Biggest Robot In The Factory

Kuka Robotics has announced the largest factory robot ever.

The KR 1000 'Titan' is a 6-axis worker with a 1000kg (2200 pound) capacity and 3200 mm (10+ feet) reach.
The Titan is designed for heavy-duty work in automotive, building materials industries and foundries. The super-strength robot can be used in some applications that have needed lifts with overhead cranes.
The big guy has 9 motors and Kuka says it can "deliver the power of a mid-sized car."
Two of the axis use two motors each to power a single gear.

The robot will be availble before then end of the year and can be shipped in a standard container.

KUKA introduces KR 1000, world’s strongest robot

“titan”: the world’s strongest robot

Robots to Guard Israeli Border Kill Zone

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are deploying automated weapon robots along the border of the Gaza Strip to create a buffer kill zone to prevent unauthorized infiltrations.

The system, called the "See-Shoot" system, is currently being installed and will be fully operational by the end of 2007. It consists of automated weapons stations connected through a command center to visual, ground andairborne sensors.

The system is the culmination of years of development by defense contractors Rafael, Elbit Systems and IMI.

The system is part of an IDF strategy of low-signature/no-signature warfare. The no-signature doctrine strives to keep soldiers out of harms way as much as possible.

However, "no-signature" warfare does not mean 'no responsibility' yet.
Eventually the See-Shoot system will be able to operate as a completely autonomous closed-loop system. But for now, the sensor data will be monitored by soldiers and a commanding officer will approve activation of the automated kill function.

The system is designed to enforce a 1500 meter(almost 1 mile) wide area along the border. Future plans include adding anti-tank missiles to extend the width of the no-mans land to several kilometers.

I wonder if they made plans for removing the dead bodies from the kill zone. Will they have to disable the whole system or do they have a robot that can drive through the zone and clean up? Maybe they will just leave the dead bodies laying around to mark the boundary of the buffer zone.

Similar automated systems are under development for the border in Korea.

DefenseNews.com - Israel Wants Robotic Guns, Missiles To Guard Gaza Border - 06/01/07 17:55

Robot Creates M&M Art

Here is a patent application for a robot set-up to create an work of art with M&M candies or an 'arrangement of confectionary pieces.'


A user would design a pretty picture out of virtual confections on a touchscreen then the robot would arrange the treats accordingly.

Your drawing creates a sort of paint-by-number for the robot who fills it in with M&M's.

Then you eat it. (The artwork, not the robot.)

United States Patent Application: 0070110886

Robot Fence Shows Cows Where to Go

Robots not only take on unpleasant tasks but they can enhance and improve on human efforts.

Another farmer's helper robot: The Voyager robot fence from Lely.

The robot fence is an electrified fence that keeps your cows from running away, like any good fence. But this smart fence also occasionaly moves a few feet to give the cows fresh grass to graze. When they get to the end of the field, the robot fence can move the herd back to the beginning again to start all over. It gives the cows fresh ground and allows the field to recover.



According to the website:
"Frontal grazing by means of the Voyager is a method of intensive grazing management that allows livestock to continuously graze on fresh forage. Because the cows have a small strip of fresh pasture each time, the grass is well cropped and dosed, which not only makes the rumen function better, but also achieves a better proportional intake of protein and sugars."

Happy cows, better milk.

The fence consists of two 4-wheel skid-steer robots that keep the electrified line properly tensioned between them. Each robot is about 125 cm (4 feet) square, 215 cm (7 feet) tall and weighs 170 kg (375 lbs. They communicate through bluetooth so they can compensate for obstacles or unlevel ground.

The robots are powered by solar panels so they can operate autonomously. They are pre-programmed to optimize the forage. The farmer only needs to tell the robots how many square meters of new field per day and the robots calculate how far forward to move.

Voyager

New Robots Clean Pools

Home vacuum robot maker iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT)has launched two new pool-cleaner robots for home use.
The two robots, Verro 300 and Verro 600, are available now for $800 and $1200.
The 300 model uses water jet and vacuum to suck up debris from the pool. The Verro 600 uses brushes along with the vacuum and filter.

Drop the robot into the water and it will clean the pool in 60 to 90 minutes. The robots require a power umbilical plugged in but do not need any hose connection to the pool's pump.
They will also not gawk at your sunbathing teenage daughter.

Will pool robots put pool service companies out of business? No. There is a lot more to maintaining a pool than sweeping up the leaves.

