing many of the issues facing the industry today, including worker shortages, safety issues and stagnant productivity,” said Segura. “Abilities such as enhanced recognition and decision-making offered by AI, coupled with advances in collaborative robots enable safe deployment alongside workers. These advances also enable robots to perform key tasks such as bricklaying, modular assembly and 3D printing with greater precision and speed, all while contributing to more sustainable construction by lowering emissions, such as concrete mixing on site, to reducing the need to transport materials across far distances with on-site assembly.”

3. AI will offer new opportunities for education and working with robots

The advances being made in AI and robotics is significant for training and education, closing the automation skills gap and making robots more accessible to more people and businesses. With AI making programming easier, through lead-through and even natural language, education can shift more towards how robots can assist humans more effectively, rather than just teaching programming skills. This transition will make robots more approachable and bring them to a wider audience, leading to new job prospects while helping alleviate labor and skills shortages.

“A shortage of people with the skills needed to program and support robots has long been a hurdle to the uptake of robotic automation, especially in small to medium sized manufacturing companies,” said Segura. “We will see this increasingly being overcome as advances in generative AI lower the barriers to automation and expand the focus of education beyond programming. Developments in natural language programming, powered by AI in which workers can verbally instruct a robot in its task, will create a new dynamic in human-robot interactions.”

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Vention and Flexxbotics are partnering to deliver a combined offering for advanced robotic machine tending. | Source: Flexxbotics

Vention, which offers the cloud-based Manufacturing Automation Platform, or MAP, yesterday announced a partnership with Flexxbotics, which supports robot-driven manufacturing. The companies said their combined offering for robotic workcell digitalization in next-generation machining environments is now available.

The partners claimed that customers can now benefit from the combination of Flexxbotics’ machine-tending system with Vention‘s MAP offering. Customers can now use Vention’s cloud-robotic tools and modular automation hardware to design custom workcells, while also taking advantage of Flexxbotics’ software-as-a-service/hybrid system.

Flexxbotics also said it offers services for deployment and continuous operation to achieve “lights out” manufacturing. 

“We are excited to partner with Vention to deliver custom designs for robotic workcell digitalization,” said Tyler Bouchard, co-founder and CEO of the company, in a release. “We understand the necessity for the fleets of robots in the smart factory to connect, communicate, and work interactively with the CNC machinery and inspection equipment to provide the closed-loop coordination necessary for autonomous process control.”

“We make robots go far beyond simply working with the machinery,” he added. “The robots command and control the machines to optimize production, enabling greater throughput and ‘lights-out’ manufacturing.”

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Vention provides accessibility; Flexxbotics digitalizes workcells

Vention said that by providing a single digital environment, it makes industrial automation more accessible to manufacturing professionals. The Montreal-based company claimed that it combines 3D design, code-free industrial programming, and a library of more than 4,000 modular automation components.

With the library, users can navigate through the stages of designing, creating, deploying, and operating automation all within one platform, it asserted. Vention said it aims to empower all manufacturing professionals, from automation beginners to advanced integrators, to efficiently design and procure the systems for their unique requirements across the factory floor. 

Once the design process is done, Flexxbotics staffers can deploy and optimize the Vention-designed robotic systems along with its own system for machine tending. 

“Vention’s mission to democratize industrial automation addresses the manufacturing world’s toughest challenges,” stated Etienne Lacroix, co-founder and CEO of Vention. “With production reshoring, labor shortage, and salary inflation, companies are looking for breakthrough solutions to automate their shop floors.”

“Through this partnership, manufacturers now have access to a complete, turnkey offering, leveraging Vention’s Manufacturing Automation Platform and Flexxbotics advanced machine tending solution, along with their knowledge and expertise in deploying complex workcells,” he said.

Workcell digitalization is enabler for smart factories

Flexxbotics said it turns conventional robotic machine tending into robot-driven manufacturing and autonomous process control. The company’s technology enables robots to communicate directly with the CNC machinery and the inspection equipment in a workcell. This provides closed-loop quality control of precision machined parts.

