The Automate Show brought thousands of robots to Chicago this week. The robots were serving ice cream and beer, playing music, and in one case, boxing. They were wowing attendees with their speed and service, musical skills (the KUKA ones wore bows for their performance), and fight demos. Machine vision and image analysis was also on display.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. It’s a famous line from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” uttered by a more-than-thirsty sailor on a ship bereft of fresh water as he is forced to stare at an ocean of sea water he cannot use to satiate his need. 

The explosive growth of robots shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, especially in manufacturing. We are not quite to the level of a ‘90s action movie, but robots are certainly popping up in a lot more places these days. What may come as a surprise is the many ways companies are now using these robots, especially when it comes to metrology.

In certain industrial areas, working under extreme conditions is essential.

Indiana's employers are investing heavily in automation and manufacturing efficiency.

Company makes plans to multiply staff eight-fold within the next two years, prepares for aggressive collaborative robot growth projections.

A MiR200 robot from Mobile Industrial Robots has nearly eliminated fork truck traffic on the production floor, improving worker safety and ergonomics.

The acquisition takes place two months after the OnRobot merger of three robotics companies from the United States, Hungary and Denmark that created one global player with a focus on the market for industrial robot accessories.

Seems like everyone who fancies themselves an artist or performer uses—or overuses—the term “pushing the envelope” when describing their craft. However, if we journey back to the origins of the term we can regain the value of its meaning.