Robotics World articles from January 2003

Robotics World archives from January 2003

Kaman Industrial Technologies. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Kaman Industrial Technologies, through its interests in Delamac de Mexico, has opened a branch servicing Guadalajara, Mexico.

Genesis Systems Group. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Genesis Systems Group has been awarded a patent on a zero-gravity robotic device that improves the ability of industrial robots to perform material removal and deburring, and a patent for its quick-change tooling.

The Vincennes (Indiana) University Technology Center. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... The Vincennes (Indiana) University Technology Center has opened a new CIM robotics automation lab, which features eight Motoman SV3X robots, as part of a $7.1 million addition to the center.

FANUC Robotics America Inc. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... On Jan. 1, FANUC Robotics North America Inc. changed its name to FANUC Robotics America Inc. to more accurately reflect what its business focus has been for 20 years, which is meeting the automation needs of customers in North and South...

AEC. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... AEC has merged its five plastics auxiliary equipment and systems divisions. AEC equipment formerly produced under the Whitlock, HydReclaim, Nelmor, Application Engineering and Automation Engineering brands will now all bear the same ABC name...

Molex Inc. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Molex Inc. has signed Newark Electronics as a direct distributor in North America.

ZT Automation. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... ZT Automation has selected Adept Technology's sModule linear modules and Adept SmartController products for use in its automated disk testing workcells.

Lapp USA. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Lapp USA has received ISO-9001:2000 Certification for the design of custom cable, cutting to size of wire and cable, cable accessories and tools.

Advanced Systems Technologies Inc. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Advanced Systems Technologies Inc., a unit of Pratt & Whitney's Specialty Materials and Services division, has opened a new Coating Removal Service Center in Montreal, Canada. AST uses a robotic-controlled process that uses ultra-high pressure...

DE-STA-CO Industries. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Clamp and gripping device manufacturer DE-STA-CO Industries is using SolidWorks 3D PartStream.NET Internet technology to provide customers with millions of easily downloadable 3D CAD models of products from its online catalog, helping customers...

ICOS Vision Systems Corp. N.V. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... ICOS Vision Systems Corp. N.V. has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from Belgium's IWT for advanced R&D of the next generation 3D inspection technology for which the company has already filed a patent application.

WAGO Corp. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... WAGO Corp. has teamed up with Advanced Production Systems, maker of the enterprise connectivity tool and data transport utility known as I/Gear. The alliance provides users with a way to link business systems to the plant floor without...

Delmia Corp. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Delmia Corp. has moved its world headquarters to the Koll Corporate Center in Auburn Hills, Mich. The new facility houses the North American sales, marketing and administrative staff and feature an R&D area, training rooms, enhanced conference...

Elwood Corp. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Elwood Corp. is expanding its program to support existing installations of Gettys-manufactured electronic products. Included in the expansion are the Cyberline servo amplifiers of Modicon Motion Systems, manufactured by Gettys throughout the...

Electro Scientific Industries. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Electro Scientific Industries has opened an expanded office in Jubei City, Hsinchu, Taiwan, where it established direct sales and service in 2000.

Praxair Inc. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Praxair Inc. has opened its new metal fabrication laboratory in Tonawanda, N.Y. The facility provides a full range of research and development capabilities including manual, automated and robotic welding systems; new technology power supplies;...

Adept Technology Inc. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Adept Technology Inc. has delivered its first Adept WLM wafer handing solution to DEK, a Dover Technologies company The fully automated Adept WLM wafer handling solution for SMEMA compatible screen/stencil printers supports wafer sizes up to...

Braintech Inc. (Quick Takes).
January 1, 2003... Braintech Inc. has installed multiple units of its 3D Vision Guided Robotics software into Ford Motor Co.'s new engine plants in Canada. The initial order for 19 systems was placed With ABB Canada and includes ABB robots and Braintech software....

Meikle Automation. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... Meikle Automation has completed the purchase of the building and assets of Alliance Automation in Rochester, N.Y. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The addition of the 125,000-square-foot facility is part of a plan to...

World Wise Technologies. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... World Wise Technologies has signed a letter of intent with Motion Automation Inc. of Toronto to acquire specific motion-control technologies for $550,000.