The company can use inspection results to direct the robots to make necessary adjustments to the CNC’s program to account for tool wear and other variables. This ensures that the production of each part aligns consistently with specifications, guaranteeing the highest quality, capacity, and profit per part while maintaining tolerance levels, it said.

Last month, Flexxbotics announced that Scott Harris, co-founder of SOLIDWORKS and Onshape, has mentored and invested in the company. It said the unspecified “strategic investment marks an exciting development for Flexxbotics, propelling the company towards further innovation and growth in the field of smart factory robotic manufacturing.”

This week, the Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence Division’s Sixth Sense Program named Flexxbotics a winner for its joint offering for robot compatibility with inspection equipment. Flexxbotics also recently announced compatibility with Okuma Machine Tools’ CNC machines.

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Source: IFR

The International Federation of Robotics, or IFR, today listed its picks for the top five global robotics trends of this year. The Frankfurt, Germany-based organization attributed growing demand for automation to technological innovations.

The IFR noted that the stock of operational robots around the world attained a new record of about 3.9 million units in 2022. The average robot density, or number of robots per 10,000 human workers, rose to 151. In its latest release, the federation cited some different trends than it had for 2022 and 2023.

1. AI and machine learning to aid more robots

The trend of using artificial intelligence in robotics and automation keeps growing, according to the IFR.

In particular, the emergence of generative AI opens new possibilities, it said. This subset of AI is specialized to create something new from things it has learned via training, and generative AI has been popularized by tools such as ChatGPT, explained the IFR.

Robot manufacturers have started to develop generative AI-driven interfaces that allow users to program systems more intuitively by using natural language instead of code. Workers will no longer need specialized programming skills to select and adjust the robot´s actions, predict experts.

Another example of the combination of technologies is the use of predictive AI to analyze robot performance data and identify the future state of equipment, said the IFR. Predictive maintenance can save manufacturers machine downtime costs.

In the automotive parts industry, each hour of unplanned downtime is estimated to cost $1.3 million (U.S.), reported the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. This indicates the cost-saving potential of predictive maintenance.

Machine learning algorithms can also analyze data from multiple robots performing the same process for optimization. In general, the more data a machine learning algorithm is given, the better it performs, said the IFR.

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2. Cobots expand to new applications, says IFR

Human-robot collaboration continues to be a major trend in robotics, stated the IFR. Rapid advances in sensors, vision technologies, and smart grippers allow robots to respond to changes in their environment in real time and thus work safely alongside human workers.

Collaborative robot applications offer a new tool for human workers, relieving and supporting them. Cobots can assist with tasks that require heavy lifting, repetitive motion, or work in dangerous environments.

The range of collaborative applications offered by robot manufacturers continues to expand. A recent market development is the increase of cobot welding applications, driven by a shortage of skilled welders.

“This demand shows that automation is not causing a labor shortage but rather offers a means to solve it,” said the IFR. “Collaborative robots will therefore complement – not replace – investments in traditional industrial robots, which operate at much faster speeds and will therefore remain important for improving productivity in response to tight product margins.”

In addition, the IFR noted that new competitors are entering the market with a specific focus on collaborative robots. The combination of cobot arms and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in mobile manipulators offers new use cases that could expand the demand for collaborative robots, it said.

3. Mobile manipulators to automate materials handling

Mobile manipulators — so-called “MoMas” — can automate material handling tasks in industries such as automotive, logistics, or aerospace, said the IFR. They combine the mobility of mobile robots with the dexterity of cobot arms. This enables them to navigate through complex environments and manipulate objects, which the IFR said is crucial for manufacturing applications.

Equipped with sensors and cameras, these robots can perform inspections and carry out maintenance tasks on machinery and equipment. One advantage of mobile manipulators is their ability to collaborate and support human workers. Shortages of skilled labor and a lack of staffers applying for factory jobs are likely to increase demand, the IFR asserted.

