Every day, sensors in production plants collect huge amounts of data. However, companies seldom realize how valuable the correct evaluation of large amounts of data is. This creates data graves whose potential remains undiscovered. The Heubach Group had a similar experience. However, with Festo AX artificial intelligence, it was proven that benefits for maintenance, engineering and productivity can be achieved from central PID data.
AutomationDirect has added new NITRA ISO 5599/1 pneumatic solenoid valve components. These solenoid valves are completely interchangeable with any brand of ISO 5599/1 equipment. ISO 5599 size one and size two components include solenoid valve bodies in 5-way, 2-position configurations with single or double solenoids and 5-way, 3-position, double solenoid valves with a center-pressure, center-closed, or center-exhaust configuration.
Well-made protective packaging is key to ensuring that foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables arrive on supermarket and grocery shelves in peak condition. Keeping pace with demand means that this packaging needs to be produced as quickly as possible without compromising either quality or strength. Orora Fresh Packaging Solutions is achieving this at its Canada HQ using an ABB robot cell to help assemble, load, and lift its protective cardboard packaging products for the fresh food industry.
Advanced Motion & Controls Ltd. supplies automation solutions by Epson Industrial Robots, and they work with the Epson RC+ line of industrial automation development software. Epson RC+ provides powerful tools and features that take automation efficiency to new places. It allows all components to interface with each other in one environment, for seamless integration. This advanced software suite comes with Epson SCARA and six-axis robots, without any recurring licencing fee.
Corks are so light they float, but when shipped in bulk to wineries around the world, they tend to be big space-takers. In order to save energy and CO₂ emissions during transport, Portugal’s ESI (Engenharia, Soluções e Inovação) has developed a system for packaging corks that reduces packaging volume by 30% and dispenses with plastic bagging.
Highly flexible, the extended-reach GP70L robot offers an extremely fast and powerful performance for a variety of applications. A long reach, exceptional speed and a robust payload capacity make this model well-suited for logistic processes, including palletizing and depalletizing. Applications for dispensing, material handling, press tending and machine tending, such as loading and unloading parts from a CNC machine, are also expertly supported.
A collaborative robot (cobot) can be utilized in hundreds of ways. Whether you’re looking to automate a tedious task, increase efficiency or free your workers up to complete more technical work, cobots will be a transformative addition to your operations. Here, Universal Robots explain in more detail 10 cobot components and how they can be used within your business.
A new interface standard for the acquisition of energy consumption data in industrial manufacturing is being developed by ODVA, OPC Foundation, PI, and VDMA based on OPC UA. A key objective of the future mechanical and plant engineering sectors is to achieve climate-neutral production. This is backed up by the European Union’s “European Green Deal”, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this goal, and to implement many other use cases, energy consumption data in production is an important prerequisite.
Automation needs safety and reliability. To ensure these for systems and operators, Balluff offers a comprehensive safe networking portfolio, that now includes their new CIP Safety I/O module. The module is a reliable solution for the safe connection of sensors and actuators to industrial controllers, even in harsh environments with influences such as dust, vibration, or liquid. The module, which can be mounted directly on the machine and has an IP67-certified housing, communicates with safety components via EtherNet/IP using the CIP Safety protocol. The combination of protocols enables the exchange of safety and standard control data as well as diagnostic information over a single Ethernet network.
Augmenta, the company automating building design for the construction industry, recently announced it has emerged from stealth mode with US$4.1 million in seed funding to bring to market its design platform for the construction industry.
In end-of-line automation in particular, robot applications are frequently used, precisely when processes such as palletizing of cartons or secondary packaging and heat sealing of pallets are involved. Personnel protection is the highest priority here and is generally provided via guards. In the event of maintenance or malfunction, it must be possible to put the machine back into operation quickly and safely, to minimize unproductive downtimes.
The world is changing. Every day. In many ways. The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, has fundamentally changed the way we live, work, and relate to our world. Three terms from Industry 4.0 warrant further attention: the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT). But what do they mean, and perhaps, more importantly, what do they mean to industry? Mechatronic Canada had the opportunity to ask Ozge Karadag, the AIoT Corporate Influencer and Data Analyst at Bosch Rexroth about the AIoT. This article helps to demystify these concepts and explores their applications in use today.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) is demanding workers be represented on the Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence created in 2019 to advise the Government of Canada on building Canada’s strengths and global leadership in AI, identify opportunities to create economic growth that benefits all Canadians and ensuring that AI advancements reflect Canadian values.
Advanced Motion & Controls Ltd. continues to expand its product lineup by teaming up with more major manufacturers – including Epson FA, a team of precision automation specialists whose industrial robots are now available in Canada through the supplier. Businesses worldwide have depended on Epson robots for more than 35 years to lower production expenses, boost product quality, and increase their bottom lines.
Festo showcases its UR+ certified multi-axis solution for Universal Robotics (UR) cobots at Automate 2022, Huntington Place, Detroit, June 6-8. Festo also shows its latest controls, decentralized I/O, and pneumatic and electric actuators. (Booth #638). The certified UR system adds up to four axes of motion beyond the UR cobot six axes, and embodies Festo world-class precision, reliability, and longevity. This solution from Festo lowers customer engineering time and speeds startup as it arrives ready to install.
The Avnu Alliance, CC-Link Partner Association, ODVA, OPC Foundation, and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International jointly announce that they are collaborating to develop a single conformance test plan for the IEEE/IEC 60802 Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) profile for Industrial Automation. The test plan will be used as a base test by all the participating organizations and made available to the broader Industrial Automation ecosystem. This collaboration contributes towards end user confidence that 60802 conformant devices from different manufacturers which support different automation protocols will coexist reliably at the TSN level on shared networks, including with devices using TSN for applications other than automation