sensor-readings-issue-6

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SENSOR READINGS

The weekly magazine for the robotics and automation industry

Issue 6 21 August 2015

Exclusive interview Universal Robots’ Scott Mabie talks about company’s fast growth

Real life or fantasy?

Are human-like androids living among us in society today?

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Big money for small devices Virtual Incision raises $11m to develop robotic surgery

Making robots useful Interview with Robotiq’s Olivier Grenier-Lafond

Case studies Automation: Liquidware, and Advantech

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From strength to strength Japan unveils the ‘world’s strongest robot’

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Only the paranoid androids survive Abdul Montaqim Editor

Exclusive interview Universal Robots’ Scott Mabie talks about company’s fast growth 10

Germany makes progress Robotics sector grows 11 per cent in first quarter of 2015 Off side We talk to the people behind RoboDK, the new offline progamming tool

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F

ormer Intel CEO Andrew Grove is famous for many things, not least of which is the quote, “Only the paranoid survive”. Grove, who is still senior adviser at Intel, was talking about surviving against increasing competition from rival chipmakers. His advice has almost certainly been an important factor in Intel maintaining its position as the world’s largest computer chip maker. But now, a different type of competition faces humanity as a whole: the threat if being overwhelmed by artificially intelligent robots, possibly ones that look and act like humans.

It’s widely accepted that computers will surpass human intelligence at some point in the next couple of decades. Computers have always been capable of flawless recollection of information from their memory banks, but now they are able to abalyse that data and make judgments about it, much like humans do. The progress is being speeded up by companies like IBM, which has released a “brain-inspired” chip.

Coupling the advances in computing with the breakthroughs in biotech, such as tissue engineering, as well as 3D printing, nanotechnology, cryogenics, and a range of disparate but linked fields of study, it is possible to see how perfectly human-like androids can be built using human flesh and bone.

Because they would not have any mechanical parts and be built with human, biological, organic components in every way, they would be impossible to differentiate from what might be termed “natural” human beings.

A new lexicon and legal framework would certainly be required to deal with the profound issues the arrival of human-like androids raise.

Their emergence is probably not as far away as the majority of the general public might think.

Androids may herald the death of God, as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche may say. But do they make all human laws obsolete? Humans consider themselves higher than animals. Can they make the same claim when faced with androids built with human parts? How? Why? l

Making robots useful Interview with Robotiq’s Olivier Grenier-Lafond 14 Real life or fantasy?

Are human-like androids living among us in society today?

6

21st Century orders CyberKnife from Accuray 4 Robotiq introduces new features to its grippers 5 3D printing to have ‘imminent impact’ 4 3DR releases Solo app update 5 Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

6 Astronomical growth at Universal 10 Marketplace 18

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Contents

First issue 17 July 2015

Rockwell CEO calls for youth ‘Manufacturing needs to teach and reach younger students’

China’s robot revolution The world’s most populous nation now buys the most robots

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Sensor Readings

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News

In Brief

In Brief

Schaefer and CareFusion link up Warehousing and logistics systems supplier SSI Schaefer and the medical technology company CareFusion have signed a co-operation deal in the field of pharmaceutical industry. In future, both companies will work together to provide a coordinated range of customized logistics solutions in a uniform design for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. “[CareFusion’s] Rowa machines complement our product portfolio for picking of medium and slow moving products as well as in frozen goods, narcotics and returns,” explains Manfred Preiss, vice president of global sales by SSI Schaefer.

Ekso reports revenues of $2m Ekso Bionics, a robotic exoskeleton company, has reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, as well as recent highlights. The company earned revenue of $2.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015, compared to $1.2 million for the same period of 2014. Esso shipped a net 17 new units in the quarter, as compared to 15 units for the same period of 2014. It has now sold or rented over 145 medical devices to over 100 customers. “I am pleased to report that shipments of Ekso Bionics medical exoskeletons and utilization continue to increase,” said Nathan Harding, chief executive officer of Ekso Bionics.

Virtual Incision raises $11m TVirtual Incision, a company developing advanced robotically assisted surgical devices, has announced that it has closed $11.2 million of equity financing.

Led by Bluestem Capital, the round was oversubscribed with broad participation from existing investors, including PrairieGold Venture Partners.

The funding will be used for a feasibility study on the use of the company’s range of miniaturized robotically assisted surgical technology.

3D Systems expands print tech 3D Systems has expanded its PlasticJet Printing materials to include a new Nylon for the company’s flagship CubePro 3D printers. This engineeringgrade performance material was developed for CubePro, bringing strength, flexibility and unparalleled durability to desktop production of functional parts for design, testing and small-scale manufacturing, according to 3D Systems. The company says nylon for CubePro has been engineered with a blend that includes Nylon 6 and compatible with Infinity Rinse-Away water-soluble support material.

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The CyberKnife system from Accuray is claimed to be the only robotic full-body radiosurgery system available today

21st Century orders robotic surgical device from Accuray Accuray has received a multi-system order from 21st Century Oncology for one CyberKnife M6 and four TomoHDA Systems. These are Accuray’s latest generation CyberKnife and TomoTherapy Systems, and are used worldwide to provide “extremely precise radiation treatments for cancerous and non-cancerous tumors throughout the body”, says the company.

The TomoTherapy Systems will replace conventional linear accelerators in single vault freestanding centers, reinforcing the TomoTherapy’s value as a mainstream radiation therapy device. Accuray booked the order in its first fiscal quarter of 2016.

“This latest transaction by 21st Century is the most recent example of a multiple unit order for Accuray systems,” said Joshua Levine, president and chief executive officer of Accuray.

“Whether clinicians choose to order both the CyberKnife and TomoTherapy Systems or mul-

tiple units of a single system, we believe these orders speak to the high degree of flexibility and precision our systems provide and growing market interest in our customer-driven solutions.”

21st Century is claimed to be the largest integrated network of cancer treatment centers and affiliated physicians in the world.

The 21st Century network offers a high level of coordinated care from cancer diagnosis through surgery, radiation, and systemic treatment as required. As of June 30, 2015, the company operated 183 treatment centers, including 148 centers located in 17 US states and 35 centers located in six countries in Latin America.

The CyberKnife System is the only robotic full-body radiosurgery system available today. The TomoTherapy H Series efficiently enables physicians to customize treatment plans for the entire range of radiation therapy patients and disease types.

3D printing to have ‘imminent impact’ 3D printing is about to make an “imminent impact” on manufacturing, according to a new report by Stratasys Direct Manufacturing (SDM), a subsidiary of Stratasys. The research shows that about three-quarters of manufacturing companies expect to use more 3D printing.

“For those of us working in, around and with 3D printing, it’s an incredibly exciting time,” says Joe Allison, CEO of SDM, in the foreword to the report.

Allison says the manufacturers are in-

creasingly seeing the benefits of Additive Manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing technologies. AM is the direct fabrication of end-use products and components using technologies – such as 3D printing – which deposit material layer by layer.

SDM surveyed 700 professional users of 3D printing to identify current and future trends, and produced a report, 3D Printing’s Imminent Impact on Manufacturing. SDM says it’s an in-depth industry report highlighting current and impending trends in 3D printing.

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iRobot gives Ali a job iRobot has appointed Mohamad Ali to its board of directors. Ali was previously chief strategy officer at Hewlett-Packard, and president and chief executive officer of Carbonite.

