Industrial Controls & Automation

New Technique Helps Robots Pack Objects into a Tight Space

Anyone who has ever tried to pack a family-sized amount of luggage into a sedan-sized trunk knows this is a hard problem. Robots struggle with dense packing tasks, too.

How Simple Component Improvements Can Revolutionize Plant Processes

Since its introduction, dozens of steel mills — ranging from hot to cold and bar to sheet — have recognized the benefits of incorporating INSTAclamp Lock Rings into their operations. Despite a redesign with a new material, the product is not restricted by which mill types it can operate within.

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...

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.

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.

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...

Improved Motion Control with Time-Sensitive Networking

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

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.,...

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.

Rethinking Industrial Ethernet

IE may not be the best solution in every situation, says an industry expert.

Secure to the Core

One major concern for manufacturers is how safe and secure it is to open the OT network’s doors to the internet.

New on the Market: April 2022

High-performance laser trackers, gimbal motors, air-quality sensors, and more.

Product of the Month

A new suite helps Ada developers build safe, secure software as well as meet internal security and quality procedures.