Robotics World articles from September 2002

Robotics World archives from September 2002

WAGO Corp. (People).
September 1, 2002... Robert Mehalick has been promoted to national distributor sales manager for WAGO Corp., where he will develop and provide training and sales support to WAGO distributors throughout North America.

Calmont Wire & Cable Inc. (People).
September 1, 2002... Ronald Caplette has been named director of applications engineering for Calmont Wire & Cable Inc., a new position created to provide sales and technical support to customers.

ABB Inc. (Partnerships).
September 1, 2002... Lamb Technicon's Assembly and Test division has signed a Systems Integrator Preferred Partner agreement with ABB Inc., in which ABB will provide flexible automation systems and robots to be incorporated into Lamb's assembly lines. In addition,...

Western New England College. (Partnerships).
September 1, 2002... DELMIA has signed an academic partnership agreement with Western New England College's School of Engineering and will provide, at academic partnership rates, a host of digital manufacturing solutions software, including IGRIP robotic simulation...

Automated Manufacturing Expo and Conference. (Tradeshows).
September 1, 2002... The Greater Cincinnati regional Automated Manufacturing Expo and Conference is set for Oct. 15-17 at the Cincinnati Convention Center. The New England regional show will be Oct. 8-10 at the Worcester (Mass.) Centrum Centre. For more...

ProMat show. (Tradeshows).
September 1, 2002... Next year's ProMat show will be held Feb. 10-13 at Chicago's McCormick Place North. For more information, visit www.promat2003.com.

ARC Specialties. (Websites).
September 1, 2002... ARC Specialties has added a "Submit a Project" feature to its website at www.arcspecialties.com. Proposals received on the site will be evaluated during project meetings by the staff.

Material Handling Industry of America. (Websites).
September 1, 2002... The Automated Guided Vehicle Systems (www.mhia.org/agvs) and Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (www.mhia.org/asrs) product sections of Material Handling Industry of America's website have added new case studies.

FKI Logistex. (Websites).
September 1, 2002... FKI Logistex has upgraded its website (www.fkilogistex.com) with enhanced solutions finders and a corporate intranet/extranet. Among the enhancements are new interactive product and service finders, an RFP uplink for instant bid submissions, a...

Rixan Associates. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... Rixan Associates, the North American distributor of Mitsubishi and Samsung robots, has opened a regional office in Boston and named David Singer as Northeast regional manager.

Panasonic Factory Automation Co. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... The U.S. headquarters and operations of Panasonic Factory Automation Co. has relocated from Franklin Park, Ill., to Elgin, Ill.

LEONI Tailor-Made Cable. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... With the opening of three new sales offices, LEONI Tailor-Made Cable is bringing its full product line to the United States. Since 1996, LEONI Cable Group has been represented in North America through its subsidiary Elocab Ltd. in Ontario. In...

SIG Beverages. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... Swiss packaging company SIG has created a new division, SIG Beverages, formed from a merger of the former SIG Plastics, formerly Krupp plastics technology; and SIG Simonazzi, previously the liquid division of the Italian Sasib. CEO of the new...

Lincoln Electric Holding's manufacturing plants. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... Lincoln Electric Holding's manufacturing plants at its subsidiaries Lincoln Electric France and Lincoln Electric Philippines have been certified to the ISO 9001-2000 international quality standards.

Zymark Corp. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... The Advanced Center for Genome Technology at the University of Oklahoma has installed Zymark Corp.'s Mini-Staccato, a robotic workstation to automate more than 10,000 individual DNA sequencing templates a day. DNA sequencing at the center is...

Carnegie Mellon University. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... Carnegie Mellon University inaugurated a robotics course this summer at its West Coast Campus, attended by 30 San Francisco Bay Area high school students entering their senior year this fall. The course was offered in collaboration with NASRs...

Lovejoy Inc. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... Lovejoy Inc. has established a subsidiary company with a warehouse and manufacturing unit, Lovejoy Europe By, in Alkmaar, The Netherlands. Barry Vowles joined the company as manager of the new operation.

Automated Precision Inc. (Quick Takes).
September 1, 2002... Automated Precision Inc. has relocated its headquarters and manufacturing facilities to a new 45,000-square-foot building in Rockville, Md.

2002 Robotics Industry Forum set for November. (RIA Update).
September 1, 2002... The robotics market, like all capital equipment markets, has suffered through a tough period of late. However, it's clear that new markets are developing, new challenges are being met and new business is on the horizon. To find out about...

Free Video Web links for RIA members. (RIA Update).
September 1, 2002... RIA now offers Gold and Platinum members a free service to create a hyperlink to their online videos. Robotics Online now features a special "Video" tab (located in the upper right part of the masthead) that serves up a page of information...

Looking for HR Solutions/Jobs? (RIA Update).
September 1, 2002... Robotics Online, at www.roboticsonline.com, features an excellent human resources service for companies specifically targeting robotics professionals. RIA members can post job openings for free. Seekers can use this service free as well. ...

Question of the Month (from the Robotics online "Ask the Experts" section). (RIA update).
September 1, 2002... Q: What software on the market can simulate an industrial process using ABB, FANUC or KUKA robots? Do you know the companies' sites? A: The first company that came to mind is DELMIA. You may want to contact them to see if they can support...

Designing a safe and highly productive system.
September 1, 2002... Start thinking safety early when designing your robotics workcell. One of the most frequent mistakes system designers make is thinking only of the production process and ignoring the fact that the system will be safeguarded later to prevent...

