Robot solves skills shortage for coatings specialist
27 August, 2009Finding specialised qualified staff and the need for greater efficiency in an increasingly competitive marketplace motivated Peter Harrison, the General Manager of Melbourne-based Hilustre Coatings Pty Ltd, to investigate the possibility of using a robot at the company’s spray painting facility.
Smarter robotic palletising
14 July, 2009More and more, customers are wanting to automate the palletising function within their production facilities but are often unable to provide space for such a system. And in today’s current economic conditions, customers are becoming even more focused on the return on investment of their capital equipment purchases.
Smarter robotic palletising
25 June, 2009More and more, customers are wanting to automate the palletising function within their production facilities but are often unable to provide space for such a system. And in today’s current economic conditions, customers are becoming even more focused on the return on investment of their capital equipment purchases. The result is that customers now seek quality equipment with excellent performance specifications and a predictable commissioning timeline, all at a reasonable price.
SPC Ardmona cans in safe hands
25 June, 2009When Australian company SPC Ardmona switched its palletising system, it found other advantages than just packing more pallets. The new system also opened up opportunities for new business.
With a human touch — how robots have learned to polish
14 April, 2009 by Xianjie Bao, Wen Peng, Xingguo Yin, Xinyu Fang, Hui Zhang*An apparently simple operation to polish a work piece is in fact highly complex. A skilled person with a long experience in this process can do it very well and most of the handling is based on ‘feeling’.
Robotic bin picking
01 April, 2009 byABB has introduced robotic bin picking technology that can locate and disseminate jumbled and randomly situated materials from bins.
Lightweight robot
01 April, 2009 byThe IRB 4600 features a compact and lightweight design with an upper arm of aluminium and spur gears of ABB’s own design. The robot incorporates QuickMove and TrueMove, ABB’s sharp motion technology that defines precise performance and path accuracy with the shortest possible rapid cycle time.
Cleaning up one of Tasmania’s dirtiest jobs
16 March, 2009Zinc smelting began in 1917 on the site of Nyrstar’s Hobart plant in Tasmania. For generations it has involved hard, dirty and risky jobs. One of the toughest — skimming the waste ‘dross’ off molten zinc just poured into ingot moulds — was done by hand with a rake, until four ABB industrial robots took it over in 2008.
Robotic tool changer module
14 March, 2009 byATI-Industrial Automation has introduced a high-power tool changer electrical module that passes current up to 28 A, 500 VAC/700 VDC and includes Amphenol MS-style connectors and a protective earth safety ground. Other features include a fluid-resistant seal on the contacts and specially designed contact pins for low resistance.
Robotic tool changer module
28 January, 2009ATI-Industrial Automation has introduced a high-power tool changer electrical module that passes current up to 28 A, 500 VAC/700 VDC and includes Amphenol MS-style connectors and a protective earth safety ground.
RMIT student wins robotics award
08 January, 2009Chun-Yen Lai from RMIT University has won ABB's 2008 National Robotics Innovation Competition, after devising a robot that automated the manufacture of key furniture components.
CSIRO mine automation technology goes global
20 October, 2008CSIRO has signed an agreement to commercialise its innovative underground longwall automation system, known as LASC technology, with one of the world’s largest longwall mining original equipment manufacturers, Joy Australasia.
Rio Tinto's Pilbara train drivers set to strike
08 October, 2008Train drivers at Rio Tinto's Pilbara operations are expected to walk off the job for 12 hours this Saturday 11 October, as part of a push by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union to get driver compensation for Rio's planned driverless train system.
Robots help recreate the Big Bang
26 September, 2008Two of ABB's IRB 140 robots were part of the laser welding system that manufactured the two accelerator rings of the Large Hadron Collider, located at CERN on the Swiss-French border.
Solar cell production robot
05 September, 2008ABB has announced a standard compact solution for solar cell manufacturing plants — the FlexPicker-System Solar. The standardised robotic cell was specially designed for loading, unloading and handling processes in automated production lines for solar cells.
