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In the past, designing, integrating and programming even a simple three- or four-axis system like that would have required considerable time and effort.
BEDFORD, MA—Novanta Inc., a manufacturer of drives, motors, encoders and actuators, has acquired Schneider Electric Motion USA Inc. (SEM) and ATI Industrial Automation Inc. (ATI).
MyAppCafé is a fully automated robotic barista. The machine is the brainchild of caterer and entrepreneur Michael Stille of Karlsruhe, Germany, who envisioned a fully automated system for vending coffee at catered events and trade shows.
Before cobots and other fast-deployable robots, many automated manufacturing cells incorporated only fixed or dedicated tooling rather than solutions that allow for changes or updates. An advantage of fixed automation is that it allows for reliable and high throughput, but it also tends to be custom engineered towards a specific process.
Noted horror writer Clive Barker once claimed that nothing ever truly begins or ends; rather, current things are just continuations of past things, and future things are continuations of present ones. Although interesting, this notion doesn't work well in the world of manufacturing.
The lives of manufacturers would be so much easier if all their automation processes were homogeneous. Unfortunately, there are many that require customization to satisfy the unique requirements of an automated work-holding or material-handling application.
Today, robots are capable of handling much larger and heavier payloads than in the past. Those applications require robust grippers that are up to the task.
For manufacturers, the product-miniaturization trend is kind of a Catch-22. They know that serving a large and ever-expanding marketplace ensures company growth—so long as their robots can precisely place ever-smaller parts into subassemblies, final assemblies or packaging. Specially designed small grippers and vacuum cups have enabled many manufacturers to achieve both goals.