FANUC has made improvements to its R-2000 series robot with the introduction of the hollow-armed R-2000iD.

The scope of the MiR – an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) from RARUK Automation – has been extended with the addition of the MiR Shelf Lift.

FANUC has launched its first lightweight collaborative robot – the CRX-10iA.

Mitsubishi Electric has extended its MELFA articulated arm and SCARA robot offering to include a range of delta robots which combine its servo technology with the latest mechanicals from e-F@ctory Alliance partner Codian Robotics.

Automata would appear to have created a truly innovative collaborative robot – from the ground up – in a bid to meet the growing need for automated solutions for less repetitive tasks. A key element of the design of the cobot was to provide a solution with low deployed system costs to enable it to offer a cost-effective automated solution.

Iconsys, a UK-based automation system integrator, has branched out into autonomous mobile solutions with the launch of its iAM-R (iconsys Autonomous Mobile Robot).

The latest addition to the RARUK Automation MiR range is the MiR 1000 – an autonomous, mobile industrial robot that extends the payload capacity of the range to 1000kg, offering an alternative to traditional forklifts and trucks and helping enable fully automated logistics workflows.

YASKAWA MOTOMAN’s expansion into new manufacturing applications is well demonstrated by its involvement in Peak Contracts’ state-of-the-art automated robotic painting technical centre in Derby in the UK.

The latest addition to the FANUC collaborative robot portfolio is the CR-14iA/L which fills a gap between its small and medium-sized six-axis collaborative robots.

Omron has introduced the TM series collaborative robot family to realise a manufacturing environment where humans and machines work in harmony.

The UR e-Series cobots, available from RARUK Automation, are said to make it easier to create off-the-shelf customised, collaborative robot solutions.

Machine builders and production engineers are able to automate simple pick & place and assemble tasks without a high price tag, thanks to the robolink DCi, according to Igus.

The V-Grip range of foam-faced vacuum grippers from Simmatic are said to provide an effective solution to the problem of reliably picking up irregularly shaped and porous objects. 

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a cloud-based solution for pro-active maintenance of robots based on the AI platform within IBM Watson. This is said to enable the smart analysis of operational data to predict future maintenance requirements.

The implementation of artificial intelligence is adding efficiency to all stages of the manufacturing process, including robotics.

FANUC has extended its slimline range of compact, general purpose robots, which is suited to use in narrow work spaces and top-mount applications.

TGW Logistics, an automated materials handling solutions company has developed a system for fully automatic split case picking, using robots with FlashPick, its goods-to-person smart piece picking solution.

FANUC UK has launched an upgraded version of its intelligent 3D simulation software for robot motion control.    

SensoPart has added a new robotics vision sensor to its VISOR Robotic series. The use of URCap software allows the sensor to communicate directly with Universal Robot (UR) systems.

With the aim of creating a more intuitive, easier and faster way to control industrial robots, Comau has introduced PickAPP, an Android application to perform pick-and-place operations.