PINTO’S PROSE

Sensors and Intelligence Key to Industrial Robotics Future, by Jim Pinto

Future robot systems cannot be a mere extrapolation of today’s technology, but should generate whole new application arenas.

The industrial robotics market keeps growing at about 8 percent annually toward about $5 billion a year over the next few years. Long-awaited burgeoning growth continues to elude this market because the current generation of products still yields only incremental improvements in manufacturing processes.

In the ’70s, robots were introduced for the automation of a wide spectrum of tasks: automobile and electronics assembly, machining of metal and plastic parts, and handling of production items of all kinds. To this day, the automotive and electronics industries and their supply chains are the main users of robot systems, accounting for more than 60 percent of total annual industrial robotics sales.

Today, customers consider industrial robots primarily from the viewpoint of faster manufacturing cycle times. In countries that are traditionally considered large robotics markets, the growth of the installed base has slowed, and only new small and medium-sized factories are considering robotics solutions for more efficient customized production in smaller lots. The ability to customize, and production speed, are primary market factors... Read more

» Feed Forward: Putting Intelligence In, by Gary Mintchell
When we started Automation World, my mantra was that we covered intelligent use of automation. Our marketing people devised the tag line “intelligence for the business of automation.” When I was meditating on the technology trends in automation along with this month’s theme, it struck me as interesting that intelligence was the recurring theme.

The top technology trends we’ll see play out this year include information, networking and integrated control. These separate trends actually are inextricably bound by both a common underlying computing technology and the business needs of the manufacturing enterprise. Information standards such as eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) are slowly working their way into manufacturing in the guise of OPC UA and products such as SAP’s Netweaver and Wonderware’s ArchestrA. These are woven into the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) networks we see everywhere.

The third element is controllers. A morphing of personal computer (PC) chips and programming advances has powered a new wave of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) - and some say distributed control systems (DCSs) as well. Leveraging the immense product development effort of the PC industry, as well as the lower prices afforded by mass production, many start-up companiesprojected PC-based control to be a disruptive technology. Clayton Christensen’s book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” on disruptive technologies, appeared at the height of the PC-based control boom, establishing him as the thought leader of the movement... Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT

Understanding Lean packaging

AstraZeneca discusses the Lean model, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and related purchasing strategies at this year’s Pharmaceutical Packaging Forum. March 12, Philadelphia, PA
Learn more >>