4. Digital twins to help optimize performance

Digital twin technology is increasingly used as a tool to optimize the performance of a physical system by creating a virtual replica, said the IFR. Since robots are more and more digitally integrated in factories, digital twins can use their real-world operational data to run simulations and predict likely outcomes.

Because the twin exists purely as a computer model, it can be stress-tested and modified with no safety implications while saving costs, the IFR said. All experimentation can be checked before the physical world itself is touched. Digital twins can bridge the gap between simulated and physical worlds.

5. IFR expects humanoid robots to march onward

“Robotics is witnessing significant advancements in humanoids, designed to perform a wide range of tasks in various environments,” said the IFR.

The human-like design with two arms and two legs allows such robots to be used flexibly in environments that were built for humans, said the organization and industry observers. As a result, companies might integrate humanoids more easily into existing infrastructure and facilities such as warehouses.

Editor’s note: Jonathan Hurst, co-founder and chief robot officer of Agility Robotics, will keynote the Robotics Summit & Expo, which runs May 1 and 2 in Boston.

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North American automakers pulled back in robot orders last year. Source: A3

After two years of record sales, North American robot orders declined by 30% in 2023, said the latest report from the Association for Advancing Automation, or A3. The organization said it expects the slowdown, particularly in automotive manufacturing, to continue until the second half of 2024.

“While robot sales naturally ebb and flow, the return to more typical robot sales after the last two record years can likely be attributed to a few obvious issues: a slow U.S. economy, higher interest rates, and even the over-purchasing of robots in 2022 from supply chain concerns,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3, in a release.

“We’ve seen a slowdown in the manufacturing of electronic vehicles this year, along with fewer new distribution centers, both likely reducing the demand for robots,” he added. “From what we’re hearing in our member surveys and at recent events, however, optimism is strong for growth, potentially picking up in the second half of the year. In fact, we anticipate record numbers at our Automate Show in May as more companies prepare for new automation projects.”

Both automotive, non-automotive robot orders dip

According to A3, North American companies purchased 31,159 robots in 2023, compared with 44,196 ordered in 2022 and 39,708 in 2021. These 2023 robot orders were divided almost equally among automotive (15,723 robots sold) and non-automotive companies (15,436 robots sold). This represented a 34% drop in sales to automotive OEMs and automotive suppliers over 2022 and a 25% total decrease in all other industries.

The strongest demand for robots from non-automotive companies came from the metal industry, followed by semiconductor and electronics/photonics; food and consumer goods; life sciences, pharmaceutical, and biomedical; plastics and rubber, and others, said A3.

While each of these industries showed an overall decline compared with 2022, the last three months of the year saw an increase of 20% in automotive –both OEM and components — and metals, electronics, plastics, and the “all other industries” category over Q3 2023. The “all other industries” category includes companies in areas such as construction, hospitality, and agriculture, which are newer to robotics, said A3.

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A3 is optimistic for late 2024

“While robotic sales were down over the year, 2023 ended with both an increase over the previous quarter and a nearly equal number of sales from automotive and non-automotive companies,” noted Burnstein. “Both are promising signs that more industries are becoming increasingly comfortable with automation overall.”

“While we expect to see automotive orders rise again, there’s little doubt that orders will increase from all non-automotive industries as they recognize how robots can help them overcome their unique challenges,” he said.

The Association for Advancing Automation’s members include more than 1,280 manufacturers, component suppliers, systems integrators, end users, academic institutions, research groups, and consulting firms worldwide. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based organization said its mission is to be a global advocate for the benefits of automating.

A3 will show the latest technologies at Automate in Chicago from May 6 to 9, 2024. It will feature more than 750 exhibitors of everything from robotics and motion control to machine vision and artificial intelligence for a variety of industries and applications.

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