“Mohamad’s compelling track record of leadership, operating expertise and industry vision, across companies big and small, makes him an excellent addition to our board,” said Colin Angle, chairman and chief executive officer of iRobot.

NI launches IoT test kit National Instruments (NI), the provider of platform-based systems for engineers and scientists, has released the Wireless Test System (WTS), a solution that NI the company says “dramatically lowers the cost of high-volume wireless manufacturing test”. Although faced with the rising complexity of wireless test, companies can confidently reduce test costs and multiply throughput on the production floor with a system optimized for measurement speed and parallel test. NI says The WTS combines the latest advances in PXI hardware to offer a single platform for multi-standard, multi-DUT and multi-port testing.

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News

5

Robotiq introduces new features to its grippers Robotiq has integrated some “new and enhanced features” into its grippers for robots.

The company specialises in developing tools for robots, specifically it produces widely used two-fingered and three-fingered grippers.

The new improvements include an “object detection” system which notifies the user of any changes in the gripping activity, including whether the object is no longer in the robot’s grasp.

Mathieu Bélanger-Barrete, an engineer at Robotiq, wrote on the company’s blog: “This feature basically allows you to detect if a part has been dropped. As a given position is reached (say 145) with the object in between the fingers, if the object is then ‘lost’ or slips out of the finger’s grip, the Gripper will continue to close and will reach its requested position (say 175) where it stops and sends

an object lost signal to the robot program.

This way the Gripper can react in order to either regrip another part or simply stop.”

Another new feature is the “secure grip mode”, which secures uneven objects that are prone to slipping. effectively, the gripper holds objects more firmly if necessary during the task.

Robotiq engineers have also added a “low force mode” to the grippers. This ensures that although the gripper can clasp objects firmly enough that they don’t fall or slip, it can hold things lightly enough to be able to handle tissue boxes or eggs without damaging them.

“The goal of all these new features is simply to be able to achieve your task each and every time you are requesting it,” says Bélanger-Barrete.

Full details at http://blog.robotiq.com/adaptiverobot-gripper-new-and-enhanced-features-robotiq

3DR releases Solo app update 3D Robotics has officially released the latest update of the Solo app for its popular drones. The company says this is “the greatest” version of the software so far.

One of the key new features, by “popular request”, that 3DR has introduced is the altitude adjustement feature.

3DR says on its website: “We’ve now made it possible for you to adjust the altitude that Solo will climb to when it returns home. If you set a high enough altitude, Solo will be more likely to fly over any obstacles (within reason – not

the Burj Khalifa or anything) on its way home.

We also increased the default return home altitude from 15m to 25m and added a new safety measure—now Solo will always pop up 10m when you hit return home, even if you’re above your specified return home altitude.”

The other significant updates include support for the PAL video format on GoPro, crash detector systems, controller alerts for more of the drone’s functions, and more security features, such as password update reminders.

It will also offer iOS 9 beta “in a few weeks”.

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Features

Sensor Readings

Sensor Readings

Features

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brought back to life, as long as it remains physically intact.

It’s just a matter of giving a jump start, using the appropriate type of jump leads and battery and engine. And the artificial intelligence engines are being prepared for that day when it becomes commonplace that people prefer being cryogenically frozen instead of burial or cremation. For one thing, it’s potentially a massive market. Morbid as it may be to discuss the whole subject.

Among the most advanced AI engines are said to be Google’s Deep Mind and IBM’s Watson. Both companies are strongly interested in the health sector. While neither has publicly expressed an interest in cloning people or in bringing them back to life after they are legally dead, they are directly involved in the business of prolonging life.

In Google’s case, it has invested in Calico, which says it’s tackling ageing, and describes itself as “a research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan”.

Calico is not a cryonics company as such, and probably employs conventional healthcare methods and techniques, much the same way that IBM does with Watson and all the work it does in the healthcare sector. But there are biotech companies out there that are engaged in what is known as tissue engineering, which essentially means creating human flesh, bone and organs from scratch.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Android apocalypse Do androids walk among us today?

Do we know? Do even the androids know they are androids? If they look like us, live like us, and are made of flesh and bone just like humans, how can we tell them apart from us?

W

e’re all gonna die. That’s a fact. But some of us refuse to accept it. From Dr James Bedford, who became the first person to be cryogenically frozen in 1967, to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, who also want to be cryogenically frozen upon their passing through this world onto the next, there are many famous and nonfamous people who simply refuse to accept that death is the end of their life.

For an increasing number of people, leaving a last will and testament, or a video, or a message stored with a company like Heavenote, is simply not enough. They don’t want leave anything, least of all life itself. They want to cling on, no matter how tenuous their connection.

And who can blame them? Nobody wants to die. It’s this primeval drive to avoid death that, arguably, gave rise to some of the world’s largest religions. Christianity and Islam both offer clearly articulated visions of life after death, although Judaism is less clear about what lies beyond this “mortal coil”, as William Shakespeare called it.

Spears and Hilton are among the more famous people who are known to want to preserve their bodies. At a guess, there must be many others, but not many have admitted it. In the film Vanilla Sky, the main character, played by Tom Cruise, is cryogenically frozen. If you want to put money on which other famous people have opted for cryogenic freezing, Cruise would probably win you money. Walt Disney is widely reported to be cryogenically frozen, but those reports have been denied.

And it would be people like Cruise, Spears and Hilton, who have high enough incomes to be able to afford “cryogenic

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preservation” services, as they are known. Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a cryonics company, charges at least $220,000 for “whole body cryopreservation”, and $100,000 for “neurocryopreservation”, which probably means only the brain. Another company, the Cryonics Institute, says it charges $28,000 as an initial fee.

There are other fees, including an ongoing charge for maintaining the bodies for as many years as it takes for the scientists to learn how to reanimate them. So it would be best to go beyond the prices mentioned here and visit those websites if you want a better idea of the overall cost. ’Til death us do part, temporarily The hope that people who choose cryogenic services have is, when scientists have figured out a way to keep humans alive even after their bodies die, they will be brought out of their cryogenically frozen state and given the chance to live again.

Life support machines could be seen as one step, one gateway to understanding how it could be done, but it’s just a start.

The overwhelming majority of people choose “traditional” after-life journeys, such as burial or cremation, for their souls, if they believe in them. Even for non-believers, it’s just the way things are done. But there have always been those who would really rather not start the journey at all.

The pharaohs of Egypt had their bodies mummified and entombed inside pyramids with all their treasures in the hope that the gods will lift their souls to the stars, or something. In fact most religions have successfully sold the idea that there is something beyond death, that the end of life for our physical

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bodies is simply a transition from this world to another.

But there’s a difference between religious beliefs, which generally cannot be proven, and scientific theories, which not only require experimental proof but also require the results of those experiments to be repeatable. Those who are deciding on having their bodies cryogenically frozen are doing so in the clear-minded hope that scientists will give them some form of life at some point in the future, and want their body tissue to be intact to give themselves the best chance.

That people’s minds can be uploaded to the internet is tacitly accepted by most people now – if it hasn’t already happened, it’s only a matter of time. In terms of hardware, there is enough computing power in the world to generate virtual clones of humans, but the software probably still needs to be refined enough to emulate the subtleties of variation in human behaviour.

