A sustainable circular economy depends on recycled electronic consumer goods. But recycling electronic waste can endanger human workers – which makes it an optimal application for robotics and automation. To overcome these challenges, Votechnik has developed a system based around…
smartLink offers extended functionalities for Plant Asset Management
The smartLink product family from Softing enables end customers to make efficient use of connectivity at the interface between OT and IT. The products allow simple and scalable integration of device data into plant asset management applications. The versions of…
Distributed AI in metalworking
From homicidal supercomputer Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Terminator’s Skynet, artificial intelligence (AI) hasn’t always had the best representation in popular culture. In industry, however, AI and machine learning technologies have become widely adopted as a way…
Load balancing leads to annual savings of almost £5000 for a large bakery
Energy management is becoming an increasingly important component of business strategy for today’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, aimed largely at reducing energy costs, improving sustainability, and achieving ESG goals. Matthew Margetts, Director of Sales and Marketing at Smarter Technologies…
Futureproof … competitive factories need to leverage the power of data
Boosting responsiveness, productivity and flexibility on the factory floor is the key to enhanced competitiveness. Efficient data management using the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is therefore increasingly important in extending communication beyond the production cell and ensuring the successful…
Digital Catapult’s five-year journey to develop Smart Manufacturing
Manufacturing companies from across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK have the opportunity to take part in a series of fully funded workshops to introduce the technologies, tools and techniques of Industry 4.0 in their workplace. The FutureScope Smart…
Monitoring system for robot e-chains detects breakages & prevents damage
The i.Sense TR. B sensor from igus enables condition monitoring for triflex R energy chains in multi-axis applications. Whether welding, painting, soldering or palletising: industrial robots work dynamically. A flexible 3D energy chain such as the triflex R from igus…
Can technology help prevent wildfires?
Fires can breakout for numerous reasons, and they can be difficult to predict. Firefighters are currently battling California’s largest wildfire this year and, with a heat wave sweeping the state, concerns of further fires breaking out are growing. There…
How is Audi designing the production of the future?
Audi is setting up fully networked, highly efficient, and sustainable production. The goal is to design a resilient, agile, and flexible value chain to meet future challenges successfully. These include a growing diversity of variants, the transition to electromobility, the…
Revolutionary robotic Rover – the intelligence-gathering ‘dogs’
Compared by many to the rogue robotic dogs in the perception challenging series Black Mirror, Robodogs are being used by the police, fire departments and the army to assess potentially hostile situations without endangering lives. Designed with human and canine…
