Robotics Assembly

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Not many people can be said to have truly shaped the course of global manufacturing. They include Henry Ford, W. Edwards Deming and Taiichi Ohno. We lost another last month.

FRANKFURT, Germany—The International Robotics Federation estimates that approximately 1.3 million new industrial robots will be installed around the world between 2015 and 2018.

With automotive and aerospace manufacturing going strong, our annual Capital Equipment Spending Survey predicts continued growth in investment.

With the right tool changer, a robot can perform multiple assembly tasks quickly, safely and cost-effectively.

SCARAs perform pick-and-place and other operations.

NEWTOWN, CT—Joseph F. Engelberger, an engineer and entrepreneur who pioneered the robotics field, died Dec. 1, 2015, at age 90. Engelberger was founder and president of Unimation Inc., the world’s first industrial robotics manufacturer, which he launched in 1956 and grew into a company with more than 1,000 employees before the enterprise was acquired by Westinghouse.

ITHACA, NY—Researchers at Cornell University have used stereolithography to create air-powered elastomeric robotic tentacles that could someday be used to move or grip objects.

Students and faculty at the Maryland Robotics Center are developing a new generation of machines that are friendlier to small manufacturers.