ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION NEWS
Issue 20 December 2018
T he m ont hl y m ag az i ne for t he roboti cs and autom at ion indus t r y
Constructing the future-proofed robot
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Robotics & Automation News
Synchronise timepieces to see in the new year
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Editorial
Contents Future proofing: Constructing the future-proofed robot
Abdul Montaqim, Editor
s yet another year passes hastily by and we all wind down for the holidays, wondering where the past 12 months went, it seems a good time to reflect on the measurement of time. The ancients were clearly obsessed with it, as are we in the modern age. But whereas the ancients used giant, megalithic structures to track the movement of celestial bodies in order to find their place in time, we use the tiniest of instruments to locate ourselves to the minutest of moments. In the modern era, if it can be called that, the earliest recorded weight-driven mechanical clock was said to have been invented in England in 1283. For a century or two after that, there were differences between the way various nations kept time. Germany would start its daily cycle at midnight, whereas in Babylonia, they started theirs at sunrise, as might be expected since all of the megalithic structures in the Middle East seem to have some relationship with our nearest star as well as some distant ones. And while we take equal-length hours for granted as though they have always been with us, this system was only decided upon in the early 14th century. And it was only in the late-1600s that the mechanism of the pendulum provided clocks with enough accuracy to count the minutes and seconds in each of those 24 hours. In 1675, the spiral balance spring was invented, and it largely replaced the pendulum. The spiral balance spring is still used today in watches and clocks of many kinds. And since then, it’s just been a progressive improvement of the manufacturing process to the point where individual companies can mass produce millions upon millions of timepieces a year. In the current system of global timekeeping, the International Telecommunication Union is the final arbiter of what time it actually is. Numerous, synchronised systems are in operation globally to help us know what time it is. These systems incorporate the International Atomic Time standard, based on atomic clocks, of course, which are said to deviate by only one second in up to 100 million years. The actual atomic clocks used are hosted at various locations around the world, including the Greenwich Observatory, in London, England, and the US Naval Observatory in Colorado Springs, in the US. One particularly interesting thing about all this timekeeping activity is that astronomers discovered that it was more accurate to establish time by observing stars as they pass a meridian – such as the imaginary longitudinal line that goes through Greenwich – rather than by observing the position of our nearest star, the Sun. l editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
Exoskeletons The fast-growing exoskeleton market is set to exceed $5 billion in annual revenue News: Automotive robotics market to surpass $14 billion by 2026 News: Bright Machines raises $180 million
Manufacturing: ABB to build world’s most advanced robotics factory Art: Christie’s sells AI painting for nearly half a million dollars Robot sales: Global industrial sales double
Automotives: Stäubli opens fourth North America site
Voice applications: The changing face of maintenance repair Life sciences: Festo opens Boston development centre
Healthcare: Autonomous robots to assist in healthcare
Finance: Universal Robots machine rings the bell at the NYSE Scanners: Sick launches AGV forklift safety solution
Collaborative robots: Omron launches TM series family Compact market: Nachi-Fujikoshi launches the CZ10
Textiles: Automated quality control for the textiles industry
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Automotives
News
Automotive robotics market to surpass $14 billion by 2026, says Polaris
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he automotive robotics market is anticipated to reach over $14 billion by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. In 2017, the articulated robots dominated the global automotive robotics market, in terms of revenue. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the leading contributor to the global automotive robotics market revenue in 2017. There has been an increase in the demand of automotive robotics across the world owing to greater need for automation of manufacturing processes. With the increasing use of collaborative robots in automotive applications, the overall demand for robotics to also influence the automotive robotics market growth. Automotive robots are being adopted by small and medium sized organizations at a huge pace for automation of manufacturing processes. Market players are introducing application specific robots to meet the growing needs of the automotive industry. Growing need for automation and increasing labor costs further fuels the automotive robotics market growth. In addition, availability of affordable, high quality customized robotics solutions for diverse applications in the automotive industry stimulates the market growth. With international labor safety standards becoming more stringent, robots are being employed in hazardous environments in place of humans. Robots find application in situations that are dangerous and unsafe for human beings to work, such as working in irregular terrains and handling hazardous substances. Robots enable organizations to avoid risks and reduce the number of work accidents. This factor leads to greater adoption of robotics solutions in the global automotive industry. Owing to stiff competition in the global automotive market, players are introducing editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
low-cost and high-quality robots to meet consumer demands. The advancements in technology enable developers to design new innovative products while maintaining the affordability of the product. The recently developed robots are energy efficient and designed to serve specific applications in the automotive industry. Acceptance of such robots by small and medium businesses has increased owing to its low cost and increased flexibility. Asia-Pacific generated the highest revenue in the market in 2017, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. Growing demand from automotive industry for high-quality products, along with increasing labor costs encourages companies to invest in automotive robotics.
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The advancements in technology enable developers to design new innovative products while maintaining the affordability of the product.
