30-day sailing vacation ending in time to go to Las Vegas for CES. No cells, no Internet. Just sun, rain, wind and friends.
Robotics Labs and Companies Open Up for EU Robotics Week
Today is the start of the first European Robotics Week: from 28th of November to 4th of December 2011. Check events calendar for an event near you. In a novel approach to show their labs efforts, more than 45 European Robotics Labs open their doors to the public via live-streaming.
Tranportation, Economics and the New Solutions
In the US, and most industrialized economies, the second largest expense of individuals and households is personal transportation. Given the hundreds of man-years in development of the technology, the extremely low cost and high energy density of gasoline and diesel as fuels, it is not surprising that the dominant means of transportation is combustion powered. […]
Intelligrated adding 200 tech/engineering jobs at new Ohio facility
Intelligrated, a material handling automation integrator, is building a new R&D facility in Ohio. 200 new tech and engineering jobs will be added. The new facility will support the company’s plans for strategic growth in the material handling industry, a growth area for industrial robotics. Intelligrated’s move gives credence to IFR statement at iRex: “Robots…
Aldebaran Robotics Acquires Siri-like Front-End for their NAO Robot
Aldebaran Robotics, the venture-funded Paris-based developer of the NAO robot, has acquired the assets of the recently defunct Mindscape, a French gaming software company. NOTE: there are now 2,000 NAO robots in and around academia and a lower-cost commercial version is on the way. Karotz, a Siri-like internet-connected device which Mindscape acquired when Karotz’s parent…
EV’s Everywhere, and More!
Alternative energy fans are getting good news this year end, 2012 will be the year of the electric car. No matter what flavor of technology, dual drive train hybrid, true hybrid, plug in electric, there will be something for everybody. American buyers will be able to buy American hybrid cars. The Chevy Volt will be […]
Foxconn to mass produce their own robots
Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) breaks ground for $223 million R&D and manufacturing facilities in Taiwan to develop and produce robots. The project is expected to generate an estimated $4 billion in production value in the next three to five years, create about 2,000 jobs, replace 500,000 mainland Chinese workers with 1 million robots…
Huge employer in China makes big step toward robots
Copied and cross-linked with permission from: The New Economy, November 17, 2011Foxconn, a big contractor for Apple and others, breaks ground for robot facilities. It plans to replace 500,000 workers with 1 million robots. Workers are seen inside a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua in China’s southern Guangdong Province in this 2010 photo. After a spate…
Toyota displays four new healthcare robots available in 2013
Toyota displays four new nursing and healthcare robots which are scheduled to be commercialized and available for sale in 2013. Two robots assist with walking, another with balance and the fourth is for patient transfer from bed to toilet and back. Photos and details here.
Control System Theory and Feedback
Control system performance is based on feedback. Control of electric motors, however, continues to be a bit mysterious because the common conventions associated with motor control are often driven by cost considerations. The feedback component is often target for elimination in cost constrained systems. Control systems can be described as “open loop” or “closed loop” […]
Robots Coming Online in 2012, 2013 and 2014
Harvest Automation’s labor-saving potted plant mover to go commercial in 2012 and 2013 Sea Robotics hull-cleaning navy robot is slated for 2014 Foxconn factory robots – from their own robot manufacturing plant to their own factory floors – are planning to deploy 300,000 in 2013 and another 700,000 in 2014 and 2015 Plus companies like…
Lots of robots coming onboard in 2013, 2014 and 2015
Pure science is an integral part of robotics and often leads to solutions for strategic needs for an audience of willing buyers. Here are a few examples of that process from companies with products scheduled to hit the marketplace in the next four years. Harvest Automation Servicing ornamental horticulture market ($35 billion industry) Focused on…
Unique Solutions in Material Handling
Moving products around is mechanical work. When the work is done by a control system and actuators its mechatronics. Mechanical work, whether by humans, by horses, by hydraulics, electrics or whatever, is still work. Figuring out what technology approach will be the most cost effective way to get the work done is the challenge. Many […]
iRobot to cut 9% of workers from military – consumer products booming
iRobot CEO Colin Angle said the workforce reduction will result in a $1 million charge but won't impact the home robots business unit. Federal government cutbacks in military R&D spending are the reason for the reduction in force. The home robot business grew 32 percent in the quarter, with 56 percent growth outside the U.S.
More disasters plaguing Japanese auto industry
Thailand flooding inundates Honda auto manufacturing plant and many auto parts providers; robots and computers under water. Flooding continues and the factory remains submerged. Toyota shuttered for at least 60 days and prepared for flooding; no damage yet. Thailand’s worst flooding in decades has exposed the complexity of the global supply chain and a lack…