The German Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics has run some experiments on man-machine collisions.
Here, it’s rather a case of a Kuku robotic arm against a mannequin head (the same as those you see in car crash-tests).
This type of experiment enables the development of anti-collision and safety mechanisms to be implemented in industrial robots in order to minimize the number of potential injuries.
These tests follow those we mentioned to you two weeks ago in this blog.
Warehouse robots that help with the packing and stacking of sugar bags, it’s a lot faster than “arms”.
At first glance, these bags of sugar must weigh about 50 kg each.
You can imagine the effort spent by workers on carrying out a similar type of loading.
Featured in this video, industrial robots by Kawasaki Robotics.
The level of speed is hard to compete with.
The manufacturers of industrial robots have seen a sharp increase in their activity for the first quarter of 2010 in the United States.
The number of orders jumped +16% while billing on sales skyrocketed by 30% for the first quarter of the year.
The comparison is made with the same quarter last year.
The RIA (Robotic Industries Association) noted that this represents 3069 robots sold for sales of 208 million dollars.
Robots for car manufacturers still represent the largest volume of orders.
Robotics manipulation hardware however represents the biggest growth in terms of sales.
The RIA was founded in 1974 and has 225 members (robotics manufacturers).
The video below shows three industrial robots in the process of sorting and placing salami of the Peperami brand (mini pepperoni).
The speed of execution enables an increase in productivity of +25% compared to the work being done by a human chain.
The FlexPicker by ABB Robotics can pick up three mini sausages at a time with its three pincers and individually arrange them in their places.
The arms are equipped with image analysis technology controlled by a central computer in order to determine the positions of the sausages at any time.
The speed is pretty astounding and reminds us of the Adept Quattro.
Adept Quattro is known for being the world’s fastest industrial robot in terms of packaging (picking/placing) objects.
Watch the video below to be convinced. The speed is simply incredible.
And, in order to make it more difficult, the person uses a Wii joystick which constantly moves the reception platform.
The robot doesn’t really seem unduly affected by this new parameter…
Adept Quattro can move up to 300 items per second, reaching accelerations of 200 m/s² and can lift up to 6 kg.
Details on adept.com/products/robots/parallel/quattro-s650h/general
According to Industrie.com, the Swiss-Swedish company, ABB, has launched a touchpad allowing the guided repair and maintenance of robots.
This tablet PC allows all minor operations to be carried out without necessarily using a technician on site.
It explains in detail the procedure to follow in case difficulties arise: photos, videos, technical drawings, supporting comments.
Rather than rely solely on specialists, from now on companies can train their technicians in this tablet.
At the moment this robotic iPad only works with the IRB 6600 model but several other models should be added soon.
According to Vincent Schramm, the Director of the French association for manufacturing technologies (SYMOP) in an article in Figaro, France has fallen behind its neighbours in terms of industrial robotics.
In France, the biggest companies are lowering the low purchase prices which is encouraging delocalisation.
The opposite is happening in Germany for example, where the biggest companies are giving guarantees to medium or long-term subcontractors.
Didier Bouvet, the director at Bucci Industries (manufacturing industrial robots), claims that “in France, a supplier can lose his main customer overnight without warning.”
Such a restraint can clearly make us wonder how companies can have an appetite to invest in industrial robotics in France.
A study by DGCIS (the General Directorate for Competitiveness, Industry and Services) and Symop underlines France’s delay in the robotics industry.
Germany is 6 times more advanced in robotization than France, and Italy 3 times.
GarbageBot is a robotic garbage can invented by Osaka University and Mitsubishi.
Its eyes contain laser recognition technology which allows it to separate waste: up to six different types of plastic.
Because GarbageBot will separate more than plastic to then be recycled, this will also enable reductions in CO2 emissions.
This project is supported by the Minister of Economy and Finance of Japan.
A robot that is quicker, more efficient and environmentally-friendly.
What more could you ask for?
The video below is not brand new but it mentions 10 important points and advantages for companies considering investing in robotics.
It’s speaking mainly about industrial robots, but some of these arguments can also be applied towards professional robotics.
Investing in robotics has a number of advantages.
Here are the top 10 presented by ABB Robotics, which has included the results of a survey carried out by the International Federation of Robotics:
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