With intense competition in the automotive industry, companies are setting up manufacturing facilities in these countries for timely deliveries of products to their customers. High demand of robots from Japan and South Korea would help in the growth of the automotive robotics market in the region. Other factors driving this market include rapid industrialization and increasing need for automation in manufacturing processes. The key players operating in the market include: l Fanuc l Rockwell Automation l ABB l Kawasaki Heavy Industries l Kuka l Denso l Mitsubishi Electric l Yaskawa Electric l Nachi-Fujikoshi l DiFacto Robotics and Automation These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers.l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Manufacturing
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News
Bright Machines raises $180 million for ‘software-defined manufacturing’
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tartup company Bright Machines has raised almost $180 million in Series A funding to expand its “software-defined manufacturing” and “totally automated manufacturing” offerings. Bright Machines describes softwaredefined manufacturing as the application of artificial intelligence to the $7 trillion manufacturing industry. The term “software-defined” is generally applied to computer networks, in the reasonably well-known phrase softwaredefined networks or networking. It refers to the trend of networks becoming less dependent on specific types or brands of hardware for smooth functioning. Instead, software is the critical component, and any open-source hardware can be used, which is supposed to work out cheaper. Making the software the central element is also supposed to enable the use of artificial intelligence systems to manage entire networks or operations.
Need for an overhaul Bright Machines says software, machine learning and artificial intelligence have been discussed in the manufacturing context for years, but using artificial intelligence and machine learning in place of humans today can result in production methods that are just as slow and expensive. Manufacturing needs to be overhauled to actually see true autonomy and massive productivity gains, says Bright Machines. The company’s leadership team includes senior executives from Google, Tesla and Siemens. Bright Machines’ CEO is Amar Hanspal, a former interim CEO of Autodesk. Its board includes Carl Bass, former CEO of Autodesk; Mike McNamara, chairman of Flex; Steve Luszo, CEO of Seagate. The $179 million Series A funding round was led by Eclipse Ventures. editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
The company is based in San Francisco, CA with factories worldwide Bright Machines says it brings together four key technologies needed for “complex and totally automated manufacturing”: l advanced robotics; l computer vision; l machine learning; and l digitized industry experience. Bright Machines’ first focus is building out
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AI that acts as an “industry expert” in the manufacturing process. The company has a dozen factories around the world today, and is already running with “tens-of-millions” in revenue. “Making physical products is hard,” says Hanspal. “At Bright Machines, we want to change that by making it as easy to manufacture physical products as it is to create digital ones.” l
At Bright Machines, we want to change that by making it as easy to manufacture physical products as it is to create digital ones. – Bright Machines, Amar Hanspal www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Features
Manufacturing
ABB to build ‘world’s most advanced’ robotics factory
Manufacturing: ABB plans to open its world leading factory in Shanghai by the end of 2020
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BB has announced a major, new $150 million investment in Shanghai, China, to build what it calls “the world’s most advanced, automated and flexible robotics factory – a cutting-edge centre where robots make robots, says the company”. The new Kangqiao manufacturing centre, near ABB’s China robotics campus, will combine the company’s connected digital technologies, including ABB Ability solutions, collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence research to create an environmentally sustainable “factory of the future.” It is expected to begin operating by the end of 2020. Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone for ABB as China’s #1 robotics manufacturer as well as a editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
critical global growth investment for the company in the world’s largest robotics market. In 2017, one of every three robots sold in the world went to China, which purchased nearly 138,000 units. Today, ABB employs approximately 5,000 people in Shanghai, and the company’s robotics businesses in China employ more than 2,000 engineers, technology experts and operational leaders in 20 locations across the country. ABB has invested more than $2.4 billion in China since 1992, with over 18,000 employees in total. ABB and the Shanghai municipal government today also signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement focused on supporting industry, energy, transport and infrastructure in the region, and to support the “Made in Shanghai” manufacturing initiative. The agreement was signed by Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong and ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “China’s commitment to transform its manufacturing is www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
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a torchlight for the rest of the world,” said Spiesshofer. “Its strategic embrace of the latest technologies for artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and cloud-based computing present a playbook for every country that wishes to have a globally competitive manufacturing base. “Shanghai has become a vital centre for advanced technology leadership – for ABB and the world. We look forward to working with Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong, other community leaders and our customers as we launch this major expansion of ABB’s substantial presence in China, building on our journey to become China’s leading Robotics manufacturer that started in Shanghai over two decades ago.” The new Shanghai factory will feature a number of machine learning, digital and collaborative solutions to make it the most advanced, automated and flexible factory in the robotics industry, says the company, and an onsite R&D centre will help accelerate innovations in artificial intelligence.
