Motion Control/​Automation

Product Focus: Sonair Unveils 3D Ultrasonic Sensor Designed to Boost Safety

Developed by a Norwegian sensor startup Sonair, a safe 3D ultrasonic sensor — ADAR — designed to boost safety in spaces shared by humans and robots debuted at...

Tech Focus: Translating Business Orders into Actionable Robot Missions

InOrbit.AI (Mountain View, CA) is unveiling the InOrbit Business Execution System™ at Automate 2025. This key addition to InOrbit Space Intelligence™ transforms how...

Product Focus: Olis Launches a Diagnostic Tool That Runs on Any Android Device

Olis (Seattle, WA) has launched a remote automation monitoring, diagnostic and error recovery app that turns Android smartphones and tablets into gateways for...

Product Focus: Güdel Introduces Swiss Quality Tracks for Cobots

At Automate 2025, Güdel Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI), is highlighting two new technologies — Cobomover™ and a modular track system — that demonstrate its ability to solve...

Tech Focus: Advancing Inline Quality Control with High-Precision 3D Metrology

A new state-of-the-art robot-assisted 3D inspection and metrology system designed for real-time quality control in manufacturing, is being showcased by senswork...

Product Focus: An AI-Ready Automation Controller with Built-In Cellular Connectivity

Montreal-based Vention, creator of the full-stack software and hardware automation platform, recently announced the commercial availability of its powerful...

Beyond the Hype: The Real Impact of Robotics in Manufacturing

While AI-driven robotics is driving greater efficiency and productivity, the manufacturing sector still faces several challenges that need to be addressed. How can manufacturers prepare for this new era of automation? Ujjwal Kumar, Group President, Teradyne Robotics, one of the keynote speakers at Automate 2025, shares his insights about the future of automation.

How Much Do You Know About Servo Systems?

Without servo systems, there would be no automated factories. Since they’re so common, this quiz ought to be easy. Try it and see. How much do you know about servo systems? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including seals that actively self-clean in a continuous or periodic manner; a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple coordinated directions; and a compact and versatile robot that can maneuver through tight spaces and transport payloads much heavier than itself.

Is It a Material? Is It a Robot? It's Both!

Engineers have created a type of material that can expand, assume new shapes, move, and follow electromagnetic commands like a remotely controlled robot even though it lacks any motor or internal gears.

This Tiny Robot Could Save Your Life One Day

A tiny, soft, flexible robot that can crawl through earthquake rubble or travel inside the human body may seem like science fiction, but a team is pioneering such adaptable robots by integrating flexible electronics with magnetically controlled motion.

RoboBee Comes in for a Landing

The Harvard RoboBee has long shown it can fly, dive, and hover like a real insect. But what good is the miracle of flight without a safe way to land? A storied engineering achievement by the Harvard...

Engineering a Robot That Can Jump 10 Feet High — Without Legs

Inspired by the movements of a tiny parasitic worm, Georgia Tech engineers have created a 5-inch soft robot that can jump as high as a basketball hoop. Their device, a silicone...

Tiny, Soft Robot Flexes Its Potential as a Life Saver

A tiny, soft, flexible robot that can crawl through earthquake rubble to find trapped victims or travel inside the human body to deliver medicine may seem like science fiction, but an...

Hopping Robots to Traverse Challenging Terrain

The hopping robot, which is smaller than a human thumb and weighs less than a paperclip, has a springy leg that propels it off the ground and four flapping-wing modules that give it lift and control its orientation.

Electronics-Free Robots Straight from the 3D Printer

Imagine a robot that can walk, without electronics, and only with the addition of a cartridge of compressed gas, right off the 3D-printer. It can also be printed in one go, from one material. That is exactly what roboticists have achieved in robots developed at the University of California San Diego.

A Bionic Hand that Can Grip Like a Human

Johns Hopkins University engineers have developed a pioneering prosthetic hand that can grip plush toys, water bottles, and other everyday objects like a human, carefully conforming and adjusting its grasp to avoid damaging or mishandling whatever it holds.

5Ws of a Morphing Robot

GOAT (Good Over All Terrains), a bioinspired robot developed at EPFL, can change shape to alter its own physical properties in response to its environment, resulting in a robust and efficient autonomous vehicle.

A Step Toward More Accurate 3D Object Detection

Scientists have developed multi-modal 3D object detection methods that combine 3D LiDAR data with 2D RGB images taken by standard cameras. While the fusion of 2D images and 3D LiDAR data leads to more accurate 3D detection results, it still faces its own set of challenges, with accurate detection of small objects remaining difficult. Read on to learn more about it.

Executive Insights: Humanoid Robots

Despite their immense potential, humanoid robots face several challenges before they can achieve mainstream adoption. In this article, two industry executives — Melonee Wise, Chief Product Officer of Agility Robotics and Barry Phillips, Chief Commercial Officer of Apptronik — share their insights about the current state and future outlook for humanoid robots.

Navigating the Challenges of Motor Commutation

Motor commutation involves the process of switching between motor phases to ensure smooth, continuous operation. In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of commutation, explain how it works, and discuss the challenges faced when trying to pair different motors and drives, especially across brands.

New Products

See the new products, including igus' aluminum version of its drylin ® NT-60 telescopic rail; Tolomatic Inc.'s online Drive Integration Tool; Flexiv's KURAVIZON adaptive robot; Thomson Industries' upgrade to its stepper motor linear actuator online selector tool, which adds the ability to include encoders in the design process; and more.

Boosting Robotic Grasping Performance with Six Degrees of Freedom Dataset

A new study, published in the journal Results in Engineering, introduced a meticulously designed dataset aimed at enhancing the performance of 6D pose estimation algorithms. Read on to learn more.

3D-Printed Soft Robotic Joint Allows Greater Bending Angles

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a new soft joint model for robots with an asymmetrical triangular structure and an extremely thin central column. This breakthrough, recently patented, allows for versatility of movement, adaptability and safety, and will have a major impact in the field of robotics. Read on to learn more.

A Training Method for Multiagent Systems Promises Safe Operation

A team of MIT engineers has developed a training method for multiagent systems that can guarantee their safe operation in crowded environments. Read on to learn more about it.