Robotics World articles from November 2002

Robotics World archives from November 2002

UCLA, partners open new robotic and technology center. (News).
November 1, 2002... Los Angeles -- UCLA, Computer Motion Inc., Karl Storz Endoscopy-America Inc. and Berchtold Corp. have opened a new robotic and technology center at the university. One of the first of its kind in the country, the new center will help promote...

Epson America's. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... Epson America's Factory Automation Robotics division's EPSON RC+ programming software is now available on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system.

Electro Standards Laboratories. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... Electro Standards Laboratories has expanded its R&D Division to add a focus group to perform research and development in robotic applications.

Robotic Workspace Technologies Inc. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... Robotic Workspace Technologies Inc., a provider of control systems for robots and other multi-axis automated manufacturing equipment, has received a patent for its open architecture robot control system.

USVIBRA Inc. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... USVIBRA Inc. a supplier of feeding systems to the electronics industry, has emerged from its Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. C.C. Knudsen LLC brought the company out of bankruptcy with an infusion of capital and expertise in management,...

ImageGuide Inc. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... ImageGuide Inc., which specializes in image-guided, robot-assisted surgical systems, has opened its new headquarters in Baltimore, Md.

Computer Modules Inc. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... Computer Modules Inc. is now a distributor of Euresys machine-vision products.

Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions. (Agreements).
November 1, 2002... The Industry Solutions business of Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions and Triconex have extended their relationship to provide an interface between the Triconex Tricon Safety Controller and the Honeywell TotalPlant Solution System. This...

EDS. (Agreements).
November 1, 2002... EDS and Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. will jointly develop and deliver Manufacturing Process Management software and best-practice solutions. The agreement enables the immediate addition of the Tecnomatix eMPower MPM solution suite to the EDS's...

Triad Technologies LLC. (Agreements).
November 1, 2002... Three Ohio-based industrial distributors are combining forces under the name Triad Technologies LLC. Triad Fluid Power Inc., Air Draulics Inc. and the Parker fluid connectors and Miller cylinder brands from Midwest Fluid Power Co. make up the...

SICK AG. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... SICK AG has acquired Max Stegmann GmbH, a manufacturer of shaft encoders and actuators for automation technology.

Advanced Photonix Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Advanced Photonix Inc. has acquired privately owned detector manufacturer Silicon Sensors LLC for a cash purchase price of $1.7 million. Silicon Sensors, which has been in operation for more than 35 years, had revenues of $4.3 million for its...

Danaher Corp. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Danaher Corp. has agreed to purchase Thomson Industries Inc. for $165 million, plus additional contingent consideration based in the future performance of Thomson. Danaher Motion will combine its existing linear component and actuator...

Eagle Belting Co. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Fenner Drives has acquired the business and assets of Eagle Belting Co., a global supplier of urethane belting for mechanical power transmission and material-handling applications.

Zymark Corp. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Zymark Corp. has acquired Labotec NY/SA, a distributor of Zymark products in the Benelux region. Labotec NV/SA will become a wholly owned subsidiary and will be renamed Zymark Benelux NV/SA.

Adept Technology. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Adept Technology has completed the acquisition of a controlling interest in MetaControls Technologies Inc. in a common stock transaction.

Garlock Bearings and Glacier Industrial Bearings. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Garlock Bearings and Glacier Industrial Bearings (Heilbronn, Germany) have been consolidated to form Glacier Garlock Bearings. The amalgamation of the two businesses occurred when Goodrich Corp., the parent of Garlock Bearings, acquired Glacier...

Rockwell Automation. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Rockwell Automation has expanded its Global Manufacturing Solutions business into Central Europe with the acquisition of the engineering services and system integration assets of SPEL. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The new entity...

Brooks-PRI Automation Inc. (Mergers/Acquisitions).
November 1, 2002... Brooks-PRI Automation Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Berkeley Process Control Inc. in exchange for 614,374 shares of Brooks-PRI stock.

Computer Motion. (People).
November 1, 2002... John Soto has joined Computer Motion as vice president and general manager, operations, for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Charles Vivian has joined Computer Motion as executive vice president of sales for the Americas. Vivian's primary...

Thales Computers. (People).
November 1, 2002... Jose Almeida has joined Thales Computers as manager of pre-sales support for the export regions, which include Asia, the Pacific and Northern Europe.

Alvey Systems. (People).
November 1, 2002... William Harton has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and field operations for Alvey Systems, with responsibility for the company's entire sales organization, including field and systems sales teams. Tom Roberts has been promoted...

Alvey Systems. (Honors).
November 1, 2002... Alvey Systems, an FKI Logistex member company and integrator of material and information flow solutions, has been named the 2001 Rookie Of The Year by Motoman Inc. for its first year's success in integrating and installing jointed-arm robotic...