GE Fanuc Automation North America. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... GE Fanuc Automation North America has signed an agreement to acquire Intellution Inc., a supplier of industrial automation software and a division of Emerson Process Management.

CARDS Engineering. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... CARDS Engineering now distributes Tecnomatix Technologies' eMPower MPM software solutions in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

W.L. Gore & Associates and Alvesta. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... W.L. Gore & Associates and Alvesta have agreed to cross-license four-channel parallel optic transceivers as defined by the QuadLink MSA, a multi-source agreement defining small-footprint, four-channel optical transceivers.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has acquired Magnet GmbH, an electrical controls company in Munich, Germany. Magnet and its 10 employees will be amalgamated with ATS Munich. ATS also has acquired the remaining equity ownership of ATS Test...

DVT Corp. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... DVT Corp. will brand-label machine-vision systems for the Automation & Drives Group of Siemens AG. Under the new agreement, DVT will supply brand-labeled versions of its Legend family of SmartImage Sensors and FrameWork software to Siemens; and...

Amphenol Corp. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... Amphenol Corp.'s Industrial Operations Division has completed the acquisition of the RADSOK business unit of K&K Stamping.

Lincoln Electric Holdings. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... Lincoln Electric Holdings' agreement to acquire Hyundai Welding Co. Ltd. has been terminated by mutual consent, following the seller's request. A possible long-term mutual product supply relationship between the parties is, however, in...

Computer Modules Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... Computer Modules Inc., a supplier of OEM software and hardware products for the machine vision and image processing industry, has added Euresys products to its portfolio.

PaR Systems Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... PaR Systems Inc. has acquired the assets and operations of Ederer Inc. Ederer LLC will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of PaR Systems and continue to serve its customers from its Seattle, Wash., location. The acquisition will integrate...

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Agreements).
January 1, 2003... ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has acquired a micro-precision plastic injection molding company, Micro Precision Plastics, to add to the capabilities of its Precision Components Group.

Robotic Production Machinery. (People).
January 1, 2003... Kumar Balan has joined Robotic Production Machinery as sales and marketing manager. Balan, who has more than 12 years of technical sales and application engineering experience with companies in Canada and Asia, is responsible for identifying...

RAD, Robotic Accessories Division. (People).
January 1, 2003... Brady Glett has been appointed general manager of RAD, Robotic Accessories Division, in Tipp City, Ohio.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (People).
January 1, 2003... ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has made four executive management appointments: Ron Jutras, executive vice president, CFO and secretary; Mike Cybulski, vice president of automation systems operations, Eastern US and Canada; William...

Melles Griot Photonics Components Group. (People).
January 1, 2003... Samad (Sam) Edlou has joined the Melles Griot Photonics Components Group as chief scientist and coating manager.

Alpha Wire Co. (People).
January 1, 2003... Norm Davieau has been appointed national OEM sales manager for Alpha Wire Co.

The ACS Group. (People).
January 1, 2003... The ACS Group has appointed Richard Kobor executive vice president of operations for AEC Inc., Sterling and Cumberland Engineering. Brian Hogan has been named CFO of ACS Group.

Computer Motion. (People).
January 1, 2003... Mauro Mastropasqua has joined Computer Motion as vice president of sales, Europe.

Association for Manufacturing Technology. (People).
January 1, 2003... Don Carlson, who has served as president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology since 1997, retired Dec. 31. Albert Moore is serving as interim president of the association.

Don Hemberg. (People).
January 1, 2003... Don Hemberg, an 18-year employee with Comau Pico, has been appointed president and CEO of the company.

Electro Scientific Industries. (People).
January 1, 2003... James Dooley has been named president, CEO and a director of Electro Scientific Industries.

Controlled Power Co. (People).
January 1, 2003... Controlled Power Co. has promoted three executive managers and two line managers: Tom Siemers to executive vice president and CEO; Chris Tazzia to vice president of operations; Chin Yu to vice president of engineering; Jerry Gaughan to quality...

ICOS Vision Systems Corp. (Distribution News).
January 1, 2003... ICOS Vision Systems Corp. has signed a distribution agreement with Kestronics Pte Ltd. of Singapore, a subsidiary of the Sunright group. Kestronics will distribute ICOS' product lines of inspection machines in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and...

