Robotics World articles from June 2002

Robotics World archives from June 2002

Panasonic Factory Automation and Robotic Production. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Panasonic Factory Automation and Robotic Production Technology have formed a partnership to further increase market share in welding for both companies regionally and nationally.

Praxair Canada Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Praxair Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair Inc., has formed an alliance with Panasonic Factory Automation and New Age Robotics to provide a single source of robotics welding solutions for the metal fabrication industry in Canada.

McKesson HBOC. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... McKesson HBOC, which provides integrated prescription handling systems to the pharmaceutical industry, has renewed its integration partner agreement with Motoman. In addition, Allied Engineering Solutions Corp. of Puerto Rico, has selected...

Cognex Corp. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Cognex Corp. has entered into an OEM agreement with Alphasem AG, based in Switzerland. Alphasem will integrate Cognex MVS 8100 vision systems into its Swissline 902x range of die bonding and die sorting equipment. The vision systems are used to...

BWM Industrial Automation. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Barrie, Ontario-based BWM Industrial Automation, a division of Barrie Welding & Machine Ltd., and KUKA Robotics Corp. have signed a systems partner agreement for BWM to integrate KUKA robots into assembly, welding and special-process systems....

DVT Corp. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... DVT Corp. has been selected as a partner for the Rockwell Automation Encompass Program. Partners are companies that offer products that complement the breadth of products developed by Rockwell Automation's global brands: Allen-Bradley, Reliance...

American Capital Strategies Ltd. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... American Capital Strategies Ltd. has invested $36 million in the buyout of PaR Systems Inc., which designs, assembles, installs and services large-scale, high-precision robotic systems in a variety of industries, including aerospace, marine,...

Adept Technology Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Adept Technology Inc. announced a strategic agreement with Advanced Technology Services, a service company based in Peoria, Ill., to extend the service life of Adept's oldest product lines. ATS will provide legacy support to Adept's existing...

The Hoover Co. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... The Hoover Co., a division of Maytag Corp., and Friendly Robotics have entered a strategic alliance agreement for the joint design and development of a robotic vacuum cleaner, to be introduced at a later date, designed for the domestic sector....

Olflex Wire & Cable and Contact Electronics. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Olflex Wire & Cable and Contact Electronics, both Lapp Group companies, have merged to form Lapp USA, which will provide a single source for electrical connections. Lapp USA will relocate to new U.S. headquarters in Florham Park, N.J., and the...

United Electric Controls. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... United Electric Controls has acquired the series 360 and 460 compact, stainless-steel pressure switches and pressure transmitters from Artisan Technologies.

Alvey Systems and Intek Integration Technologies. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Alvey Systems and Intek Integration Technologies have expanded their existing strategic alliance to focus on integrating hardware, software and control systems that traditionally bottleneck new distribution and manufacturing facilities.

Adept Technology Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Adept Technology Inc. has completed the sale of certain assets related to the Cimstation Inspection portion of its Silma business to a wholly owned subsidiary of Metrologic Group SA. Adept will continue to develop, market and use the products...

PPT Vision and Electrogls. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... PPT VISION and Electroglas have formed a partnership to develop high-precision, high-speed inspection systems for the semiconductor industry.

World Wise Technologies. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... World Wise Technologies has entered into an agency agreement with Click-Into Inc., a private Canadian company that provides sales, marketing and sourcing services.

Datacube Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions/Partnerships).
June 1, 2002... Datacube Inc. has entered into an agreement with MVTec Software GmbH to bundle the HALCON 6.1 Machine Vision Software Tools with its MaxRevolution and MaxPCI family of frame grabbers and image processors.

Sankyo Robotics. (Quick Takes).
June 1, 2002... In late March, Sankyo Robotics closed its office in Boca Raton, Fla., and will no longer sell robots in the United States. Sankyo will continue to support its existing customers out of a facility in Indiana.

Performance Motion Drives Inc. (Quick Takes).
June 1, 2002... Performance Motion Drives Inc., a developer of chip-based motion control, has moved to an expanded facility in Lincoln, Mass. Steinmeyer Inc. has established a new repair center for its line of large precision-ground ball screws. The repair...

Anorad Corp., a Rockwell Automation business. (Quick Takes).
June 1, 2002... Anorad Corp., a Rockwell Automation business, has broken ground for a new facility on Long Island, N.Y. In addition to serving as global corporate headquarters, the facility will function as Anorad's main U.S. manufacturing and...

Genesis Systems Group. (Quick Takes).
June 1, 2002... Genesis Systems Group has been awarded a U.S. patent for adjustable shelving for robotic workstations. The patent was awarded for the staging or storing of workpieces in proximity to a workstation and its adjustability for holding a variety of...

Motoman. (Quick Takes).
June 1, 2002... Motoman recently presented nine awards to integrators to recognize their contribution to the company's success in 2001. Winners were Flow Robotic Systems, Alvey Systems Inc., Progressive Systems Inc., Acro Automation Systems Inc., Nutech...