University of South Carolina Spartanburg. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... The University of South Carolina Spartanburg and Staubli Corp. recently dedicated the new Staubli Robotics Lab on the USGS campus. Staubli donated six RX60/CS7B robots to USCS to establish the lab to enhance its computer science division. The...

President Medical Technologies Corp. (Quick Takes).
November 1, 2002... President Medical Technologies Corp. is the new distributor of Accuray Inc.'s CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System and related products in Asia, except Japan, where an agreement with Meditec Corp. is already in place. Medtronic Surgical...

SICK, Rockwell Automation. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... SICK, Rockwell Automation and Omron Corp. are collaborating on the development of an open protocol for safety communications. Consisting of an extension to the existing standard protocol, the safety protocol will allow both standard and safety...

Kawasaki Robotics. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... Kawasaki Robotics recently opened a new sales and service facility in Guadalajara to provide sales, service and limited engineering services to Mexico and a new remote service facility in Princeton, Ind., to provide customer support and service...

Computer Motion's. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... Computer Motion's ZEUS Surgical System has been granted Class IV clearance for sale and use in Canada by Health Canada.

Ford Motor Co. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... Ford Motor Co. has selected Rockwell Automation to upgrade two stamping press lines and various automation systems at Ford's Walton Hills, Ohio plant. The upgrade includes stamping press control system integration; refurbishment of existing...

MedMarket Diligence. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... The global computer guidance and robotic surgery market is $400 million (2001) and growing, driven by collaborative agreements between manufacturers of computer-guided surgery, navigation and robotic surgery systems, and surgical device...

Intuitive Surgical's. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System has been cleared for use in mitral valve repair surgery by the U.S. FDA.

WAGO Corp. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... WAGO Corp. has received continued registration and an upgrade to its ISO 9001:2000 standard.

Spectra Technologies. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... Spectra Technologies of Dallas/Fort Worth has signed a Systems Integrator Project Partner agreement with ABB Inc.

ATI Industrial Automation. (Quick takes).
November 1, 2002... For the third consecutive year, ATI Industrial Automation has been named as one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in North Carolina, according to the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 Program.

North American robot orders up 11%. (RIA update).
November 1, 2002... North American robot orders rose 11% in the first nine months of 2002, according to the Robotic Industries Association. Through September, RIA reports that 7,511 robots valued at $596.4 million were ordered by North American customers, an...

Robots on the front lines. (RIA update).
November 1, 2002... In a Robotics Online poll this summer, RIA asked if robots should be used in combat operations, and 90 percent said "Yes." In fact one respondent, a member of the U.S. military, wrote in specifically to point out that robots already are in use...

Use of machine vision for container industry jumps 35% in 2001. (RIA update).
November 1, 2002... The use of machine vision in the container industry rose more than 35 percent in units and more than 36 percent in dollars in 2001 as compared with 2000, making it one of the few bright spots in a difficult year for machine-vision suppliers....

Annual AIA Business Conference set for Feb. 5-7. (RIA update).
November 1, 2002... The 11th Annual Automated Imaging Association Business Conference will be held Feb. 5-7, 2003, at the new Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Fla. More than 125 machine-vision industry executives are expected to attend, to network with their peers...

Robot risk assessment: a computer-based training solution from RIA. (RIA Safety Corner).
November 1, 2002... In this installment of the Safety Corner I will continue my review of a paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Safety of Industrial Automated Systems held in Bonn, Germany. That forum offered an excellent interchange of safety...

Invest in your future workforce: support the RI/SME Robotic Technology and Engineering Challenge. (RI/SME Update).
November 1, 2002... Over the past 20 years there has been a steady decline in the number of students enrolling in and completing degrees in science and engineering. According to the National Science Foundation, in its report "The Science and Engineering Indicators...

Machine vision makes already flexible robots even more versatile.
November 1, 2002... Robots for many years have put the "flexible" in "flexible automation." In recent years, improvements in machine-vision systems have allowed robotics systems to add even more flexibility to manufacturing processes. "Using machine vision in...

Robot manufacturers offer comprehensive training. (Robotics Training Roundup).
November 1, 2002... Robots and robotic systems may be efficient, but if users don't have the proper training, their machines are just machines, rather than integral components in the manufacturing process. So robot manufacturers have developed training classes to...

What to expect from your robotics integrator.
November 1, 2002... The success of a robotics project, particularly among first-time users, depends much on the relationship between the user and the systems integrator. And, as in a successful marriage, that relationship depends on trust and regular...

Material handling: packing of pinion gear blanks. (Robotics Case Studies).
November 1, 2002... The Earle M. Jorgensen Co. uses two Motoman robotic material-handling cells to pack three different sizes of pinion gear blanks from a multi-lane conveyor into dunnage trays that nest inside formed plastic totes. These machined parts are used...