So, people already accept that their brains could be

“

he past three decades have seen T the emergence of an endeavor called tissue engineering in which scientists, engineers, and physicians apply tools to construct biological substitutes that can mimic tissues” Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

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A tissue of lives The phrase tissue engineering may be relatively new, but as a field of study it can be traced back to mid-1600s, to British scientist Robert Hooke, who first coined the term “cell” after dissecting and observing insects through a microscope. Some 200 years later, Carl Thiersh, a German scientist, attempted to grow skin cells to heal wounds.

But while Thiersh sought to grow cells on the body of the patient, another German scientist, Leo Loeb suggested the idea of growing cells outside the human body. That was around 1900. And from that point on, a vast amount of research has been undertaken to grow human cells, as well as tissue and organs, outside the human body, or in vitro.

A number of milestones have been achieved since the days of Thiersh and Loeb, but perhaps the most significant are the developments that have occurred in the past 30 years.

A report in the Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ARCBE) says: “The past three decades have seen the emergence of an endeavor called tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in which scientists, engineers, and physicians apply tools from a variety of fields to construct biological substitutes that can mimic tissues for diagnostic and research purposes and can replace (or help regenerate) diseased and injured tissues.”

The ARCBE report goes on to talk about “new, exciting technologies – for example, microfabrication, and 3D printing – that may enable future breakthroughs”.

To that end, 3D printing technology has already been used to fabricate organs such as the heart, which is said to be one of the easiest organs to replicate.

The ostensible and stated purpose of all this tissue engineering is to help people who have faulty or damaged organs, such as a heart or kidney, by replacing them with labmanufactured organs, for example.

A large number of biotech companies are currently engaged in developing techniques for creating human tissue.

Examples include LifeLike, LifeCell, and Cytograft, which says it uses “cells harvested from the patient or another human donor to repair diseased cardiovascular tissues and organs”, which is about the same as what the others say they do.

But what if tissue engineering is used for more sinister purposes, such as building a fully functioning human body

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that has senses, that can see, touch, hear, smell and taste?

What if this lab-created human is built complete with a fully functioning brain that can think like natural humans can?

For all intents and purposes, if it’s well built and not like the images of the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it would be impossible to tell it apart from “real” humans.

Shelley wrote her novel in 1818, a staggering intellectual achievement for its time, and she is celebrated for it. But what if in the intervening 200 years scientists have actually created human-like creatures that walk among us today, doing jobs much like we do, living lives much as we do, and perhaps holding high political or military offices much like most of us do not? Would we be eulogising the scientists who have done this if it was openly acknowledged?

Where’s the evidence?

Isaac Asimov wrote the seminal short story I, Robot in 1950.

It’s the story from which the Three Laws of Robotics are quoted often. So often in fact that it would be easy to make the mistake of thinking that they have actually been incorporated into present-day societal laws, which they have not.

But even if those robotics laws and others were to be brought in to differentiate humans from human-like machines, how would they be applied to “living creatures” – if that is the right term – that are identical to humans in every physical and mental way, except that their creation story is different, in that they were born of labs and science, as opposed to wombs and nature?

Another of Asimov’s stories, Evidence, is perhaps more relevant here, though not necessarily as an anecdote that offers any answers. Evidence is set in a world where humans and robots live among each other. It’s difficult, though not impossible, to tell them apart. The only way is an X-ray scan.

The story’s main character is successful in his career and decides to run for elected office. But many suspect he is a robot, and the fictional world’s laws prohibit robots from holding political office. They ask him to undergo an X-ray test. He refuses.

It’s a thought-provoking story, but one which has, in some ways, been superseded by events in the real world. Now, with the amazing advances made in tissue engineering, robotics, and artificially intelligent computing systems, a combination of technologies theoretically enables the creation of living, or at least animated, creatures that are totally indistinguishable from their human counterparts. And maybe they can only be considered counterparts because of their provenance, not their presentable form.

Android is the word used to describe human-like robots. But nowhere does it say that androids must have a mechanical element, and must not be built using human tissue. And even if there were clear laws against such developments, some scientists and unscrupulous corporations would inevitably find a way to circumvent them.

On the Massachusetts Institute of Technology website there used to be a standard registry of biological parts.

Now, that registry is available at iGem.org. The iGem Foundation says it is dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology, and its directory currently has more than 20,000 biological parts.

If an artificial heart can be created in a 3D printer, it’s likely that all those 20,000 parts can be created in any lab anywhere.

None of these ideas are new – certainly not to fans of science fiction. Frankenstein, as noted, was written almost 200 hundred years ago. Another book, The Island of Doctor Moreau, written in 1896 by HG Wells, also deserves a mention.

In that story, the Moreau character creates a human-like race from spliced animals.

The entire human genome was reported to have been mapped in the 1990s, and gene splicing has been much

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Sensor Readings discussed in the media, both in the news and factual media as well as popular culture, through works of fiction.

The TV series Star Trek featured the android Data. Films such as Alien feature human-like androids, and Neo was “born” apparently hybridised in The Matrix. But one thing that might be worth noting is that most if not all of the fictional films and TV shows allocate some mechanical element to the android, which is not necessarily what a real-life Doctor Moreau would do.

IBM says it is continuing its research into the brain chip and will soon unveil a chip that has 10 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses

Send in the clones At the beginning of the millennium, the United Nations established a committee to consider “the elaboration of an international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings”. And there is an internationally agreed ban on human cloning.

But many nations allow the cloning of human tissue, as evidenced by the many biotech companies that offer labmanufactured human body parts. And there are very few if any laws dealing with the computerisation of those body parts.

The brain is of most interest to corporations such as IBM, which recently announced a “brain-inspired” processor, TrueNorth, which is claimed to be capable of 46 billion synaptic operations per second. The company says it is continuing its research into the brain chip and will soon unveil a chip that has 10 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses.

Such awesome processing power will be needed if computers are to emulate the human brain, because simulating just one second of human brain activity is said to require more than 80,000 conventional processors, according to research jointly carried out by the Okinawa Institute of Technology Graduate University in Japan, and Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany.

The researchers outline their findings in a press release, in which they add that the total memory required for that one-second test was 1 petabyte, or about the same memory capacity as 250,000 PCs. What they don’t say is whether they conducted other tests which lasted longer than a second, perhaps a whole lifetime, or several.

In separate research at other places around the world, it has been found that cells, or human tissue, can be programmed using similar principles to computer programming. It’s a relatively new development, but already simpler organs than the brain have been shown placed on chips and the research is promising.

Biological computers are being discussed and developed, as well as brain-to-brain interfaces.

How the complete mapping of the human genetic code and nanotechnology can be applied to all this is open to question and research, but put all of the ingredients mentioned so far into Doctor Moreau’s method, and you have a recipe for making creatures that cannot be differentiated from humans in any obvious way.

Even procreation, of sorts, was cracked by mechanical robots several years ago. What’s to say that androids which are totally non-mechanical, entirely tissue-engineered haven’t been replicating, or procreating, for generations already? How do we know? Do even the androids know?

I think we should be told. But we probably won’t be. Not until it’s too late and they’ve already taken over the world.

But what does it matter? We’re all gonna die anyway.

Maybe we will only find out when the androids start looking for their makers, like they are shown to do in films such as Bladerunner, where the android Roy Batty goes on a psychorampage in search of his “father”. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know what happens next.