The Lincoln Electric Co. (Quick Takes).
June 1, 2002... The Lincoln Electric Co.'s welding consumables manufacturing facility in Mentor, Ohio, has been certified to ISO 14001

Mike Gabbard. (People).
June 1, 2002... Mike Gabbard has been promoted to vice president of the Human Resources & Facilities Group for Motoman Inc. He began his career at the company in March t999 as senior director of human resources.

Donald VanLuvanee. (People).
June 1, 2002... Donald VanLuvanee has retired as president and chief executive officer of Electro Scientific Industries Inc. David Bolender, chairman of the board, has been named acting CEO and James Dooley has been named senior vice president and acting chief...

Keith Moreland. (People).
June 1, 2002... Keith Moreland has been promoted to director of sales and marketing for Orchid Automation. Keith Cornacchia has returned to the company as account manager for systems integration, and Tai Fok is the company's new product/development engineer....

Amir Novini, president and chairman of Applied Vision Co. (Honors).
June 1, 2002... Amir Novini, president and chairman of Applied Vision Co., was honored with the 2002 Automated Imaging Achievement Award, presented by the Automated Imaging Association, for outstanding contributions in promoting market acceptance of industrial...

Factory Automation Robotics Division of Epson America Inc. has named GCE Technologies Inc. (Honors).
June 1, 2002... The Factory Automation Robotics Division of Epson America Inc. has named GCE Technologies Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, as the company's 2001 Integrator of the Year.

Flow Robotic Systems. (Honors).
June 1, 2002... Flow Robotic Systems, which specializes in laser and waterjet cutting, non-metal material removal, dispensing, and hot and vibratory knife applications, has earned Motoman's Integrator of the Year honors for 2001.

Assembly Technology Expo. (Trade Shows).
June 1, 2002... Assembly Technology Expo, scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., will feature two keynote addresses by senior operations executives from General Motors and Ford Motor Co. Gerald Bison, vice...

International Symposium on Laboratory Automation and Robotics. (Trade Shows).
June 1, 2002... At the International Symposium on Laboratory Automation and Robotics (ISLAR), this year's keynote speakers are Kenneth Kaitin, director, Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, and Joshua Boger, chairman and CEO of Vertex...

Automated Manufacturing New England. (Trade Shows).
June 1, 2002... Automated Manufacturing New England this year will include an Automated Fiber Optic Manufacturing pavilion. The show is scheduled for Oct. 8-10 in Worcester, Mass. For information, call Sarah Cremer at 617-492-6556 or e-mail sarah@am-expo.com.

No ordinary ride. (News).
June 1, 2002... At the Factory Automation 2002 trade fair in Hanover, Germany, KUKA Roboter welcomed visitors to its "fun factory" booth, which featured two KUKA six-axis Robocoasters, the first robots to be approved to carry human passengers. Robocoaster...

Industry Trends subscription service makes debut. (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... Now available from Robotics Online, the Robotic Industries Association's website, is a free, members-only subscription to a series of reports on leading economic indicators. Among the reports are Purchasing Manager Index, machine tool...

2002-2003 Robotics Industry Directory available. (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... Now is the time to request your free copy of the 2002-2003 Robotics Industry Directory, which includes profiles of some 200 companies, along with in-depth articles on key issues of concern to robot users and potential users. Visit...

50 percent discount on multi-association dues. (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... Association membership is a cost-effective way to manage your business needs, from lower rates on association events and training to discounts on resources to top networking activities. Now you can join more than one and save 50 percent. There...

Free publishing services available. (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... Send your success stories and technical papers to Robotics Online (ria@roboticsonline.com), the industry's only trade association website dedicated solely to robotics. Located at www.roboticsonline.com, the site provides expanded editorial,...

Are you a consultant? (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... RIA has developed a new membership class for individual consultants and small consulting companies. The Consultant Class entitles eligible companies to receive membership benefits to help provide exposure to potential customers and increase...

Speakers sought for Robots & Vision Conference. (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... Speakers are now being sought for the next International Robots & Vision Conference set for June 3-5, 2003, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago), Ill. Among the topics to be covered at the event are "Robots...

The Vision West Show and Conference. (RIA Update).
June 1, 2002... The Vision Show West, sponsored by the Automated Imaging Association, will take place Nov. 19-21, 2002, at the Santa Clara (Calif.) Convention Center. Alternating between the East and West coasts, The Vision Show provides an annual...

Limiting devices provide required restricted space in robot cell. (RIA Safety Corner).
June 1, 2002... In this second installment of Safety Corner, I want to continue highlighting portions of the paper presented at the Second International Conference on Safety of Industrial Automated Systems held in Bonn, Germany, in November 2001. This time I...

Robot maximus takes top award in 16th Annual Robotic Technology and Engineering Challenge. (RI/SME Update).
June 1, 2002... Robots roamed the terrain of Rochester Institute of Technology as hundreds of their human creators came from across the country to compete in the 16th Annual RI/SME Robotic Technology and Engineering Challenge held in May in Rochester, N.Y. The...

Robotic painting and coating: benefits of robotic painting extend from auto industry to general industry.
June 1, 2002... If you weld a part, chances are you're going to coat it at some point, and that correlation is helping to drive more robotic coating business to robot makers and integrators. "Just about everything you weld, you coat, and that's driving a...

