Robotics Assembly

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Automotive OEMs love to show off their automated body-in-white assembly lines. Commercials invariably feature dozens of six-axis robots producing showers of sparks in choreographed routines. 

Like many long-established car manufacturers, the company that would become Škoda Auto started in the early 1890s by making bicycles. Today, you won’t see velocipedes rolling off of Škoda assembly lines, but you just might see plug-in electric vehicles.

Predicting the future isn’t what it used to be. It’s actually way better, and that’s great news for manufacturers.

MUNICH— Universal Robots has introduced a new collaborative robot with a 20-kilogram payload capacity.  The UR20 cobot has an entirely new joint design that will allow for faster cycle times as well as the ability to handle heavier loads. Its 1,750-millimeter reach has been designed to work to the full height of the standard Euro-pallet, while its small footprint will allow companies to achieve more within their existing production space.

Manufacturers love automation, regardless of whether they make super-large items like airplanes, or small commercial products such as disposable razor blade refills. The reason for this affection is simple: Automated equipment makes things more quickly, accurately, consistently and cost-effectively than people.

KITCHENER, ON—Christie Digital Systems USA Inc. is using robots to automate assembly of its MicroTile LEDs at its new factory here. The robots have tripled output of the line.

QUEBEC CITY—Responding to labor shortage and supply chain challenges, Robotiq has developed a new preconfigured system that enables manufacturers to automate loading and unloading of CNC machine tools with cobots.

ORION, MI—Applied Manufacturing Technologies Founder and CEO Michael P. Jacobs has been named to receive the Joseph F. Engelberger Rbotics Award for Leadership by the Association for Advancing Automation.

‘Nothing lasts forever’ is an expression, and a reality, that manufacturers of all sizes know all too well. When a product stops working—for whatever reason—the end-user must either repair it or replace it.