And if the Bladerunner scenario plays out in real life, we’re all doomed. l

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Astronomical growth at Universal Co-bots In a wide-ranging interview with Sensor Readings, Scott Mabie, general manager, Americas division, Universal Robots, says the company has doubled its business in a year and the growth trend looks like it will continue

Scott Mabie, general manager, Americas division, Universal Robots. Main picture, from left: Universal’s UR3, UR5, and UR10 collaborative robots

I

ndustrial robots have always been somewhat captivating to watch because of their precision of movement, but their sheer size and power exudes an air of ominous foreboding, which is why the vast majority have always been caged off, kept away from their human counterparts at factories, where they were mostly to be found.

Large-scale industrial robots perform absolutely essential functions in manufacturing and other industries, but they are potentially very dangerous to humans if they are too close.

That has been the traditional view of robots for a long time. Now, however, things are changing.

A new generation of collaborative robots are being built on a human scale, meaning they have similar arm sizes to humans, and are programmed to be intrinsically safe for humans to use. These new collaborative robots can be, and are being, utilised in situations where they are placed close to humans, often in direct contact or at least within touching, or even hugging, distance.

Certainly not caged off.

The appearance, or design, of these new collaborative robots is markedly different from the old robotic beasts of burden seen in factories. These new and advanced robots have been smartened up by their makers, and made to look more presentable for their close encounters with the human kind, with softer colours and more tactile surfaces. Overall, they have become much more aesthetically pleasing and much more ergonomic.

And the emergence of these smarter and cuddlier robots is being embraced in a big way by customers from many different industries.

Universal Robots (UR), which produces a successful range of collaborative robots for a wide range of industries, has seen exponential growth in its business since its new generation of collaborative robots were launched. In an exclusive interview with RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com, Universal’s Scott Mabie, general manager, Americas division, says the company is currently selling more robots in a week than it previously did in a whole year.

Universal Robotics is a Danish company, founded in 2005, by Esben Østergaard, Kasper Støy and Kristian Kassow, who met at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. It has about 150 employees, and had a turnover of approximately $40 million in 2014. It recently agreed to merge with Teradyne, an industrial automation and testing company, headquartered in the US, which has 3,300 employees and annual turnovers in the region of $1.5 billion. Teradyne is reported to have paid $285 million to acquire Universal.

At the time of the acquisition in May, 2015, Teradyne CEO Mark Jagiela said Universal would add “a powerful, additional growth platform to Teradyne”. One of the main reasons for the growth experienced by

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Universal is its innovate collaborative robots, which Mabie says offer a return on investment – or pay for themselves – in less than 200 days.

Out of the box and ready for work in minutes Mabie says: “Unlike traditional industrial robots, collaborative robots are lightweight, flexible and can easily be moved and reprogrammed to solve new tasks, meeting the short-run production challenge faced by companies adjusting to ever more advanced processing in smaller batch sizes.

“With traditional robots, the capital costs for the robots themselves account for only 25 to 30 percent of the total system costs. The remaining costs are associated with robot programming, setup, and dedicated, shielded work cells.

“The ‘out of box experience’ with a collaborative robot is typically less than an hour. That’s the time it takes to unpack the robot, mount it, and program the first simple task. Average payback period for UR robots is the fastest in the industry with only 195 days.”

It would seem inevitable that Universal’s spectacular growth was eventually going to lead the company into the upper echelons of the business, where top industrial robot manufacturers such as Yaskawa and ABB reside. But now, with the support of industrial giant Teradyne, Universal’s journey to the top may well be a lot shorter.

For Mabie, the merger with Teradyne will introduce entirely new markets to Universal, and enable it to develop more innovative products, and grow as a company, not least in the number of employees it has. In fact, Mabie says his current preoccupation is an “aggressive recruiting” drive to add to the Americas team.

“The combination [of Universal and Teradyne] will boost our ability to innovate and recruit even more and will extend our lead within

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collaborative robotics and be of benefit to all our endusers and partners.

“At the same time, we are proud to add a brand new line of business to Teradyne. Our operations have been profitable since late 2010.

“Teradyne’s world-class engineering and support capabilities and strong financial position will help accelerate the growth of our collaborative robots in new and existing markets, especially in Asia where Teradyne holds a very strong position.”

Mabie says Universal will continue to be headquartered in Odense, Denmark, where all research and development, as well as production, is carried out. And even though the company has become part of a giant corporation, Mabie believes it is the products and opportunities that Universal offers to small and medium-sized businesses that has been the secret of its success so far.

Growth on the double Mabie says: “We’ve been basically doubling every year, and this year we’re expecting to grow 137 percent. Just to put things into perspective, in two or three days this year we’ll sell as many robots as we did in all of 2009.

That’s how much we’ve been growing.

“We did a little less than 2,000 robots last year.

We’ll do around 4,000 this year, with revenue close to $100 million. Then next year and the year after, later in 2017, we should hit $200 million. That will be about 9,000 to 10,000 robots.

“I think the reason behind this is that we lowered the whole entry level for utilizing robotics tremendously.

Small and medium sized companies that never thought robotics would be within their reach can now automate easily and inexpensively.”

The majority of Universal’s robots are designed for use in

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close proximity to humans – they are not caged off. And whereas it can be difficult to assimilate the huge amount of information about the innumerable products most other large robotics manufacturers offer, Universal has simplified its catalogue as much as possible.

“We have over 5,000 robots installed in more than 50 countries worldwide. Around 80 per cent of these operate with no safety guarding.

“Our product portfolio is as simple as our robots. We sell three different collaborative robot arms, all named after their payload in kilos: the UR3, the UR5 and the UR10.

“We launched the UR5 robot in 2008-9, the UR10 was introduced in 2012, followed by the UR3 this spring. Our newest robot, the UR3, is a table-top robot that we’re already seeing a high demand for, we expect this to be a game changer especially in the electronics assembly industry.”

Like most technology companies, Universal keeps its innovation plans secret. When asked about future products, Mabie would only say that the company has “a comprehensive roadmap of new products and features to be rolled out in coming years”, but would not comment on any specific plans.

However, Mabie was more forthcoming on Universal’s current products and markets, giving us an insight into which markets he thinks will grow for the company.

Mabie says: “Globally speaking, our robot sales are roughly 50 per cent in Europe, 25 per cent in North America and 25 per cent in Asia. But we expect the North American and Asian share to start growing now.

“In terms of vertical markets, it really runs the gamut. The machining sector continues to be a big demand driver, but now we’re seeing new markets open up and unexpected applications appear.

“Our robots are in applications that receive a 3D laser scan of people’s feet and cut out customized flip flops for them, the robots are being tested in agriculture spraying iodine on cow utters before milking to prevent the spread of bacteria, they assemble thermal cups, increasingly handle injection molding machines, and feed CNC machines milling dental crowns and medical devices.

“And as mentioned, we’re also seeing a lot of interest from the electronics sector in our new table-top robot – the UR3 – that we launched this spring.”

Electronics manufacturing requires a high degree of accuracy. So do other manufacturing sectors, although electronics probably has lower tolerances than most.

“With Universal Robots you get a repeatability of one tenth of a mm at the furthest reach of the robot,” says Mabie. “You get a tool speed of up to 1 meter per second.

You get an ability to move completely free, with 6 degrees of freedom in all directions.”

Mabie offers another insight into what

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12

Interviews

is probably a key aspect of the Universal approach, an important ingredient in its recipe for success – and indeed the success of any business or salesman: a thorough understanding of what he is selling.