Design approach Using a new, global design approach that ABB announced earlier this year, the factory will be able to dramatically increase both the breadth (type of robots) and depth (variants of each type) of robots that can be made onsite, allowing greater and faster customisation to meet the needs of customers. ABB will also be able to combine this expanded portfolio of robotics into an almost limitless number of tailored solutions. “The concept behind this factory is the same advice we give our customers every day: invest in automation solutions that provide flexibility and agility to grow in whichever direction the market goes,” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics and Motion division. The entire Shanghai factory will be modelled as a digital twin, which will provide intuitively tailored dashboards for management, engineers, operators and maintenance experts to make the best decisions. This includes gathering and analysing intelligence through ABB Ability™ Connected Services on the health and performance of ABB robots in the factory to ensure early identification of potential anomalies. In addition to avoiding downtime, ABB Ability offers advanced digital solutions that can improve performance, reliability and energy usage, as well as providing access to the world’s best platforms, such as the Microsoft Azure enterprise cloud, which is the first international public cloud service operated in China. l
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Shanghai has become a vital centre for advanced technology leadership – for ABB and the world. – Ulrich Spiesshofer, ABB
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Christie’s sells AI painting for nearly half a million dollars
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orld-famous auction house Christie’s in New York has sold a painting produced by an artificial intelligence system for almost half a million dollars. The shock price is almost 45 times the $10,000 upper estimate the auctioneer had placed on the painting before the sale, as reported on this website. The painting, called “Portrait of Edmond Belamy”, sold for “an incredible $432,500”, in Christie’s own words on its website. The auction house says the sale is “signalling the arrival of AI art on the world auction stage”. Christie’s says the painting, if that is the right term, is one of a group of portraits of the fictional Belamy family created by Obvious, a Parisbased collective consisting of Hugo Caselles-Dupré, Pierre Fautrel and Gauthier Vernier. They are engaged in exploring the interface between art and artificial intelligence, and their method goes by the acronym GAN,
which stands for “Generative Adversarial Network”. Caselles-Dupré says: “The algorithm is composed of two parts. On one side is the Generator, on the other the Discriminator. We fed the system with a data set of 15,000 portraits painted between the 14th century to the 20th. “The Generator makes a new image based on the set, then the Discriminator tries to spot the difference between a human-made image and one created by the Generator. The aim is to fool the Discriminator into thinking that the new images are real-life portraits. Then we have a result.” While the sale price of this particular painting is not typical of AI art, there does seem to be some interest in the form. The Robot Art competition recently gave away $100,000 to artists who used robots and AI to produce what looked like visually interesting works. l
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Features
Exoskeletons
Walking tall Exoskeletons: The fast-growing exoskeleton market is set to exceed $5 billion in annual revenue, says report
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he fast-growing exoskeleton market is forecast to exceed $5 billion in annual revenue over the next 10 years, according to consultants at ABI Research. Across a range of applications, exoskeletons are increasingly being introduced to augment human capability for assistive purposes in the workplace, and for enabling and rehabilitative purposes for the healthcare market. Though a technology that has been talked about since the Sixties, exoskeletons are only now beginning to demonstrate their practical value. As of 2018, global shipments stand at 7,000 units with a global hardware revenue of $192 million. But, this is all expected to change very rapidly, with total shipments expected to reach over 91,000 by 2023 and 301,000 by 2028. Global revenue for the suits will increase $5.8 billion in editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
2028, according to ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies. “The market gets healthier with each passing month. The culmination of start-up activity, an increasingly permissive regulatory environment, improving drive and materials technology, and partnerships with larger corporations suggest the exo-market is in the best position it has ever been,” says Rian Whitton, robotics research analyst at ABI Research.
Adoption Companies such as Sarcos, German Bionic, and Indego, are driving adoption across both the industrial and healthcare sectors. Until very recently, Exoskeletons have been something of a novelty, but now, advancements in the technology have made them viable for developed economies. For example, power consumption has been a longstanding problem and now the efficiency of battery technology has www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Automotives extended the viable use-time for powered exo-suits. German Bionic, a manufacturer of upper-body powered exo-suits, uses a replaceable lithium-ion battery that lasts up to 8 hours on the factory floor. Considering that the aging population and systemic skills shortage in developed countries is forcing companies to invest more in the workforce they already have, exoskeletons will become a force-multiplier in improving productivity, and in avoiding and mitigating against injuries. In the long run, their adoption will save billions of dollars of waste every year accrued from lost hours due to physical injury. The future value of exoskeletons is not limited to industry, however. The deployment of rehabilitation-focused exoskeletons by companies like Parker Hannifin, which owns Indego, and Cyberdyne showcases their potential in the enormous global Health market. Now though, the momentum for exoskeletons is in the workspace. Sarcos Robotics, which plans to release its full-body exoskeleton in 2019, is targeting most industrial markets, from manufacturing and warehousing to construction and extraction. Large tier-ones and original equipment manufacturers are taking note, from General Electric to Caterpillar, exoskeletons are being deployed at an accelerating rate. In terms of market revenue, the distribution is tilted heavily towards industrial and commercial applications. The industrial market for exoskeletons – including
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manufacturing, construction, utilities and so on – is expected to reach revenues of $2.8 billion by 2028, while by the same time, commercial use-cases – notably, health and warehouse logistics – will be worth $2 billion. But there are barriers to exoskeleton adoption. Exoskeletons are still expensive and the deployment of these complex systems requires further partnerships between OEMs, distributors and service providers. More work needs to be done in creating modular platforms that can be retrofitted with a range of capable end-effectors to widen market appeal.
Data collection There also must be increased emphasis placed on the data collection and cognitive capabilities of exoskeletons, as autonomous smart devices that provide valuable insights to floor managers regarding worker performance and health. On most trade-floors and industry events related to robotics, exoskeletons have yet to garner the attention of other innovative robotic technologies, namely collaborative robots and autonomous vehicles. “As their value across a wide range of verticals becomes more apparent and services lower the barriers to adoption, this will change rapidly,” Whitton says. These findings are from ABI Research’s Robotic Exoskeletons: Classes, Markets, and Applications report. This report is part of the company’s Robotics, Automation & Intelligent Systems research service, which includes research, data, and executive foresights. l
The market gets healthier with each passing month.