Pool cleaning robots are not new by any means.
iRobot worked with the Aqua Products Group companies to develop their robots.
Another maker of pool cleaner robots is Maytronics in Isreal.


iRobot Corporation: Press Release

NASA Launch of Orbital Robot

Two autonomous satellites are expected to be launched tonight aboard an Atlas 5 booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The satellites were built for the Orbital Express program to test autonomous refueling and repair of satellites in orbit.
The ASTRO, for Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations, is a 950 kg (2100 pound) robot with extra tanks of fuel and a 3.3 meter arm for catching and holding other satellites.

The second satellite, NextSat, is a 223 kg (500 pound) prototype of the next generation on-orbit serviceable satellite.

The two satellites will work together to test the autonomous navigation as well as procedures and standards for space repair. The tasks will include refueling with hydrazine and exchanging batteries. The test mission is scheduled to run for 90 days.

The Orbital Express is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program with Boeing as the lead integrator.

Boeing built the ASTRO and Ball Aerospace built the NextSat prototype.


SPACE.com -- Orbital Express: Prototype Satellites Primed for In-Flight Service

Urban Robots to Improve Quality of Life

The EU is funding a 3 year study to design robots to improve the quality of life in European cities.
The URUS,Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Settings, project will study how to use a network of robots to make the old cities more liveable.

The project will concentrate on designing robots to interact with people in the city to help them in basic ways. They will design robots for assistance and giving directions. This will become more important as the population of the cities ages.
They will look at robots to automatically make deliveries around the urban core to reduce the need for motor vehicles.
And they will look at robots to help in security throughout the cities.
They anticipate that the network of robots will work in combination with fixed sensors - like cameras - and with PDA's and cell phones.

The biggest technologies to conquer, they expect, are the ability of robots to navigate independently and to be able to interact in a 'friendly' manner with people.

The proposed network of robots will be tested in a section of Barcelona probably not before 2008 or 2009.

The Engineer Online

Industrial Robot Sales Fall In 2006

The Robotics Industry Association reports that sales of industrial robot units declined by 30% in 2006. The revenue from robot sales fell 22%

The decline was due to the falloff in robot sales to automotive manufacturers. 2005 was a particularly good year for sales to the auto industry so demand was expected to slump.


The deliveries to non-automotive factories continues to increase year after year. Donald A. Vincent, Executive Vice President of RIA states, "We saw very strong growth in industries such as beverages and tobacco, apparel, wood products, paper manufacturing, printing, machinery manufacturing, and furniture. We also saw growth in food and consumer goods, life sciences/pharmaceuticals/biomedical, and plastics and rubber."

Totals for 2006 were:
North America Sales: 12,765 robots, $904.2 million
Total Sales: 13,791 robots, $958.4 million

2005 numbers

Non-Automotive Orders for Robots Rise in 2006, But Overall Sales Fall 30% in North America - Robotics Online

Hospital Helpers Track Equipment

A new robot team from Aethon Inc. of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania is designed to track and deliver equipment around a hospital.

The TUG robot is in used successfully in many hospitals already - deliverng samples and medication. Now with a new partner, HOMER, and RFID tags on the equiptment, they work together to keep things in order.

HOMER roams the hospital searching for loose equipment like wheelchairs, beds, IV pumps. It identifies each unit by pinging for the RFID tags.
In the meantime a TUG can be chasing down the assets and returning them to where they will be needed or retrieving them on call.

Aethon expects that hospitals will need less equipment once they know where it all is. And HOMER and TUG will save all kinds of aggravation over lost devices.


Aethon

Aethon gets Investors

Speci-Minder

Hospital Delivery Robot

A hospital near Willmington, Delaware has a new tireless employee dedicated to delivering critical biological samples from patients to the analysis lab.

The Speci-Minder robot - who employees have named Frances - automonously completes its rounds through the hospital to the central lab stopping along the way to collect the samples. The robot navigates down the halls and around obstacles without the need for lines on the floor or markers on the walls. It has a card-access sample compartment to control who can access the cargo.

Speci-Minder is the product of CCS Robotics. It was built on PatrolBot base made by MobileRobots Inc.


CCS Robotics - SpeciMinder™ - Secure Specimen Transporter

Armed Border Guard Robots

The border between North and South Korea may become automated on the south side.

South Korea's Minister of Commerce Industry and Energy, Chung Sye-kyun, announced that they are opening a new era by replacing human soldiers with armed robots along the militarized border with the North.

The guard robot can fire a machine gun or rubber bullets. Its visible and infrared vision systems can spot moving objects from four kilometers (2.5 miles) away during the day. It recognizes different objects from 2 km and it can identify friend from foe from 10 meters away.