He says: “The term ‘collaborative’ not only means that humans can collaborate directly with the robots potentially with no safety guarding between them. The way we see it, the term also addresses the ease of use: a robot is not truly collaborative if it’s not easy to work with.

“Our R&D team constantly works on improving what is already the most intuitive and accessible robotics user interface on the market today. You don’t need to be online to program a UR robot, it happens through the touch screen on the teach pendant right next to the robot — or by simply grabbing the robot arm to demonstrate desired movement.”

The priorities for Universal in designing its robots are: l easy for anyone to program; l easy for a customer to install and re-deploy for various applications; l the robot only requires a 110V outlet; and l depending on the application the robot can work right next to people without any safety guarding.

And generally speaking, the company’s aims are consistent with the age-old purpose of automation.

“Universal Robots automate tasks that are dull, dangerous and dirty,” says Mabie. “This frees up

“

e lowered the whole entry level for W utilizing robotics tremendously. Small and medium sized companies that never thought robotics would be within their reach can now automate easily and inexpensively” Scott Mabie, Universal Robots

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The Reading, Massachussets headquarters of Teradyne, which, incidentally, has a 640 KW photovaltaic solar electric system installed by Columbia Construction. The entire building is said to be powered by the solar panels

employees to focus on more rewarding and challenging tasks, which again leads to a better, safer, more rewarding work environment.

“At the same time product quality is improved and an increased competitiveness in the marketplace is achieved.”

Mabie is not one of those who believes increasing use of robotics and automation will lead to mass unemployment or anything like that, which is a growing concern for many people in a wide range of sectors in society. Some observers even say that we could see the rise of “new Luddites”, taking after the industrial age unemployed people who destroyed the mechanical looms that put them out of work.

“We need to change the notion that robots are here to steal our jobs – all data shows that this is simply not true,” says Mabie. “We need to see the robot as a colleague that works right next to us in close collaboration, not a machine that takes over manual labor and gets people fired.”

There are differing views on the subject, but most experts seem to be of the opinion that robots will create roughly as many jobs as they eliminate, if indeed they eliminate any at all.

For Universal, and Mabie, robots are a jobs creator. Not only is the company itself hiring more people directly, it is also offering the opportunity for third-party developers to create applications and peripherals for its robots.

A relatively new initiative, the company’s URCaps platform opens up Universal robots free of charge to distributors and integrators to build and market enduser solutions, which can be listed and sold through the company’s website and other channels.

Universal itself only makes the three robotic arms, no grippers, sensors, vision systems and so forth. All of that comes from partner companies.

Mabie says helping Universal’s business partners is of “special interest” to him, and even after 25 years in the industry, he is “having a great time”. l

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Offline programming Offline programming has never been easier thanks to RoboDK. You don’t need to learn brand-specific languages anymore. RoboDK handles the robot controller syntax and outputs the right program for your robot. Try a basic Pick and Place example.

Multiplatform RoboDK is the first multiplatform robot offline programming software. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android devices. It even works on your phone or tablet! Check the download section.

Python powered RoboDK is a robot development kit that allows you to program any robot from any brand through Python. Python is easy to learn yet powerful and flexible. Robot offline programming has no limits with RoboDK’s Python API.

CNC friendly Use your robot like a CNC. Convert CAM files into robot programs, your robot can be used like a 5-axis CNC. Easily simulate the result with RoboDK and avoid collisions, robot singularities and joint limits. Download and try our robot milling example.

Robot accuracy Certificate robots. Check the accuracy of your robots with a ballbar test. Obtain a PDF report describing the accuracy and repeatability of your robots. RoboDK allows you to calibrate your robots and improve production results.

Contact us for more information.

Extended library The RoboDK Library has many robots, external axes and tools from different brands. We are constantly adding new robots to RoboDK. The library can be directly accessed from our desktop app.

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Interviews

Sensor Readings

Robotiq adds functions to robots I ndustrial robots have been around for such a long time, and have captured the imagination in such a way, that it would be easy to think that almost all manufacturers have robots installed at their factories.

In fact, the majority of factories in the US do not have industrial robots. And if a country as advanced as the US doesn’t have robots all over its manufacturing industry, then no country in the world has a manufacturing sector dominated by industrial robots. Not even Japan.

The vast majority of work done in factories around the world is still done by humans. The Boston Consulting Group estimates the proportion in the US to be around 90 per cent.

Meaning, only 10 per cent of manufacturing tasks in US factories are done by industrial robots.

It could be argued that the specific tasks done by industrial robots are the most crucial, but most statistical analyses provide a broad brush picture of any landscape, and the industrial landscape would seem to have far fewer robots than one might imagine.

One of the most important reasons, perhaps the most important reason, for so few robots is that industrial robots have traditionally been very expensive. Purchasing an advanced robotic spot welder would have set you back more than $180,000 in 2005.

A similar machine would have cost $130,000 if you had bought it last year. Still expensive, but significantly cheaper than a few years ago. And prices are set to fall even further – by as much as 20 per cent in the next 10 years, according to analysts. And that probably does not account for the new generation of robots, which are designed using the latest components and techniques.

And, as most people are aware, the thing about technology, especially computing-based technology, namely robotics, is that the more advanced it gets, the cheaper it becomes.

But while the consumer electronics market can offer vast economies of scale to a successful product, niche markets such as industrial robotics move a little more slowly. And that lack of speed may have been a factor in much of the US manufacturing base moving east over the past couple of decades, to countries such as China, which offered enormous human resources even if they couldn’t offer advanced robotics and automation technology.

Witnessing the mass migration of manufacturing jobs from from North America to Asia were a group of inventive minds in Canada. On seeing more and more factories closing down, having lost out to factories in lower-wage countries, Samuel Bouchard, Vincent Duchaine, and Jean-Philippe Jobin decided that they wanted to do something about it.

They self-funded Robotiq, establishing it in 2008. The company would make robot tooling for manufacturing. Their hope was that it would help manufacturers become smarter and more flexible, more adaptable to a changing economy.

While China and Asia still come to mind when one thinks of manufacturing, the US Federal Reserve recently released statistics showing that US manufacturing is making something of a comeback, with modest but consistent growth over the past four years.

For Robotiq, this is good news, as North America has always been their main market, and the region that inspired them to start the company. The company’s sales and marketing co-ordinator, Olivier Grenier-Lafond, reiterates the origins of Robotiq, as well as some of its main areas of interest.

Grenier-Lafond says: “Robotiq is a spin-off from Laval University Robotics Lab [in Quebec, Canada], and we just

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Robotic tools Robotiq started out with the grand ambition of saving the manufacturing industry in North America. It may have helped achieve that. Here, we interview the company’s sales and marketing co-ordinator, Olivier GrenierLafond, to gain an insight into the robotic tools manufacturer

Olivier Grenier-Lafond, sales and marketing co-ordinator, Robotiq

celebrated the company’s seventh anniversary. It was founded

by Samuel Bouchard, who is the CEO, Jean-Philippe Jobin, CTO, and Vincent Duchaine. We focus on collaborative robots.

“There are two important differences between traditional robots and collaborative robots. The first is that their force limiting, shape and safety features make it possible to use collaborative robots without fencing for some applications.

“The second is that they are easier to program than their traditional counterparts. They can be hand-guided and their user interface is generally more user-friendly. So, they require less specialized knowledge.