Rian Whitton, ABI Research
Stäubli opens fourth North America site
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täubli announced the opening of a new training facility and service centre in Novi, Michigan (USA). The facility provides support for Stäubli customers in all industrial sectors with a special focus on the automotive industry. The new facility will also serve as a sales, service and engineering center for Stäubli’s robotic, fluid and electrical connector customers. This new site is in line with the current growth strategy of Stäubli group, focusing on organic growth as well as targeted acquisitions, ensuring its clients receive innovative and comprehensive products and technologies. Other North American sites include the company’s North American headquarters in Duncan, South Carolina, Stäubli Electrical Connectors’ headquarters in Windsor, California, and a sales and service facility in Querétaro, Mexico. l editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
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Constructing the future-proofed robot Features
Future-proofing
Insight: Kyle Fazzari, software engineer and roboticist at Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu operating system, discusses the concepts that will be built into the robots of the future
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here’s no such thing as an overnight success. Time and again, it’s the desire to tweak, modify and update which separates a great idea from realworld achievements. With Apple as the first business to cross the $1 trillion threshold, there’s no better example of this than the iPhone. As a singular product it still doesn’t boast the best camera, the most storage, or fastest processor on the market. So where does the secret to longevity lie? And what can robotics learn from Apple’s flagship product?
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The future of robotics lies in allpurpose; those that can adapt over time and take on new capabilities through a comprehens ive set of third-party applications.
Adapt to survive The realisation that the iPhone could be more than just the sum of its parts has ensured its continued dominance. From touch screen to biometric safe, a camera in your pocket to a comprehensive suite of photographic tools, and a web browser that has learnt to leverage AI to speak every language known to man. Evolution is the answer: the App Store is the story. The App Store turned a singular device into a multitasking necessity for millions of consumers. And the iPhone remains a vessel for developers, entrepreneurs, and data scientists in their pursuit for more. Other technologies, however, are beginning to take note, having learnt that openness and the integration of new features is the best way to future proofing your product. It’s only a matter of time before robots, and the companies behind them, learn to do this with ease, opening up new revenue streams in the process.
Realising the potential According to a recent IDC report, worldwide spending on robotics hardware, software, and wider services will reach $230.7 billion by the year 2021. Robots already capture the headlines – both positive and negative – and attract some of the brightest talent. There’s no doubt it’s one of the most exciting industries and transformative technologies of our time. In editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
its current form, however, it also happens to be one of the most limiting. That’s not to say amazing work is not done every day. Take the Google-funded RangerBot – an underwater machine whose job it is to track down one deadly species of starfish responsible for coral reefs destruction. And even closer to home, the likes of iLife or Ecovacs and their robot mops to keep your floors clean. Impressive indeed, but all robots designed with a single purpose in mind. Getting the fundamentals right is crucial – from updating the operating system to security – but it’s also important to ask the question: “What next?” We’ve seen a number of robotics companies that run Ubuntu tackle a very particular issue when first bringing a robot to market, before looking to build on that success. Take Small Robot Company, and its array of agricultural bots – Tom, Dick and Harry – each designed to care for individual crops within a farmer’s portfolio. Or BotsAndUs, and its autonomous assistant, Bo. For these companies, one robot could be the endgame. The opportunity to deliver ongoing rewards, with a single robot the enabler of multiple and varied solutions.
Prepare for all-purpose The future of robotics lies in all-purpose; those that can adapt over time and take on new capabilities through a comprehensive set of third-party applications. Not every robot needs to be all-purpose – or even multi-purpose for that matter – because there will always be a need for highly specialised solutions to particular problems. But the existence of all-purpose robots will have broad implications, both for businesses and the technology. Crucially, we’ll see the creation of a two-tiered robotics industry: the providers of hardware on one side, and those that build software on top of them on the other. In time, software will replace hardware as the fundamental element in a robot’s worth. Security and reliability will remain the building blocks, with collaboration opening the doors to smarter robots, able to extend their lifespans through third-party apps. That’s where a technology like Ubuntu Snaps comes in. Snaps are containerised software packages, easy to create, safe to run, and with the ability to update automatically and transactionally to ensure a robot never breaks. www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Future-proofing Once a manufacturer opens up a robot’s APIs, developers can create their own programs and evolve the use cases of a machine. The real value of a robot, therefore, will only arrive alongside a comprehensive app store, which continually adds value to the hardware.
The robotics app store Imagine a humanoid robot created as a companion for the elderly. Its purpose is to minimise loneliness, but there’s the potential to do so much more. Allowing control or sensor use via APIs, along with supporting external applications, will help elevate the robot beyond a single use case. Monitoring a patient’s movements through cameras with consent, for example, could feed into research around arthritis; measuring vitals after medication doses would assess the worth of new drugs; and integrating delivery platforms would transform the robot assistant into a personal shopper and concierge. All this will ensure the companion
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The real value of a robot, therefore, will only arrive alongside a comprehensive app store, which continually adds value to the hardware.