South Korea could deploy hundreds of the robots along the 155 mile (250 km) border, but they have not committed to the plan yet.

They also said that they are kicking off a project to make robots that can perform more military tasks such as roving patrols, mine removal and even combat soldiers.

The guard robot was developed by a consortium led by Samsung Techwin and Korea University over three years.

SKorea unveils armed guard robot for possible use along tense border with North - smh.com.au

US Robot Orders Decline

According to statistics released by Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the robot trade group, new orders received by North American based robotics companies fell 38% in the first half of 2006.

According to the article, a 52% reduction in automotive factory robot sales is due to a cyclical turn for auto factories. Record high investments in robots over the past few years and an overall slowdown in the auto industry are both factors in the declining rate of robot hiring.

On the other hand, sales of robots to non-automotive business was down by only 5%. This raises non-auto robots to almost half (45%) of the total sales of robots so far this year. This shows the growing penetration for robots into other areas of manufacturing outside the auto industry.

RIA estimates that 162,000 robots are now installed in US factories, second only to Japan in robot use.

For first half 2006 - 6607 robots worth $473.5 million have been ordered by US companies.

Robot Sales Fall 38% in North America - Robotics Online

North American Robot Orders Break Record

Ann Arbor, Michigan – North American robotics companies posted record new orders in 2005, surpassing its previous high set in 1999, according to new statistics released by Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade group.

A total of 18,228 robots valued at $1.16 billion were ordered by North American manufacturing companies, an increase of 23% in units and 17% in dollars over 2004 totals. When orders placed by companies outside of North America are added, the final totals are 19,445 robots valued at $1.22 billion, gains of 21% in units and 15% in dollars over last year.

''We’ve seen many examples of small, medium, and large companies in just about every industry that have taken advantage of the productivity, quality, and flexibility gains that robots provide in order to compete successfully in the global market,'' said Donald A. Vincent, Executive Vice President of RIA.

Vincent noted that robot use jumped 30% in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries in 2005. ''As companies learn more about the benefits of robotics in industries where they may currently not be in widespread use, we can expect to see long term growth.''

Automotive manufacturers, the largest users of robots, increased their orders by 49% in 2005. Orders jumped 14% to automotive components companies. Combined, these two sectors accounted for 70% of new robot orders in 2005.

''Automotive purchasing tends to be cyclical, so we would not normally expect to see a repeat of this rapid growth in 2006'' Vincent observed.

Robotics Industry Sets New Records in 2005 as New Orders Jump 23% in North America - Robotics Online

Robotics Industry Posts 30% Growth in North America

Ann Arbor, MI – North American robotics companies are on pace for a record year in 2005, with new orders up 30% in North America in the first nine months, according to new statistics from the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade group headquartered here.

Through September, a total of 14,840 robots valued at $913.3 million had been ordered by North American manufacturing companies. When sales to companies outside North America are added in, the totals are 15,791 robots, valued at $961.5 million.

‘‘We expect that the final year end numbers will set a record for total robots ordered, eclipsing the mark set in 1999, and will come close to a record in terms of revenue,’‘ said Donald A. Vincent, Executive Vice President of RIA. Vincent noted that robotics prices have fallen over the past several years, making them more affordable than ever for manufacturing companies of all sizes.

According to RIA, the biggest growth areas this year have been for robots used in material handling applications (+45%), arc welding (+37%) and spot welding (+19%). The automotive industry, traditionally the largest robotics user, has increased its robotics orders by 44% this year.


Robotics Industry Posts 30% Growth in North America - Robotics Online

Robotics Industry Off to Fastest Start Ever - Robotics Online

Robotics Industry Off to Fastest Start Ever

First Quarter Orders Up 30% in North America

Ann Arbor, MI – The North American robotics industry had its best opening quarter ever, with new robot orders up 30%, according to new statistics released by Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade group headquartered here.

A total of 5,316 robots valued at $302.5 million were ordered by North American manufacturing companies in the January-March period. An additional 272 robots valued at $18 million were ordered by manufacturing companies outside North America.

‘‘It was an outstanding quarter, one of the best since we started tracking robot sales in 1983,’‘ said Donald A. Vincent, Executive Vice President of RIA.

Automotive manufacturers and suppliers accounted for about 70% of the orders in the first quarter. In non-automotive sectors, strong growth was seen in primary metals industries (+63%) and food & consumer goods (+33%).




Robotics Industry Off to Fastest Start Ever - Robotics Online