“The main reason why this kind of robot is becoming more and more popular is their ease of use. It’s easy to learn how to use them, easy to program. This reduces the cost of integration and the cost of training. More people in the factory can program these robots. The fact that you don’t need fencing around is also interesting because the robot can be repurposed easily within the factory.”

This ties in with the Robotiq founders’ objective of helping robots to become more adaptable to changing economic circumstances. The company currently sells its products around the world to companies big and small.

Grenier-Lafond says: “We sell through our global network of distributors in around 30 countries to many different customers. From multinational corporations to small and medium enterprises that are just starting to automate their production line. Our robot grippers are also used by many universities and research centers – MIT, CMU, NIST, Fraunhofer, to name a few.”

Robotiq has four main product lines, two of which are robotic grippers, one a force torque sensor, and a kinetic teaching system which enables robot operators to programme a robot without the need for in-depth programming skills.

Grenier-Lafond says: “Our most popular product is the 2-Finger 85 Adaptive Robot Gripper. It is designed to be compatible with all major robot manufacturers and it has an almost seamless fit for Universal Robots, the leading brand of collaborative robots. It is mechanically designed to match in size and shape.

“Also we have developed software to work easily with Universal Robots’ programming methods. “All Robotiq grippers are designed as programmable robot grippers able to handle most parts in the industrial environment, eliminating the need for changeovers. The grippers can be used in a variety of areas: machine tending, assembly, advanced manufacturing, and research.

“The user has control over the force, speed, and position parameters, allowing for complete control of the gripper.”

The Robotiq two- and three-finger grippers of today actually started life as a one-fingered device back on Laval University. It took two short years to go from the one-fingered to the three-fingered version. Overall, however, it has taken many years of hard work to get where the company is today, with its grippers, sensors and kinetic teaching products being used by major companies around the world.

While Robotiq started out thinking about the manufacturing industry, the market that was always going to be its route into other markets was the robotics industry itself. And now, Robotiq grippers are actually very popular with other robotics companies. In fact, the company’s 3-Finger Gripper was used by no fewer than eight teams taking part in the Darpa Robotics Challenge, one of the toughest robotic competitions in the world. Two out of the three finalists used Robotiq grippers. l

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Case studies

16

Sensor Readings

Advantech systems in building automation Improving building comfort and energy savings by Advantech WebAccess

monitor energy consumption so that it provides a comfortable, safe and secure environment.

During the energy crisis of the 1970s there was a sea-change in the building industry when it paid more attention to the idea of conserving energy and introduced the terms Building Management System (BMS) and Building Automation System (BAS).

Continuing rising energy prices and carbon reduction issues have also spurred the development and deployment of BMS in recent years.

However, the early systems were bulky, not user friendly, unreliable, and very expensive. With the advent of computerization, BMS analog signals became digitized so as to be communicated over long distance as well as facilitating the building management process these issues became less.Due to the multiple many management functions and wide range of expertise, modern BMS is quite complex.

Successful building management not only needs to link to a multitude of devices but also take account of the suitability of the software for the intended application. Equipped with a web browser-based software package for human-machine interfaces (HMI) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) which provides automated, centralized and unattended management with a high degree of electronic accuracy, the BMS can fully control the building’s mechanical and electrical equipments and thus effectively

System requirements Property management is facing various and complex challenges and reducing operating costs have become increasingly important for building owners. As a result, a growing number of new and refitted buildings are being designed to use less energy and focus on the building’s performance. A System Integrator was helping a builder implement advanced BMS for its newest construction project in a creative park in Asia.

The construction, a 14-storey building with four underground floors, covers an area of nearly one hundred thousand square meters and contains three distinct sectors - shopping mall, hotel guest room floors and office floors.

In order to provide optimal energy management, this BMS needed to be capable of monitoring and controlling a variety of facilities, including air conditioning, power system, plumbing system, fire system, ventilation, elevator, lighting, garden watering and so on.

Meanwhile, using one system with an adequate number of nodes in a main control room to manage three different places was a key requirement but each place had to have their own dedicated system and can be controlled independently without mutual interference so as to saving the implementation costs. Due to the need to monitor many areas, there would be tens of thousands of detection points, and the new system also needed to offer remote control capabilities so that building managers or patrol staff can view the status of various facilities in real-time and deal with issues using handheld or mobile devices.

“

Successful building management not only needs to link to a multitude of devices but also take account of the suitability of the software for the intended application

System requirements As well as employing Advantech’s DDC controller and BAS-3000 series remote I/O modules to connect various devices on both the inside and outside of the building,

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and adopting a 12" industrial panel as an on-site HMI terminal for electromechanical cabinets, the kernel of this solution is HMI/ SCADA Software. Advantech WebAccess is a multi-layer networking architecture system and its almost unlimited nodes allow users to link a large number of remote clients to a central server.

Based on a unified energy management framework and the area of responsibility concept, the system is divided into three BAS subsystems (each with about 12,000 clients) to manage the shop, hotel and office areas. The building manager can supervise the operational conditions of subsystems from the control center while each of them can operate alone in normal times but support each other when necessary.

The dynamic display provides a mechanism for refreshing the state of the graphs, real-time data, historical trends and alarm information. Through a standard web browser or mobile client, users can use tablet PC to view, control and configure the system remotely. To prevent unauthorized data changes, WebAccess supports various privileges torestrict display and data access so as to enhance system security.

In addition, this SCADA system can automatically turn on or off the facilities to maintain the best operating conditions with the lowest cost in light of the user’s operating strategy. Conventional periodic maintenance and overhaul (every six months) would also change in accordance with the operating hours of the equipment. Proper maintenance practices can greatly save manpower and improve work efficiency.

Alarm or fault notification can be supplied via several methods such as immediately displaying on screen or sending short messages, e-mails and reports to the manager.

Therefore, the person in charge can quickly find out the failures so as to quickly troubleshoot the problems and make sure that the building is always operating efficiently. l

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Case studies

17

Liquidware provides HMI to manufacturer Liquidware revamps human-machine interface and enhances motor controller performance Helping create the next generation of products for an industrial equipment manufacturer, Liquidware revamped the humanmachine interface and enhanced motor controller performance, promoting sales of the manufacturer’s equipment, and its proprietary automation software.

Challenge A leading manufacturer of industrial automation controllers found that customers were interested in an upgraded, more intuitive human-machine interface (HMI).

Motor controllers and automation equipment have long lifecycles, and can be installed to operate a wide variety of machinery. For their next generation product, the client was interested in designing a modern, powerful HMI that would further distinguish their equipment from the competition.

Solution The manufacturer was interested in using a discrete, self-contained, embedded computer as a programmable HMI. This had the advantage of allowing customers to select different HMI depending on their budget and needs, and also allowed them to upgrade the HMI over the lifecycle of the controller.

Liquidware Liquidware recommended that the manufacturer segment the customer base and design a modular HMI that could be swapped or upgraded according to the customer’s needs. This also allowed the manufacturer to scale production of their motor controllers and proprietary sensor equipment while allowing customer demand to determine the embedded computer and HMI used.

Based on the manufacturer’s research and analysis, Liquidware developed 3 different HMIs- each designed to serve a different purpose. Simpler HMIs were designed to serve as a switch panel for basic functions

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and local control. These devices were equipped with 2.8” resistive touchscreens and sub-100 MHz microcontrollers with a hard programmed GUI, eliminating the need for a dedicated operating system.

