Blog

Walt Machine President Tommy Caughey waited years to pull the trigger on a collaborative robot for his high-precision optical parts business. He struggled with the suggestion that installing a robotic vision system might be more difficult than it was worth and require extremely specialized expertise to execute properly.Each year, the company receives a huge order for scientific camera assembly parts that strains his staff and creates a production bottleneck. Given the length of time it takes to …

When most people think of industrial robots, they think of bulky metal equipment stashed behind large safety cages. With collaborative robots, which are smaller and don’t always need safety guarding, that impression may soon change. Cobot deployment comes with its own set of challenges, like accommodating the up-front costs and set up involved. Robotiq CEO Samuel Bouchard says while many manufacturers prefer a set and forget system, this may not be the best option primarily because of …

When implementing a collaborative robot in a pick and place application, additional sensors can yield huge benefits. There are a myriad of ways to do this, each with its own level of complexity and cost. Let’s explore some options.Fixturing – No Sensor RequiredThis method is tried and true. The biggest advantage to this option is its low cost, low tech approach. It requires little to no training but fixtures can be expensive and lack flexibility.In-Built Part DetectionBefore adding more se …

In 2015, architect Brian Vallario and finance professional Gerard Masci created a new American-made eyewear company, Lowercase, in New York City. With most eyewear produced overseas, the pair looked to automation to reduce production costs while maintaining a consistent quality level. Even with limited production runs, the company desired a completely in-house production system.“I had done a little bit of research on robots when I was in graduate school, but I never really had any working …

An investment in new collaborative robots requires more than just the robot and some simple integration. End effectors, software and other fittings will be required to get the job done. Universal Robots seeks to streamline the process of adding the appropriate parts to their robot arm by using a single user platform.“We offer a technology platform with our UR arm and our mission is to take the complexity out of an application,” said Jürgen Von Hollen, president of Universal Robots. “We do …