Whether they are going mobile or adding artificial intelligence, a range of robots are appearing on the manufacturing floor - and more are on the way.

Collaborative robots, or cobots, help humans and robots work together safely. Small, medium and large companies are increasingly choosing these human-friendly versions over traditional industrial robots, which are complex to use and are typically relegated to safety cages. 

A smart sensor is simply a sensor that can communicate to provide real-time diagnostic data and adapt based on that data. The data can be used to optimize a system, reducing costly downtime and increasing quality. 

For fast measurements of displacement, distance and position with high accuracy and resolution, laser triangulation sensors can be used in a variety of applications. The reasons are wear-free measurement, a large measuring range, high precision and easy installation.

Originally made popular by the introduction of Rethink Robotics’ Baxter, so-called collaborative robots have created a lot of excitement around the industry over the last few years.

For decades, quality, low cost, and on-time delivery have been the primary demands of manufacturing customers. Recently, a new demand has been added to the mix—speed. Customers still want a quality product delivered on-time at a fair price. Only now they want it faster. 

If it seems that there are more robots out there today, it’s not your imagination.

Integrating robots into a manufacturing line challenges process control engineers to rethink part flow and learn how both robot and 3D sensors can work together to achieve faster, more efficient production.

This is not the spring you probably had in mind. Perhaps you were planning on some business travel, visiting family, or taking a vacation.

East meets west. It’s a common idiom that has been around for so long that it has evolved to both express agreement and collaboration as well as to describe polar opposites, and just about everything in between.