Robotics automation and human collaboration at Automatica
We recently returned from Automatica, one of the major international trade fairs for robotics automation. This year’s event attracted 45,000 visitors and over 800 exhibitors from 47 countries. Compared with previous shows, we noticed a heavy focus on Industry 4.0 and human-robot collaboration.
There were many examples of the latest sensor technologies for avoiding collisions in the robot’s working environment. Adjusting the speed or direction of machine parts as they approach nearby objects is a critical capability for safeguarding against injury to co-workers and damage to equipment.
Collision-free path planning in robotics is also a major focus of R&D for our Toulouse-based team in Siemens PLM Software, where our KineoWorks solution is developed. Automatica provided the perfect forum for meeting robot manufacturers, system integrators and software developers who share our vision for collision-free path planning in robotics automation and to discuss the latest advances in this field.
We were also able to catch up with one of our pioneering research partners at the show. Sarkkis robotics is a Porto-based software house that innovates in robotics for structural steel fabrication. Sarkkis recently joined Siemens’ Frontier program, an initiative for supporting start-ups in domains like additive manufacturing and robotics. Sarkkis is using KineoWorks in an R&D project for developing a demonstrator of a cooperative dual arm robot for structural steel beam-welding. KineoWorks computes collision-free paths that enable the first robotic arm to pick and place secondary steel components on to steel beams, while the second robotic arm is automatically guided to weld them into place.
Meeting Sarkkis at Automatica 2016Having seen so many exciting innovations at this year’s event, we’re already looking forward to the next event. In the meantime, if you’d like to talk about collision-free path planning, just message me or leave a comment!
Britta
- More about KineoWorks for robotics
- More about Automatica 2016
- More about Sarkkis