Features continues to cater to the needs of its audience. Even if the robot isn’t general-purpose, access to an app store can still open up alternative revenue streams, in which new functionality can be exchanged for a fee. Subscription-based robotics models are already being implemented in an industrial setting by SRC, with farmingas-a-service ensuring farmers only pay for the exact work achieved by the robot, rather than the robot itself. Businesses will then be able to learn on the job and develop solutions on top of the hardware, such as realtime packaging or predictive maintenance. Value, therefore, is extended beyond the initial point of sale. Taking robots mainstream Robots remain a luxury to the ordinary person. Increasing their longevity and use through apps, however, could hold the answer to accelerating their adoption across different industries. Lower cost automation will benefit from the creation of a robotics app store, while developers can leverage Snaps to revolutionise a robot’s initial purpose and continue to innovate. A perfect robot does not have to be general-purpose, but the software opportunities they create will ensure robotics continues past the point of sale, benefitting both the business and buyer. l
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Voice Applications
A voice for the changing face of maintenance repair and overhaul
IIoT voice applications: MRO is an acronym for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul. MRO is any action that helps keep or restore an item to its working condition. MRO applications are making an enormous impact in industries such as aviation and aerospace, logistics and transportation, automotive, energy, field asset management, and quality control. Bob Bova, President and CEO of AccuSpeechMobile, reports
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RO is an acronym for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul. MRO is any action that helps keep or restore an item to its working condition. MRO applications are making an enormous impact in industries such as aviation and aerospace, logistics and editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
transportation, automotive, energy, field asset management, and quality control. In the maintenance, repair, and mobile inspection market, users and vendors are starting a diligent move toward application development for tasks in the field (and in facilities). This evolution to mobile applications marks an improvement in service delivery, asset management, trend analysis, and most importantly, worker safety. IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) has made it possible to track and reduce the high costs of maintenance by managing the inspection information on a timely basis. The use of IIoT is a far more efficient way to collect data that increases worker safety as well as data integrity. Because it is collected in 24/7 real-time, data and apps can be used all day, every day, and anywhere in the world. Adding voice interface to the mix allows for a handsfree MRO process. Keeping hands on a wrench, rather www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Voice Applications
than looking down and pushing buttons on a screen, voice enabling the interface to these mobile applications is changing the MRO to a best-practice, continuous process, lean manufacturing model. Collecting data becomes a more powerful tool on many levels starting with a standardized process (for everyone using the system). Since the voice interface requires processes to be completed in the correct sequence of steps, voicedirected input on method and condition ensures consistency and accuracy. Management is empowered with data for comprehensive trend analyses, removing workarounds, and managing employees more effectively.
Improving safety and productivity The standardization mandated through voice-enabled MRO drives significant productivity gains, often as significant as 50 percent improvement. Staff performing the inspections with the new voice interface regard the process easier to follow, and worker satisfaction also increases. This drives employee engagement and retention. Most applications for mobile data collection are installed and run on mobile devices as client applications; they frequently are not connected to the cloud, rather they are installed on the mobile devices. With device-based implementation for the voice interface, workers can be miles from any connectivity and still collect data all day long. These devices include laptops, tablets, smartphones and other smart, mobile
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Since the voice interface requires processes to be completed in the correct sequence of steps, voice-directed input on method and condition ensures consistency and accuracy.
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devices that can install and run a robust mobile application. The ability to have an intelligent voice client on a device – regardless of connectivity – allows voiceenabled applications to fit a wide range of MRO deployments in the field.
Voice-enabled: The new standard Voice automation provides detailed error messages, warnings about data that fall out of acceptable ranges, pre-load information already collected in other screens, as well as provide detailed instruction for new or troublesome event reporting. Voice control guarantees operations are more efficient by utilizing inspection personnel with seamless integration responses. Predefined maintenance or inspection procedures are updated in real-time again promising consistency and uniformity. l Robert Bova, CEO, AccuSpeechMobile
About the Author: Robert Bova has served as the President and CEO of AccuSpeechMobile for 12 years, successfully introducing the innovative AccuSpeechMobile voice solution to the marketplace from the company’s early years, to today, the fastest growing mobile workforce voice productivity company. Bova works closely with a growing number of fortune-class customers, understanding
customer objectives, and helping customers further optimize business processes and mobile operations. He has a successful track record surpassing corporate goals with special
competence in entrepreneurial, start-up, rapid growth, M&A and public companies. At US Bank/Oliver Allen Corporation, he created the Secure Networking Division and grew it to over $12 million, and at the ISG division (SSL Technology) at Rainbow Technologies, he grew the business operations from zero to $56 million. Bova holds an MBA in Marketing from National University and a BA from Syracuse University.
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Life Sciences
Festo opens Boston development centre
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utomation specialist Festo has officially opened its first development centre for components and automation solutions specifically for the life science market in Boston, USA. The USA is at the forefront of the global life science market. This is where most industry-relevant innovations and new technologies emerge. In order to participate in these developments at an early stage, Festo began setting up a Technical Engineering Center (TEC) in Boston at the end of 2017. The aim of the newly opened TEC Boston is to develop innovative products together with renowned medical and laboratory equipment manufacturers in the immediate vicinity. TEC Boston focuses on the development of new technologies for components and systems for handling liquids such as pipetting, aspiration and dispensing. The industry's demands on these processes are high throughput, reproducible and accurate results at low cost. Festo has a great deal of expert knowledge from its many years of experience in the manufacturing industry, which it now also offers for laboratory automation. Festo has launched the unique, compact EHMD rotary gripper module for laboratory automation. It can both grip and rotate sample vials and easily opens even the smallest sample vials up to 15 millilitres in volume. The company has developed the VTOE dispense head especially for handling liquids. It meets the high requirements of sample analysis: high precision even with the smallest dosing volumes as well as a high degree of reliability and reproducibility. With up to eight independent dosing channels, the VTOE dispense head enables a wide range of applications. Festo is bringing the "Swabian" inventive talent from Germany to Massachusetts to open up the life science market there in networks with the renowned local universities and science centres and supply it with innovative and efficient solutions for laboratory automation. Since 2004, the global family-owned company has been developing components and system solutions for plant manufacturers specialising in the automation of laboratory processes and the manufacture of medical devices. Due to the annual double-digit growth rate, this business area has been a separate division at Festo since 2015 and is being continuously expanded. In laboratory automation, the focus is on the development of intelligent, tested products and subsystems for the automation of liquid and sample handling. In medical technology, Festo develops products and subsystems for medical devices. The focus is on the efficient regulation and control of process and medical gases. l
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Autonomous robots to assist in healthcare
Healthcare: Swisslog and Savioke are introducing a new autonomous service robot for the healthcare industry
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wisslog Healthcare, in conjunction with robotics company, Savioke, have launched Relay robot, a new autonomous service robot for application in healthcare settings. Initially deployed for pharmacy and laboratory pick-up and delivery, the Relay robot helps hospitals optimize labor productivity. Cory Kwarta, North America president, Swisslog www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Healthcare
Healthcare, says: “Today’s healthcare environment challenges nurses, lab techs, and pharmacists to decide how they spend their valuable time. “The Relay ASR is an advanced delivery technology helping hospitals optimize labor productivity and more effectively allocate resources to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.” The Relay robot safely and reliably transports items throughout the hospital, freeing up nurses, pharmacists, lab techs, and other skilled workers to focus on more valuable work and patient care. Able to operate elevators, doors and navigate in busy public corridors, Relay delivers medicines, blood, lab specimens, snacks and documents safely and reliably 24 hours a day. Contracts Several hospitals in the US and Europe have contracted with Swisslog Healthcare to deploy Relay robots to improve lab and pharmacy workflow. Hutchinson Health, in Minnesota, deployed Relay in May to deliver blood and specimens between the central laboratories and adjoining clinics and is already seeing significant skilled labor savings each day. Steve Cousins, founder and CEO, Savioke, says: “After four years providing service in the hospitality industry,
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Features
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The Relay ASR is an advanced delivery technology helping hospitals optimize labor productivity and more effectively allocate resources...”