Mid-grade HMIs were designed with single-core ARM Cortex processors clocking at 720 MHz, loaded with a customized Linux operating system to facilitate wireless networking, complex local functions and a standard application stack.

High-end HMIs served as workstations, allowing for local data analysis and real-time configuration of automation programming based on statistical readouts. All units were built with USB and RS232 interfaces, as well as custom pinouts for access to an onboard analog-to-digital converter.

Liquidware also developed software and middleware infrastructure that enabled centralized remote access to each embedded computer over wireless networks. Liquidware also provided

a Windows XP Embedded option, for customers who loaded the devices with proprietary Windowsbased applications.

Results As technology advisor and developer, Liquidware worked with the client to recommend specifications and types of devices that would best drive sales of their motor controllers and automation software platform.

The HMIs proved to be a success with the client’s customers in early testing, boosting demand and early purchase orders. Throughout the project, Liquidware has provided technical sales support, documentation, in addition to refining assembly and installation processes.

Next Steps The manufacturer is in final market testing with the finished device.

Liquidware is currently ramping up production as early purchase orders are being placed with the equipment manufacturer. l

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Off side We talk to the people behind RoboDK, the new offline progamming tool

Directory Listing

Marketplace

Robotics Society of Japan rsj.or.jp The Robotics Society of Japan promotes progress in academic fields and provides specialists with a venue for announcing their research and exchanging technical information.

euRobotics AISBL eu-robotics.net

British Automation & Robot Association bara.org.uk

Actuation

The aim of the BARA is to promote the use of, and assist in the development of Industrial Robots and Automation in British industry.

In 2009 BARA joined forces with the PPMA (Processing & Packaging Machinery Association) to become a special interest focus group.

International Federation of Robotics ifr.org The purpose of IFR shall be to promote and strengthen the robotics industry worldwide, to protect its business interests, to cause public awareness about robotics technologies and to deal with other matters of relevance to its members.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Society ieee-ras.org

euRobotics AISBL is a Brussels based international non-profit association for all stakeholders in European robotics. euRobotics builds upon the success of the European Robotics Technology Platform and the academic network of EURON, and will continue the cooperation abetween members of these two community driven organisations.

Our Mission is to foster the development and facilitate the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge in Robotics and Automation that benefits members, the profession and humanity. Our Vision is to be the most recognized and respected global organization in Robotics and Automation.

Robotic Industries Association robotics.org

China Robot Industry Alliance cria.mei.net.cn

The Robotic Industries Association (RIA) drives innovation, growth, and safety in manufacturing and service industries through education, promotion, and advancement of robotics, related automation technologies, and companies delivering integrated solutions.

CRIA is a non-profit organization composed of enterprises, manufacturers, universities, research institutes, regional or local robotic associations, related organizations as well as organizations in the fields of R&D, manufacturing, application and services of the robot industry.

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PHD PHD is a leading manufacturer of industrial automation actuators, designed to help companies across all industries optimize their manufacturing processes. phdinc.com

Wittenstein

From machine tools or woodworking and packaging machines through robotics and handling equipment to food processing, pharmaceutical and medical technology or intralogistics, Wittenstein actuators keep you one step ahead of the competition. wittenstein-us.com

Ham-Let More than half a century of excellence servicing the high purity and process industries with designing, developing, producing and marketing of fluid system components. ham-let.com

ATC The Actuator Technology Company operates independently and is located close to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

We are acclaimed and appreciated for offering vital design support during FEED and detailed design stage (EPC). atc-actuators.com

The Valve and Actuator Co We realise there is an urgent need to provide experienced technical support with competitive pricing.

We carry an extensive stock of electric and pneumatic actuators and general valves. valveandactuatorcompany.co.uk

Rethink Robotics Our patented SEA technology uses springs to advance the robot’s motion control solution from one of rigid positioning to one of force control. rethinkrobotics.com

Parker Parker actuators come in a wide range of construction types, ranging from compact light duty aluminum air actuators, motorized electric actuators, to heavy duty hydraulic designs. parker.com

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Marketplace

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21

Marketplace: technology Computing & Software

Arduino Arduino is an open-source computer hardware and software company, project and user community that designs and manufactures kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control the physical world. arduino.cc

Integration & Process

Cognex

Microcontrollers & Microchips

No matter what the machine vision application, Cognex offers a complete family of vision products—from standalone vision systems to 3D vision software— that provide unparalleled accuracy and repeatability. cognex.com

Sensors Ranesas

Alphasense

Renesas Electronics Corporation, the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad range of analog and power devices. renesas.com

Alphasense has established a reputation as a reliable source for a wide range of gas sensor technologies. We supply high-quality Oxygen,CO2, toxic and flammable Gas sensors to many of the world’s leading industrial OEMs. alphasense.com

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4D Technology

Sensiron

Offline programming has never been easier thanks to RoboDK. You don’t need to learn brand-specific languages anymore. RoboDK handles the robot controller syntax and outputs the right program for your robot. robodk.com

The Raspberry Pi is a series of credit cardsized single-board computers developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools. raspberrypi.org

Preferred integration starts with using plug-and-play technology, which means robots connect through Ethernet/IP with software and service interfaces that simplify design, operation and maintenance efforts to improve machine and overall line OEE. rockwellautomation.com

A world leader in providing the semiconductor solutions that make a positive contribution to people’s lives, both today and in the future. st.com

4D Technology designs and manufactures laser interferometers, surface roughness profilers and interferometry accessories.

4dtechnology.com

Sensirion is a leading sensor manufacturer, providing relative humidity sensors and flow sensor solutions with unique performance. sensirion.com

Evana Automation

Infineon

Sano

Hansford Sensors

Evana specializes in designing and implementing robotics automation solutions that fit your specific manufacturing needs. Let our robotics engineering and robotics manufacturing experts develop a custom robotics automation solution that meets your requirements. evanaautomation.com

We provide semiconductor and system solutions, focusing on three central needs of our modern society: Energy Efficiency, Mobility and Security. infineon.com

Sano is a biometric sensor and software company with a patented, breakthrough sensor that will help people understand what’s happening inside their bodies through continuously monitoring important markers in their bodies’ chemistry. sano.co

At Hansford Sensors, we design, develop and manufacture a wide range of high performance industrial accelerometers, vibration transmitters (loop powered sensors) and ancillary equipment. hansfordsensors.com

KUKA.WorkVisual Dassault Systemes Robotics Programmer provides a 3D environment where robot programmers can create, program, simulate and validate an entire robot workcell.

3ds.com

Programming. Configuration.

Loading. Testing. Diagnosis.