Robot companies gear up as semiconductor equipment industry inches back to health.
June 1, 2002... Earlier this year, the semiconductor industry started to inch back from last year's worst annual decline, with North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posting $712 million in orders in February 2002 and a book-to-bill...

Robotics case studies.
June 1, 2002... ROBOTIC COATING Glasland Industries Inc., a manufacturer of fiberglass products, recently converted its chop and gel coating area from manual operations to robotics after the company was awarded a large contract to manufacture the...

Weld-gun cables. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Elocab's line of welding cables, capable of 20 million or more flexes, includes control cables built with three to 65 conductors and high-performance power cables with cross-sections ranging from 3 X AWG6 to AWG2 and even higher. The latest...

Electrical conduit. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Electri-Flex Co. offers a nonmetallic liquid-tight conduit, Type LNM-P, that does not have a metal core and will not suffer fatigue from repeated flexing or vibration. Its flame-retardant PVC material resists oils, mild acids and exposure to...

Auto-flex cables. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... BIW Cable Systems, a Draka USA Company, manufactures a complete line of power, control, instrumentation and data communication cables, as well as custom-designed cables. The line of Auto-Flex cables is designed specifically for the automation...

Primary circuit connectors. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Primary circuit connectors from Multi-Contact are designed for supplying power to medium-frequency welding units. With these connectors, the connecting cables from the switch gear cabinet along the robot arm to the welding transformer can be...

Sensor cordsets. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Pepperl + Fuchs has introduced a line of molded cordsets for sensors and limit switches, including Mini, Micro AC and DC and Pico styles in straight or right-angle versions. Pico and Micro DC styles are also available with LEDs. Dual and...

Heavy-duty connectors. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Molex's new line of HMC heavyduty rectangular connectors are ideally suited for applications that include factory robots, machine tools and material-handling equipment. The HMC connectors feature a crescent-shaped metal hood with a rotating...

Cable sleeving. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Turck Inc. has introduced firefast protective sleeving that insulates cordsets and sensors. Constructed of heat-treated, acryl-coated braided fiberflass, firefast provides protection from flames and molten materials in welding and other...

Shielded connectors. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Remke Industries recently introduced a new member of the Tuff-Link family of molded connectors, the MicroLink Shielded Connector, which features a 360-degree aluminum mylar foil shield that minimizes electrical interference that tends to...

Control cables. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... OLFLEX-ROBOT 900 from Olflex Wire & Cable is a multi-conductor control cable that can bend and twist for several million cycles in long-term torsional stress applications. The CE-compliant cable's smooth-core insulation and slip agents ensure...

Flat cables. (Component Spotlight: Cables and Connectors).
June 1, 2002... Cicoil has a new process for the continuous manufacturing of siliconeencapsulated ribbon cable that offers many advantages to the robotics industry. The process, 700X, produces cables with virtually any number of wires in any length, with...

Cartesian system. (Products).
June 1, 2002... IntelLiDrives Inc. has introduced a new Cartesian planar system for applications that include robotics, pick-and-place automation, electromechanical assembly, laser cutting, dispensing and more. Using planar motor technology, the system is a...

Locking cylinder. (Products).
June 1, 2002... Robohand Inc. has introduced an externally locking cylinder option to its DirectConnect thrusters and slides product lines. This VDMA (ISO) locking cylinder has bore sizes of 32 mm, 50 mm and 63 mm and strokes up to 700 mm. The head and locking...

Rotary encoders. (Products).
June 1, 2002... Heidenhain Corp. has developed a new series of compact absolute singleturn and multi-turn rotary encoders for applications in production automation, robotics and handling technology. These new products enable servomotors with axis heights as...

Force/torque sensor. (Products).
June 1, 2002... The new DAQ F/T, a six-axis force/torque transducer system designed for integration with PCs and laptop computers, is now available from ATI Industrial Automation. A proprietary interface board on or near the transducer produces a seven-channel...

Waterjet-cutting system. (Products).
June 1, 2002... PaR Systems Inc. has introduced its latest waterjet-cutting system, the Vector 2, which complements PaR's 2.5-, 3- and 5-axis gantry-style waterjetcutting system, but is designed specifically for the 2.5-axis market. The Vector 2 features an...

Packing robot. (Products).
June 1, 2002... FANUC Robotics North America's new FANUC M-420iA intelligent packing robot is a four-axis robot with a payload of 40 kg. It is also available in a two-axis model. Designed for high-speed packaging and material handling, the M-420iA can achieve...

Servo actuator. (Products).
June 1, 2002... Harmonic Drive Technologies offers its hollow-shaft servo actuator, the PowerHub, a compact servo actuator with a center throughhole. The unit delivers positional accuracy less than 1 arc minute and repeatability of +/- 5 arc seconds. Center...

Solid-state relay. (Products).
June 1, 2002... Aromat Corp. has introduced the space-saving AQ-G relay, featuring isolation voltage up to 3.000 VAC, with lA and 2A types available. The snubber circuit is built in to prevent malfunction caused by the rapid rise of voltage of the output side....