we are thrilled to see Relay doing such important work in the healthcare space. “With many hospitals already short staffed, Relay can handle the tasks that typically take skilled healthcare workers away from their primary, critical responsibility of caring for or serving patients.”
– Cory Kwarta, Swisslog Healthcare
Contacts Interested persons working in the pharmacy field, hospital operations, or hospital engineering and construction can meet Relay and talk with the Swisslog Healthcare solutions team at the American Pharmacists Association Joint Federal Pharmacy Seminar October 21-14 in Kansas City, Missouri and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists show December 2-6 in Anaheim, California. Swisslog Healthcare, located in Broomfield, CO, is a leading provider of medication management and automated material transport to hospitals and health systems. Savioke, located in San Jose, California, pioneered service robots operating safely, securely, and reliably in human environments. The two companies have combined strengths to create a new category of robots uniquely designed for improving workflow in healthcare settings. Relay robot is proudly built in the USA. l
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Finance
A ringing success Finance: A Universal Robots machine has become the first robot to the ring bell at the New York Stock Exchange
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he ringing of the closing bell on October 17, 2018, at the New York Stock Exchange was highly unusual as the prestigious task was performed not by a human, but by a robot arm. The bell ringer, Universal Robots’ UR5e with a twofingered gripper from Robotiq, is a collaborative robot able to work alongside people with no safety guarding, giving watchers worldwide the opportunity to see just editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
how easily cobots interact with humans. Universal Robots pioneered the market by selling the first commercially viable cobot in 2008 and has kept its early frontrunner position with a 60 percent global share of the cobot market, selling more cobots than all competitors combined. Earlier this year, UR announced the sale of its 25,000th cobot.
ROBO Global anniversary This NYSE bell ringing celebrates the five-year anniversary of ROBO Global, the first-ever robotics, automation and AI index. Launched in October 2013, ROBO invests in more than 80 of the most innovative companies across the www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Scanners
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Sick launches AGV forklift safety solution
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globe, spanning 12 subsectors from manufacturing to healthcare to sensing. Travis Briggs, CEO of ROBO Global US, says: “We have long admired UR as a pioneer and global leader in the collaborative robotics market. Since acquiring UR in 2015, Teradyne has been a key growth driver in the ROBO Global Index. We are thrilled that Teradyne generously agreed to join the ROBO Global team for this one-of-a-kind NYSE bell ringing." Representing Universal Robots and Teradyne was Stuart Shepherd, regional sales director of UR’s Americas division. Shepherd says: “With this event, we celebrate not just the success of robotics in empowering customers and investors, but also the successes of our customers in innovating and changing their workplace with cobots. “The bell ringing reflects our continued commitment towards making cobots an easy-to-integrate piece of a company’s operations platform.” l editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
ick has developed the Safe AGV Forklift, a PLd/SIL2certified safety solution that enables a driverless forklift to continue to operate productively when the forks are in the loadcarrying position. The Sick Safe AGV Forklift is claimed to solve ‘stop-start frustration’, which slows operation and leads to wear and tear of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) fitting with a forklift: when the protective laser scanning fields are infringed because the forks are down, the AGV must be brought to a safe stop. Designed specifically for AGV forklifts with a drive wheel, the device integrates two laser scanners providing protective fields in front and behind the vehicle, with a controller and an encoder to monitor the speed of the vehicle. The Sick AGV Forklift is a functional safety system designed to meet both current EN1525 and forthcoming ISO 3691-4 safety standards. Seb Strutt, Sick UK’s Senior Product Manager for Machinery Safety, said: “When the Sick Safety Laser Scanner protective field is obscured by the forks carrying a load, or during loading and unloading, the AGV can continue to proceed at a safe speed of 0.3m/sec, without requiring personnel supervision. “In addition, the Sick scanners operate a warning detection field as well as a protective stop field, so that the AGV slows when objects are sensed at a distance, reducing the wear and downtime associated with
constant start/stop operation.” The system comprises a Sick S3000 remote laser scanner for forward scanning and S300 Mini Remote laser scanner for rear scanning, a Sick DFS60S Pro safety encoder and a Flexi Soft CPU controller with associated modules and function blocks, including a Sick Drive Monitor. The Sick S3000 laser scanner has a maximum distance measuring range of 49 m, a warning field range also of 49 m, and a stop protective field of 7 m, and can be programmed for up to 64 different fields. The Sick S300 laser scanner has a maximum distance measuring range of 30 m, a warning field range of 8 m and a stop protective field of 3 m. The S300 can be programmed for up to three fields. The Sick DFS60S Pro safety encoder is a blind hollow shaft incremental encoder, for 60 mm drive shafts, certified for PLd/SIL2 safety installations. The package is completed by a Sick Flexi Soft pcu controller, with function blocks that can be selected to meet different AGV models and requirements. l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
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Collaborative Robots
Omron launches TM Series collaborative robot family
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mron has announced the global launch of the TM series collaborative robot family in 40 countries in order to “realize an innovative manufacturing environment where humans and machines work in harmony”, says the company. As changing consumer trends continue to shorten product life cycles, manufacturers are increasingly looking to quickly and flexibly set up production lines to meet frequent product change-overs. In addition, as labor shortage become more "real" manufacturers are striving to automate the simpler and monotonous tasks, making it increasingly necessary to create a workplace where people can contribute with more creative tasks. Omron's TM series provides a unique solution to easily install a robot to automate applications such as picking, packing, and screwdriving which, although traditionally performed by humans, can be challenging to easily automate.