ABC. (Distribution News).
January 1, 2003... ABC has expanded coverage and support in the western United States, with ProQuip Plastics Processing Equipment increasing coverage to include the extrusion profile and sheet industries in southern California and northern New Mexico; Industrial...

Promess Inc. (Distribution News).
January 1, 2003... Assembly automation manufacturer Promess Inc. has appointed Pioneer Tool Inc. as its representative throughout North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Engelberger Awards presented to Robotics Industry leaders. (RIA Update).
January 1, 2003... The Robotic Industries Association presented the 2002 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards in October in Stockholm, Sweden. Winners were John Burg of Meritage Manufacturing, Dr. Shimon Nof of Purdue, Dr. William "Red" Whittaker of Carnegie...

Finishing cell automation considerations. (RIA Update).
January 1, 2003... At four RIA Robotic Grinding, Deburring and Finishing Workshops in recent times, a number of experts gathered to explain how and when to use flexible automation for material removal. MA has many member companies that can help you with a robotic...

2003 Calendar of Events.
January 1, 2003... North American Robot Safety Conference March 26-28 Toronto, Ontario International Robots & Vision Show and Conference Co-located with Sensors Expo and the IFFI Fasteners Expo June 3-5 Rosemont (Chicago), Ill. ...

RI/SME update.
January 1, 2003... RI/SME Member Sessions at IMTS The Robotics International of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers hosted two half-day sessions on recent trends and developments in robotics at IMTS last year. The sessions were favorably attended and free...

Agenda announced for 2003 Robots & Vision Conference.
January 1, 2003... Topics for new and advanced users are addressed in the conference portion of the International Robots & Vision Show, June 3-5, in Rosemont (Chicago), III. Monday, June 2, 2003 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. * Machine Vision Tutorial:...

Robotic assembly: higher productivity, greater consistency.
January 1, 2003... John Clark likens the productivity curve of the average assembly worker to a camel's back. The worker's productivity increases as the morning progresses, then decreases as the afternoon wanes. The productivity line looks like a camel's back or...

Robot cell safeguarding should start early in design process.
January 1, 2003... Provided by SICK Inc. To realize the many benefits that robots offer a production facility, safety considerations are the top priority in protecting the operator, maintenance personnel and other personnel who interact with the robot. These...

Robotics case studies.
January 1, 2003... MATERIAL HANDLING Spectra Technologies Inc. of Euless, Texas, recently designed an automated cell phone housing assembly line for Triple S Plastics Inc. The assembly line consists of 12 stations that combine to automatically load,...

C&D Robots Inc. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 1754 C&D Robotics is a large gantry robot manufacturer in North America that specializes in the manufacture and integration of industrial robots, specialty machinery and material-handling systems.

FKI Logistex. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 1407 The Automation Division of FKI Logistex will feature its new real-time Wireless Information Module, a wireless application providing instantaneous data reporting to handheld Pocket PCs by communicating directly with the main...

RMT Robotics. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 1059 RMT manufactures and integrates multi-axis gantry robotic automation, specializing in multi-line case palletizers, Depalletizers and robotic distribution/order selection systems. RMT designs and manufactures specialized end...

Schmalz Inc. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 1170 Schmalz will be showcasing its vacuum handling equipment, jumbo tube lifters, hoist-assisted vacuum lifters and vacuum components that include a large selection of suction cups, mounting elements, spring plungers, vacuum pumps...

SICK Inc. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 852 Among SICK's featured products will be the new NAV 200, a laser-based navigation support system with angle and distance measurement for positioning AGVs. The NAV 200 consists of a laser scanner and the transputer navigation...

Transbotics. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 1619 Transbotics is a supplier of automatic guided vehicle systems, system retrofits and upgrades, AGV batteries, chargers and other automation products to users in various industries including automotive, newsprint, food and...

WAGO Inc. (ProMat 2003).
January 1, 2003... Booth 240 Among WAGO's featured products is the Programmable Field Controller for the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM, which allows users to store and execute programs locally and still communicate I/O signals to and from the network. This is important in...

Cognex Corp. (National Industrial Automation Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 4322 Cognex will feature its machine vision systems, such as the newly expanded family of vision sensors, including the high-performance InSight 4000 Series, which gives users a choice of platforms to meet cost and functionality...