Wanted: New markets for Robotic Assembly.
September 1, 2002... Robotic assembly is still a single-digit percentage. of the robotic automation market (spot welding is still king, followed closely by material-handling applications), but that's just an indication that it's a wide-open market for the robotics...

Survey indicates mixed results in robotics spending. (Robotics World's 2002 Industry Survey).
September 1, 2002... Editor's Note: The 2002 Robotics World Industry Survey was mailed with the April issue to 19,960 subscribers. More than 300 readers responded, for a response rate of 1.6 percent. The majority of respondents were end users (69.8 percent),...

Assembly/Dispensing. (Robotics Case Studies).
September 1, 2002... JFL Automation of Birmingham, England, has manufactured four assembly cells that are integrated into a new production line for a new line of vacuum cleaners at Dyson, an appliance manufacturer. Each cell is built around a ceiling-mounted...

Glass handling. (Robotics Case Studies).
September 1, 2002... ODL Inc. in Zeeland, Mich., produces glass panels used in skylights and windows. While the edges of the panels are not sharp, they must be handled with care to avoid breakage. When the panels are handled manually, workers must twist, turn, bend...

Deburring/Polishing/Drilling. (Robotics Case Studies).
September 1, 2002... The KirbyCo.'s implementation of robotic polishing cells has resulted in substantial cost savings, process improvement and enhanced employee positions. Robot automation has enabled the vacuum cleaner manufacturer to reduce direct labor costs,...

Light curtains. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... Leuze-Lumiflex Inc. has introduced the new Compact Plus safety light curtains, which features integrated functions such as restart interlock, relay monitoring, blanking, muting and initiation control. It is available in semiconductor or relay...

Programmable scanner. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... SICK Inc.'s PLS, a programmable scanner for both stationary and mobile safety and area scanning applications, is a non-contact, control-reliable proximity sensor that monitors 180 degrees of its surroundings out to a radius of 164 feet, without...

Safety mats. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... Scientific Technologies Inc. has introduced Metric Mat Series pressure sensitive safety mats, which are available in more than 100 standard sizes with four different configurations. Custom solutions are available for non-standard application...

Programmable safety systems. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... Pilz Automation Safety's PSS compact programmable safety systems provide complete control over the safety-related functions of a machine, plant or process. The compact systems are housed within a single space-saving enclosure, providing an...

Machine guards. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... WireCrafters' woven-wire partition system provides an economical answer to machinery and robotic safety in manufacturing plants. The physical barrier restricts access and prevents employees from casually wandering into an area where they might...

Safety mats. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... Larco has developed a non-skid surface to expand the capabilities of its line of presence-sensing industrial safety mats. Tested under the toughest environmental conditions, Larco's SureStep non-skid surface, combined with its totally...

Explosion-proof light screens. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... Banner Engineering Corp. has introduced explosion-proof enclosures for its Mini-Screen and Micro-Screen safety light screen emitters and receivers. The enclosures, intended for use in environments such as paint booths, provide protection...

Light Curtains. (Component Spotlight: Safety Equipment).
September 1, 2002... Among safety products from Honeywell's Sensing and Control Business is the Detector 3 Series Safety Light Curtain with fixed and floating blanking capability. The three-piece light curtain system provides dependable personnel protection without...

Clean-room scaras. (Products).
September 1, 2002... The new SR6 and SR8 turboscara robots from Bosch Rexroth's Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies division have been certified for use in class 1 clean rooms (U.S. Federal Standard 209e) by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology...

Nozzle Cleaning Station. (Products).
September 1, 2002... The new QRC-2001 Nozzle Cleaning Station from Tweco Robotics removes spatter buildup from robotic welding torches, reduces downtime and improves weld quality. An advanced rotary impact drive system cuts away spatter, allowing the cleaned torch...

Microcontrollers. (Products).
September 1, 2002... Motorola now offers six microcontrollers based on the MPC500 MCU architecture. This family of MCUs incorporates embedded flash memory and sophisticated on-chip peripherals, making them suited for a variety of robotics, manufacturing and...

Motion/Vision controllers. (Products).
September 1, 2002... Adept Technology Inc. has introduced the second in a family of distributed motion and vision controllers, the Adept SmartController CX, which comes with full support for AdeptVision sAVI and a faster processor that supports the most demanding...

Indexing tables. (Products).
September 1, 2002... OSA-LATOR indexing tables are now available with an enhanced performance dual drive option. Developed as a solution for one client, this option is now being offered on most OSA-LATOR models. There are several advantages to the new dual-drive...

Alignment meter. (Products).
September 1, 2002... Melles Griot has introduced the AlignMeter, which simultaneously measures laser beam position and angular displacement for beams up to 8 nun in diameter. Previously, angular displacement had to be calculated from time-consuming distance and...

Robotic packaging. (Products).
September 1, 2002... Kisters Kayat, which manufactures packaging machinery primarily for the food and beverage industry, recently introduced the newest member of its family of packaging machinery using integrated robotic technology. The Primax line was unveiled at...

Transducers. (Products).
September 1, 2002... The new family of compact, external-mount transducers from Transducers Direct taps advanced positioning technology to provide accurate component positioning on industrial machinery and lab equipment. They provide repeatable positioning for...

Robot Risk Assessment: a computer-based training solution from RIA. (RIA Safety Corner).
September 1, 2002... The importance of assessing risk cannot be overemphasized in today's competitive and cost-conscious world. Eliminating hazards before they reach users is always optimum. Through the use of Robot Risk Assessment software from Robotic Industries...