Mobile-compatible model As part of the TM series launch, Omron will release a “mobile-compatible" model which will seamlessly integrate into the market leading LD series autonomous mobile robot. By integrating the mobile-ready TM series with the LD series, users can take automate more complex tasks such as pick and place onto a tray / into a container and flexibly automate by connecting processes with autonomous mobile robots. The company highlights three key features of the TM Series collaborative robot:
Reduced installation and setup times compared to traditional industrial robots. The flowchart-based intuitive programming interface and easy teaching require little to no previous robot programming experience. The TM series comes with built-in vision and integrated lighting, allowing the user to capture products with a wide viewing angle. Equipped with image sensing functions such as pattern matching, bar code reading, and color identification, this robot system makes inspection, measurement and sorting applications extremely easy to set up out of the box. The TM series conforms with all safety standards that enable cooperation between humans and machines and can be safely operated around people without industrial safety fencing traditionally required for industrial robots, greatly reducing the installation time. It conforms to safety requirements for industrial robots ISO10218-1 as well as safety requirements for collaborative industrial robots ISO/TS15066. l
Robot helps Fanuc America break ground on new facility in US
Fanuc America Corporation, supplier of robotics, CNC systems, robomachines and Industrial IoT solutions held a ground breaking ceremony on 23 October to mark the start of construction of its new North Campus facility in Auburn Hills, MI, USA. “Robotics and automation are key drivers of manufacturing competitiveness,” said Mike Cicco, president & CEO, Fanuc America. “We’re looking forward to expanding our facilities here in Oakland County to keep pace with the growing demand for automation.” “To highlight the importance of robotics editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
in the manufacturing sector, we’ve included one of our robots today to help us break ground,” added Cicco. Employees, customers and guests cheered as the robot broke ground along with Fanuc executives and several local and
state dignitaries, including: Congressman Mike Bishop; Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson; Auburn Hills Mayor Kevin McDaniel and MEDC Rep. Ricardo Gonzales. Fanuc’s products are applied in a wide range of industries including automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, food, pharmaceuticals, logistics and warehousing. Scheduled to open in the autumn of 2019, the new North Campus will house engineering, product development, manufacturing and warehousing. The $51 million expansion is expected to create 100 jobs. www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
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Compact Market
Features
Nachi-Fujikoshi launches the CZ10 collaborative robot
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achi-Fujikoshi has launched the CZ10, a compact collaborative robot offering improved safety and operability. The company says the robot “will satisfy automation needs across a wide range of fields, including customers who have been unfamiliar with robots to date”. The firm made its full-scale entry into the compact robot market in 2013. In the time since, it has continued to expand and update its lineup, amassed expertise in the utilization of compact robots and worked on the development, improvement and functional enhancement of collaborative robots. The CZ10 is claimed to feature exceptional safety performance, with a safety design that meets the ISO10218-1 and TS15066 international safety standards, making it possible for a person to work side-by-side with the robot without the need for a safety barrier.
Detecting contact In functional terms, the robot detects contact with a person and shuts down or moves away in response. In terms of design, the robot is designed to maintain a certain distance between its arms and other components to avoid a person’s finger or other body part getting caught between moving parts. Until now, areas such as food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics and the assembly of components have been handled with production lines of people working in close proximity. As CZ10 robots can be introduced without requiring major production line design changes, automation can be achieved in a flexible and speedy way. The CZ10 is equipped with linear motion and a new
direct teaching feature that enables teaching with the hands maintaining a given orientation. Additionally, by adopting the same design as conventional industrial robots where the wrist and pivot are arranged along the same straight line, the company has pursued operability that will appeal to a wide range of customers regardless of their experience controlling robots.