DVT Corp. (National Industrial Automation Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 4312 Among featured DVT products will be the Series 600 SmartImage Sensor, which features high-resolution imaging capabilities combined with network communications (Ethernet and fieldbus).

IDEC Corp. (National Industrial Automation Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 4316 IDEC will showcase a number or its products, many of which are used in the robotics industry; including safety interlock and enabling switches, sensors, relays, contactors and PLCs.

LAPP USA. (National Industrial Automation Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 4102 LAPP will feature its array of connectors, cable assemblies and OLFLEX flexible control, continuous flex and torsional cables and cable accessories.

PPT Vision. (National Industrial Automation Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 4016 PPT's machine vision offerings will include the new Impact Machine Vision Micro-Systems, which feature heavyweight inspection power at a price that puts them in the same affordable class as vision sensors or smart cameras. A...

PILZ Automation Safety. (National Industrial Automation Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 4526 PILZ will exhibit its range of safety products, which includes the PNOZ line of emergency safety relays; the world's first all-electronic safety relay, the PNOZe1p; and the PNOZpower 16 amp safety realy.

Saint-Gobain Advanced Ceramics. (National Design Engineering Show).
January 1, 2003... Booth 633 National Design Engineering Show visitors can learn more about how the benefits of Cerbec ceramic balls, made by Saint-Gobain, in bearings can lower total operating costs during National Manufacturing Week. According to...

Applied Robotics Inc. (Assembly Canada).
January 1, 2003... Booth 320 Applied Robotics designs and manufactures automation accessories, including collision sensors, tool changers, QuickConnect systems, force sensors, compliancy devices, grippers, rotary actuators, vacuum products and safety...

ATI Industrial Automation. (Assembly Canada).
January 1, 2003... Booth 221 ATI develops and will exhibit robotic end-effectors, including QuickChange robotic tool changers; FIT multi-axis force/torque sensors; Compensator alignment devices; Speedeburr robotic deburring tools; and the Protector robotic...

Dress packs. (Products).
January 1, 2003... LEONI Tailor-Made Cable offers dress packs, or umbilicals, a flexible, protective polyurethane jacket that contains all components to supply a welding or handling robot with water, air, vacuum, electricity and communications. Each dress pack...

Collators, layer-forming tables. (Products).
January 1, 2003... Automated Production Systems has developed a range of product collators and layer-forming tables to orient and collate multi-packs of shrink-wrapped product, cardboard cartons and cases. The APS system forms complex nested patterns of packages...

Laser Tracker. (Products).
January 1, 2003... Automated Precision Inc. has introduced its new Laser Tracker II PLUS! with Smart TRAK 6D Sensor for robot calibration and performance analysis. The Laser Tracker II PLUS! offers superior accuracy and measurement versatility to handle...

Tooling quick changers. (Products).
January 1, 2003... EMI Plastics Equipment offers end-of-arm tooling quick change systems, in two sizes, that can handle tooling for molding machines from 50 to 3,000 pounds. The quick changers automatically connect air, vacuum and electrical signals, eliminating...

Robotics assembly platforms. (Products).
January 1, 2003... The Viper 650 and Viper 2000 assembly systems from automation integrator RTS offer modular, flexible solutions where short lead-times, future incremental capacity enhancements and future station reconfiguration requirements are important. The...

Weld tip accessories. (Products).
January 1, 2003... Stillwater Technologies Inc. has introduced a new tip changer, tip checker and tip dressers. The pneumatic tip changer changes both the upper and lower tips automatically in robotic resistance welding applications. The cycle time is less than...

Robotic bending cell. (Products).
January 1, 2003... The new ROBOformER from Salvagnini is a robotic bending cell for low-gauge sheet metal that takes production from drawing to finished product in about an hour. The cell's intuitive software uses a modeler and user interface that allow solid...

Palletizing robot. (Products).
January 1, 2003... The Stackbot from American Productivity Group is an articulating robotic arm that is controlled by a track plate rather than a PC or PLC. This ensures that a programmer or a skilled technician is not needed for new pallet patterns. A simple...

Gearheads. (Products).
January 1, 2003... The new Type BDB gearhead from Mijno Precision Gearing substitutes the traditional output shaft with a rotating flange, which increases design solutions. Replacement of the shaft eliminates its torsional deflection, leaving the designer with...