Modifying. Archiving. KUKA. WorkVisual groups all the steps of a project together in a homogenous offline development, online diagnosis and maintenance environment. kuka-robotics.com

Freescale Adept Adept has cultivated and maintained key partnerships with industry-leading integrators, OEMs, and machine builders across the globe and throughout numerous application segments. adept.com

NewBotic Corporation

Atmel

NewBotic is a robotic systems integrator, best known for its specialized engineering services that designs advanced transformative manufacturing and warehousing processes for a wide variety of industries. newbotic.com

Atmel Corporation is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency components. atmel.com Silicon Labs

FANUC Authorized Integrators Aldebaran by Softbank ABB RobotStudio Aldebaran enables both novices and experts to use its robots with ease. To do this, an SDK has been developed to support creation in the best way possible: 3D simulator, simple and intuitive programming software, C++ libraries, Python, .Net. aldebaran.com

RobotStudio provides the tools to increase the profitability of your robot system by letting you perform tasks such as training, programming, and optimization without disturbing production. abb.com

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An Authorized FANUC Integrator is ready to analyze your system requirements and provide a robotic solution that will improve quality, throughput, and productivity to give you the return on investment you are looking for. fanucamerica.com

Freescale Semiconductor enables secure, embedded processing solutions for the Internet of Tomorrow. Freescale’s solutions drive a more innovative and connected world, simplifying our lives and making us safer. freescale.com

Genesis Systems Genesis Systems Group designs, builds and implements robotic arc welding systems, assembly automation systems and robotic tooling, material handling solutions, non-destructive inspection cells and robotic waterjet cutting systems like nobody else. genesis-systems.com

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Silicon Labs is a team of hardware and software innovators dedicated to solving our customer’s toughest embedded design challenges. silabs.com

Texas Instruments

EMX

TI’s microcontroller platform offers innovative devices with integrated on-chip architectures, unique intellectual property, system expertise in key markets, and a comprehensive ecosystem of software, tools and support. ti.com

EMX is one of the world’s leading innovators of specialty sensors in the factory and process automation markets. Our sensors are used in automotive, packaging, labeling, metal stamping, paper and wood processing, plastics, electronics and pharmaceutical manufacturing. emxinc.com

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Synaptics Synaptics is a world leader in capacitive touch sensing technology. This patented technology is at the heart of our industry-standard TouchPad products and other solutions. synaptics.com

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22

Sensor Readings

Marketplace

Sensor Readings

Marketplace

23

Marketplace: companies Kawada

Kawasaki

SynTouch

3D Robotics 3DR helps people see their world from above. As North America’s largest personal drone company, 3DR is a pioneer in making advanced, easy-to-use drone technology.

3dr.com

For over 40 years, Kawasaki has been improving technology to meet the high demand of assembly applications. Kawasaki’s innovative hardware and software can help you solve your complex assembly challenges. kawasaki.com

SynTouch LLC developed and makes the only sensor technology in the world that endows robots with the ability to replicate - and sometimes exceed - the human sense of touch. syntouchllc.com

DENSO Robotics Yaskawa Yaskawa Motoman offers a wide range of industrial robotic arm models for high-speed precision assembly and small part handling including high-performance sixaxis robots; flexible seven-axis manipulators; dual-arm robots with 15 axes; and more. motoman.com

Universal Robots Universal Robots is a result of many years of intensive research in robotics. The product portfolio includes the collaborative UR3, UR5 and UR10 robot arms named after their payloads in kilos. universal-robots.com

Vecna Vecna’s robotic logistics solutions are a family of autonomous mobile robots, built to operate within human-centric environments. vecna.com

Cutting edge technology, class leading products and groundbreaking systems are only part of what you can expect when you choose DENSO Robotics. densorobotics.com

Schunk SCHUNK is one of the largest manufacturer for automation components, toolholders and workholding equipment. schunk.com

”Serving society through technology,” has been Kawada’s mission since its inception in 1922. Our mission has been accomplished through technological innovations in a vast range of operations, including projects involving transportation, energy, and information, all basic necessities of society. global.kawada.jp

Brain Corporation Energid

Stäubli Stäubli is a mechatronics solutions provider with three dedicated divisions: textile, connectors and robotics, serving customers who want to increase their productivity in many industrial sectors. staubli.com

Energid Technologies develops advanced software and robotic systems for the aerospace, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, defense, and medical industries. energid.com

Brain Corporation develops software, hardware, and cloud services for consumer robotics.

Our goal is to make intelligent and useful machines a part of everyday life with the world’s first training-based operating system for robots – BrainOS. braincorporation.com

Honda Robotics

Ekso Bionics

Bosch Robotics

DMG Mori Ellison

Honda has further advanced intelligence technologies enabling its advanced humanoid robot ASIMO to act autonomously and perform uninterrupted service to office guests. honda.com

Ekso Bionics helps survivors of stroke, spinal cord injury and other forms of lower extremity weakness to walk again. intl.eksobionics.com

We are working on Personal Robotics and the enabling technologies. Our interdisciplinary team conducts research on topics such as mobile manipulation, navigation, perception and semantic analysis of 3D data. bosch.us

DMG Mori Ellison Technologies is a provider of advanced machining solutions to North American metal-cutting manufacturers and their global affiliates. ellisontechnologies.com

Epson

iRobot

ASI

DAIHEN

With over 45,000 robots installed in factories throughout the world, many of the top manufacturing companies rely on Epson Robots every day to reduce production costs, improve product quality, increase yields and help increase their bottom line. epson.com

iRobot’s home robots are revolutionizing the way people clean – inside and out. More than 10 million home robots have been sold worldwide. www.irobot.com

Autonomous Solutions is a world leader in vendor independent vehicle automation systems. From our HQ in Utah, we serve clients in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions. asirobots.com

The DAIHEN Group makes it our mission to provide products and services indispensable to primary industries around the world, including first and foremost the power industry or so-called “lifeline” of society. daihen.co.jp

Robotiq Our goal is to enable all manufacturers to take full advantage of robotics. We work with robot manufacturers, system integrators and end-users to automate applications that require fexibility. robotiq.com

Dyson Dyson recently invested in a joint robotics lab with Imperial College London to investigate vision systems and engineer a generation of household robots. dyson.co.uk

TEUN

Future Robot

Clearpath Robotics

Axium

TEUN is a comprehensive concept, based on a smart unmanned machine, the PIQR. The concept has been developed to offer a solution for the frequently complex laborintensive and expensive way of unloading containers. teun.com

We, Future Robot, aim to create an exemplary service robot market. We deal with Coupon Advertising Robot, Mobile Infotainment Service, Robot Event Service, and many more.

We build the world’s best unmanned vehicles for research and development. Our products will save time, money and headaches on your next project. clearpathrobotics.com

Axium designs, manufactures and installs a complete range of automated solutions for robotic material handling (palletizing, depalletizing, case packing, and peripheral equipments) and transformation of plastic products. axiumsolutions.com

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Honeybee Robotics Since 1983, Honeybee has completed over 300 projects for NASA, the US Department of Defense, academia, industry and artists. honeybeerobotics.com

www.roboticsandautomationnews.com

Aethon Aethon is best known for its TUG autonomous mobile delivery robot which transports medications, meals and materials through hospitals. aethon.com

www.roboticsandautomationnews.com

Aurotek Aurotek delivers high valueadded services and solutions, and helping customers achieve greater value through its introduction of advanced and quality components, acquirement of new technology concepts. robot.com.tw

Apex Automation and Robotics Apex Automation and Robotics is an Australian company specialising in the design and manufacture of custom-built automation machines and robotic systems. apexautomation.com.au

Adept Adept systems provide unmatched performance and economic value throughout the production lifecycle, enabling customers to achieve precision, quality and productivity in their assembly, handling and packaging processes. adept.com

Reis Experts know REIS as creative pacemaker for process-oriented system solutions. Since 1957 our way has been going dynamically up.

The fundamentals: Inventive genius, competence, innovative power, and reliability. reisrobotics.de

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China’s robot revolution The world’s most populous nation now buys the most robots

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