Vision sensor. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Cognex Corp. has added three models to its family of In-Sight vision sensors. The new In-Sight 4000 Series vision sensors offer speed improvements of up to five times over previous In-Sight models, and each sensor features dual processors to...

Linear lighting fixtures. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... StockerYale Inc. has introduced a new line of sealed fluorescent linear lighting fixtures. These industrial-grade, high-frequency, sealed fluorescent linear lighting fixtures are designed for use in the inspection and machine-vision industries....

High-res ccd camera. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Tamron's new 2/3-inch 25mm F/1.4 Super High-Resolution Lens is designed specifically for the expanding high-resolution arena. The new 26HA boasts more than 2,640 TV lines in the center and more than 2,110 TV lines at the edges, and it can be...

Vision sensor. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... DVT Corp.'s new Legend 540 vision sensor features built-in Ethernet connectivity and a powerful Hitachi SH4 processor, which achieves an ultra-fast image processing rate. This boosts the digitizing time to 13 milliseconds, which allows the...

Geometric Search Tool. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Geometric Search Tool is now standard on Vision Guide, the robot-guidance system from Factory Automation Robotics Division of Epson America Inc. Geometric Search Tool quickly and accurately locates a model, or multiple models, at any position...

Vision processor boards. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Matrox Imaging's new Odyssey Xpro vision processor board features the Motorola G4 PowerPC embedded microprocessor, which, combined with Matrox Imaging's Oasis processing and router ASIC, delivers more than 130 billion operations per second. The...

Industrial OCR software. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Concepts in Computing Inc. had enhanced its EconoCR industrial OCR software to make it compatible with several new environments and processors. Originally offered as a C++ library of OCR-related routines for Pentium-compatible PCs or platforms...

VGR software. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Braintech Inc. has released its first commercialized version of eVisionFactory, a universal develop, run and support software environment, built from the ground up for vision-guided robotics. eVF is made up of three major technologies: "e" for...

Vision sensor. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... The new ICS 100 Intelligent Camera Sensor from SICK Inc. can be integrated quickly and easily into any application without special image processing knowledge. The IP 64 housing and homogenous integrated illumination and lens make it easy to...

Megapixel cameras. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... JAI A*S has enhanced its CV-M7 (color) and CV-M4 (black and white) megapixel camera series to include higher resolution, increased sensitivity and reduced smear. Designated the CV-M4+ and CV-M7+, the new cameras also feature the new JAI serial...

Vision guidance. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... Adept Technology Inc. has introduced the AdeptVision sAVI Guidance option to the Adept SmartController CX. The sAVI Guidance option consists of the Advanced Vision Interface Board (sAVI) and a toolbox that includes Object Finder 2000, a...

Area camera. (Component Spotlight: Machine Vision & Lighting Products).
November 1, 2002... DALSA has introduced the DALSTAR 2M30-SA area camera, the latest addition to its Stop Action family. The 2M30-SA features 1600 x 1200, or 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution with an interline transfer CCD image sensor and a frame rate of 30 frames per...

SCARA robots/controller. (Products).
November 1, 2002... The Factory Automation Robotics Division of Epson America recently unveiled its new E2 high-speed, high-precision SCARA robots, available in 32 models. The E2 robots can be mounted on tabletops, walls shelf or ceilings. They feature 0.38 second...

Delta robot. (Products).
November 1, 2002... The new SIG XR22 Delta robot from SIG Robotics combines many advantages in a single device, including reduced mass inertia, 12g acceleration, a smaller footprint, reduced weight and easy integration with a simple mechanical interface and...

SCARA robots. (Products).
November 1, 2002... Motoman has introduced a full-line of four-axis SCARA robots that offer ultra high-speed performance in a compact form that requires minimal installation space. The new HS- and HM-series robots are ideal for small-part assembly and handling,...

SolidWorks 2003. (Products).
November 1, 2002... SolidWorks Corp. has introduced SolidWorks 2003, the latest version of its three-dimensional computer-aided design software that streamlines product design and enables companies to bring products to market faster. SolidWorks 2003 features...

Smartservo SCARA robots. (Products).
November 1, 2002... Adept Technology is incorporating its SmartServo architecture into its SCARA line, with the complete controller embedded into the body of the robot. The new self-contained control architecture will run a coordinated version of the company's...

Data acquisition. (Products).
November 1, 2002... KUKA Development Laboratories Inc. has announced the availability of DAQ devices integrated directly with the KUKA Robot Controller. Robotic application engineers will be able to easily integrate real-time data acquisition into their KUKA robot...

Servo gripper. (Products).
November 1, 2002... Schunk Inc. has introduced the new PT-AP70 servo-actuated gripper, designed to make difficult components, such as glass, foam or sand molds, easy to manage. The direct-current servomotor is coupled to a gear-driven ball bearing spindle. The...