Improving efficiency In the areas of electric machinery and electronics, with their short product lifecycles, production lines undergo frequent changes. By enabling fast programming such as direct teaching and simple setup, even these industries are able to shorten line start-up times and improve production efficiency. Sensors are equipped not only in the motor but in the reducer to achieve high-precision positional control. Accordingly, precise tasks previously performed by experienced workers are also supported. l
Pizza Hut and Toyota unveil pizza-making pickup truck
Pizza Hut has joined forces with Toyota to develop the zero-emission Tundra PIE Pro, a mobile pizza factory with the ability to deliver oven-hot pizza wherever it goes. The full-size-pizza-making truck was introduced at Toyota’s 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show presentation. The Tundra PIE Pro features a unique truck bed that has been converted into a virtual pizza factory on wheels—also known as “The Kitchen”—which contains a refrigerator, a pair of computer-guided editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
robotic arms, and a portable conveyor oven. Like the truck itself, all components in The Kitchen are powered by a hydrogen fuelcell electric powertrain. The pizza-making process takes six to seven minutes. Built to make pizza on the go, the Tundra PIE Pro presents an untapped opportunity for
Pizza Hut to expand its delivery radius without compromising the quality of the pizza, allowing a broader base of customers to have oven-hot pizza delivered to their doorstep. Nicolas Burquier, Chief Customer and Operations Officer, Pizza Hut, US, said: “We are exploring next-generation solutions and automation to support and streamline our delivery business in the future.” Earlier this year, Toyota announced the EPallete Alliance, which includes Pizza Hut, and unveiled a fully-autonomous concept vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show. www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Stitch perfect Features
Textiles: Hong Kong university has developed an automated quality control system for the textiles industry
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he Hong Kong Polytechnic University says it has developed an intelligent fabric defect detection system, called "WiseEye", which leverages advanced technologies including artificial intelligence and deep learning in the process of quality control in the textile industry. PolyU says the system effectively minimises the chance of producing substandard fabric by 90 percent, substantially reducing loss and wastage in the production. It helps to save manpower as well as enhance the automation management in the textile manufacturing. Supported by AI-based machine-vision technology, the novel WiseEye can be installed in a weaving machine to help fabric manufacturers to detect defects instantly in the production process, says PolyU. Through the automatic inspection system, the production line manager can easily detect the defects, thus helping them to identify the cause of the problems and fix them immediately. WiseEye is developed by the Textile and Apparel Artificial Intelligence Research Team, which is spearheaded by Prof Calvin Wong, Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion of Institute of Textiles and Clothing, PolyU. Textile manufacturers currently rely on human efforts to randomly inspect the fabric by naked eyes. Due to human factors such as negligence or physical fatigue, defect detection by human labour is usually inconsistent and unreliable.
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Textiles
Textile manufacturers also attempted to use some other fabric inspection systems, but those systems were not able to meet the industry needs. Ensuring quality in the fabric production becomes a great challenge to the industry. Prof Calvin Wong says: “WiseEye is a unique AI-based inspection system that satisfies the requirements of textile manufacturers. It is an integrated system with a number of components that perform different functions in the inspection process.
High-power LED light bar “The system is embedded with a high-power LED light bar and a high-resolution charge-coupled device camera which is driven by an electronic motor and is mounted on a rail to capture images of the whole width of woven fabric during the weaving process. “The captured images are pre-processed and fed into the AI-based machine vision algorithm to detect fabric defects. Real-time information gathered throughout the detection process will be sent to the computer system, and analytical statistics and alert can be generated and displayed as and when needed. “The research team has applied Big Data and Deep Learning technologies in WiseEye. By inputting data of thousands yards of fabrics into the system, the team has trained WiseEye to detect about 40 common fabric defects with exceptionally high accuracy resolution of up to 0.1 mm/pixel. “In view of the numerous fabric structures that give great variations in fabric texture and defect types, automatic fabric defect detection has been a challenging and unaccomplished mission in the past two decades. “Our innovative introduction of AI, Big Data and Deep Learning technologies into WiseEye not only is a technological breakthrough that meets the industry
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Textiles
Features Prof Wong’s team integrates artificial intelligence, big data, deep learning and machine-vision technologies in “WiseEye”, which enhances the automation of quality control in textile manufacturing.
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needs; but also marks a significant milestone in the quality control automation for the traditional textile industry.” WiseEye has been put on trial for over six months in a real-life manufacturing environment. Results show that the system is able to reduce 90 percent of the loss and wastage in fabric manufacturing process when compared with traditional human visual inspection. That means the system helps cut down production cost while enhancing production efficiency at the same time.
Further plans At the moment, WiseEye can be applied to most types of fabrics with different weaving structures and solid colours. The research team plans to further train and extend the system to detect defects in fabrics with more challenging patterns, such as complicated strip and check patterns. The ultimate target is to cover all common kinds of fabric in five years’ time. Prof Wong and the TAAI research team have been conducting fundamental and applied research on AI, computer vision and machine learning, specifically for the fashion and textile industry since 2012.
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The team has earlier introduced the first-of-its-kind FashionAI Dataset which integrates fashion and machine learning for systematic analysis of fashion images through the use of AI. The Dataset helps advance the fashion industry and develop a new mode for fashion retail. Areas covered by their other projects include intelligent textile material and apparel quality inspection, large-scale fabric swatch and fashion image searching and fashion sales forecasting. The team has also collaborated with various local and international companies in a number of research projects and published research articles in world-leading journals, including IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, and IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. Some of the articles are ranked by Essential Science Indicators as the top 1 percent of the most cited articles in related fields. l
In view of the numerous fabric structures that give great variations in fabric texture and defect types, automatic fabric defect detection has been a challenging and unaccompli shed mission in the past two decades.
– Prof Calvin Wong, PolyU
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