Manufacturing & Prototyping

Industrial Controls & Automation

Explore the key advances impacting industrial controls and automation. Access technical briefs and developments in the applications that are essential to automation integration and design.

Stories

Special Reports: Internet of Things

Smart Factory/IIoT - September 2023

Factories are getting "smarter" and more automated by the day, thanks to advances in AI, robotics, connectivity and sensors. In this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech Briefs and Sensor...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

New Ferroelectric Material Could Give Robots Muscles

A new type of ferroelectric polymer that is exceptionally good at converting electrical energy into mechanical strain holds promise as a high-performance motion controller or...

Quiz: Manufacturing & Prototyping

How Much Do You Know About PLCs for Industrial Control?

Industrial PLCs were first used in 1969 and are still in wide use today. Test your PLC knowledge with this quiz.

Articles: Energy

Enabling Ambitious Battery Production at Scale

The battery industry is forecasted to grow tenfold by the end of the decade. This growth is driven by increasing demand for Li-ion cell batteries, predominantly for electrified transportation and energy storage.

INSIDER: Aerospace

Model Simulates Variable Flap Stiffness for the Best Lift

There is extensive research on how a fixed-position flap affects lift in the realm of fluid-structure interaction. However, taking the conversation in a new direction, researchers at...

Articles: Internet of Things

Improved Motion Control with Time-Sensitive Networking

Automation vendors are looking for the latest technology that will give them a competitive advantage.

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Thinking About Artificial Intelligence

The term artificial intelligence (AI) has become an everyday catch phrase. The way it’s used all over the media, however, is very different from the way I think about it.

Quiz: Robotics, Automation & Control

What Do You Know About Factory Automation?

Factories are becoming more and more automated and integrated. How much do you know about what factory automation actually is? Take this quiz to find out.

Briefs: Software

How Virtual, Cloud-Based Technologies Are Powering the Next Industrial Revolution

Companies in many industries are completely revamping the way in which their manufacturing arms are designing, building, producing, and servicing their goods.

INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Gripper Robot Can Grasp Objects from Very Fine to Large

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) announced that it has developed a gripper capable of all gripping movements, inspired by elephant trunks. It mimics how elephants...

Articles: Materials

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Winner - Large-Scale 3D Printing with Tubes

The 3D printing industry has grown quickly over the last decade with average compound annual growth rates of around 27 percent leading to a market size of $17.7 billion in 2022.

Special Reports: AR/AI

Smart Factory/IIoT - September 2022

INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping

MIT Engineers Devise a Recipe for Improving Any Autonomous Robotic System

A new general-purpose optimizer can speed up the design of walking robots, self-driving vehicles, and other autonomous systems.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Boosting Operational Intelligence with AI

Although industrial factories and processing plants have long been automated, it remains vital for human decision-making to be involved in operations, sometimes to a great extent. Automation in and...

INSIDER: Motion Control

Nanostructured Fibers Can Impersonate Human Muscles

Mimicking the human body, specifically the actuators that control muscle movement, is of immense interest around the globe. In recent years, it has led to many innovations to improve...

Articles: Motion Control

Smart Design for Pneumatics Proves Vital

While the U.S. historically has had much lower energy costs than in other parts of the world, today’s volatile energy market combined with the initiatives of many corporations to reduce carbon...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Fully Automated High-Throughput Additive Manufacturing

The automation of additive manufacturing (AM) is limited and usually still requires human labor workflows, including the fundamental step of removing the finished object from the printer...

Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control

Are soft machines an important technology for the future?

Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g., prosthetic limbs).

INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Kirigami Robotic Grippers Are Delicate Enough to Lift Egg Yolks

Engineering researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that are able to lift delicate egg yolks without...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Engineers Bring a Soft Touch to Commercial Robotics

Inspired by the natural dexterity of the human hand, a team of engineers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has created a reconfigurable hybrid robotics system that is able to...

Technology Leaders: Motion Control

Ensuring Optical Fiber Alignment

Most optical networks have many fiber couplings and even minor losses at these junctions will produce significant signal losses that cause problems in data transmission. Precise fiber alignment at the optical...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Machine Intelligence to Build Soft Machines

Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g.,...

INSIDER: Propulsion

Microdrones With Light-Driven Nanomotors

Physicists at the University of Würzburg have propelled micrometer-sized drones significantly smaller than red blood cells, exerting precise control, using only light.