Ivan Hernandez Dalas - Mechatronics

SmartReach combines the precision of a machine tool with five-axis articulation. | Source: Comau Comau last week announced the worldwide launch of SmartReach Comau, its new TPX Robot Teach Pendant, and its new in.Grid digital platform, all for ease of use. The company made the announcements at BI-MU, an Italian exhibition for metalworking, machine tools, robots, automation systems, and additive manufacturing. “As an Italian company and worldwide leader in designing flexible and versatile automation that increases efficiency and optimizes productivity, 34.BI-MU is the ideal backdrop to unveil our newest technologies,” stated Pietro Gorlier, CEO of Comau. “Our comprehensive solutions portfolio allows us to offer innovative and flexible solutions to customers operating in a wide range of markets,” he added. “In particular, the products we’ve launched here at BI-MU are designed to support multiple industries where automation is experiencing double-digit growth.” Register now . Fo

From left to right: Joyce Sidopoulos, co-founder at MassRobotics, Cynthia Breazeal, a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT, and Ingmar Posner, a professor of engineering science at Oxford. | Source: MassRobotics MassRobotics, a robotics innovation organization, recently announced Dr. Cynthia Breazeal as the 2024 recipient of its Robotics Medal. The organization said Breazeal won for her significant contributions to the field of robotics, notably for her work in the field of social robotics and human-robot interaction. The award is sponsored by Amazon Robotics. The award includes a $50,000 prize.  With the Robotics Medal, MassRobotics seeks to not only celebrate individual achievements, but also to inspire and encourage women and other underrepresented groups to participate in shaping the future of the world through robotics. Breazeal is currently a professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where she founded and directs the Persona

The PPE module tested by gantry robot will power the Gateway space station. Source: Bell-Everman NASA’s Artemis Program plans to send humans back to the moon to establish a lunar ground base and space station. Known as Gateway, the space station will be powered by the Power and Propulsion Element, or PPE, module, which uses large arrays of advanced, multi-junction solar cells to generate 60 kilowatts of power. To ensure the PPE’s success, it’s crucial to test the solar arrays with advanced simulation that replicates sunlight and measures each circuit’s performance. Engineered by Angstrom Designs Inc. , the solar simulator heads must be positioned at numerous points along the length and width of the solar arrays. That process that is usually accomplished using automation frames that consist of linear motion stages. Because the PPE’s solar arrays are so large, standard frames built for conventional array sizes could not provide the necessary vertical and horizontal motion. Bell-E

Robotic Crew founders at RoboBusiness 2023. Source: Ricardo Petrazzini While U.S. companies have outsourced technology work overseas for more than 20 years, quality and political concerns have brought back design, programming, and other engineering tasks back closer to home. Robotic Crew offers staffing in Latin America for robot development, as well as operations and fleet management.  “About two years ago, we spun out of WeDevelop, a company that was providing software engineers,” said Ricardo Petrazzini , founder and CEO of Robotic Crew. “Robotics is at the stage software was at in 2005, and many vendors and integrators don’t yet realize how Latin American talent can help them.” The Coral Gables, Fla.-based company said it can remotely handle electrical and software engineering tasks such as design and testing. It is one of two Latin American businesses offering such services, Petrazzini told  The Robot Report . “When I went to RoboBusiness 2023, I met a Ph.D. from MIT who s

Joyce Sidopoulos, chief of operations at MassRobotics, addresses Korean startups during the weeklong program. Source: MassRobotics MassRobotics recently welcomed 10 startups from South Korea for an intensive, weeklong International Immersion Program, in partnership with the KAIST Global Commercialization Center, or GCC. Designed to help international startups expand their operations into the U.S., the program offered an opportunity for Korean entrepreneurs to connect with Boston’s robotics ecosystem, gain insights into the U.S. market, and build strategic networks for future growth. Program bridges innovation from Korea to Boston As part of its mission to foster global innovation, MassRobotics planned a curriculum tailored to the needs of the startups affiliated with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology ( KAIST ). All of them had already raised venture capital funding and developed working prototypes. The program’s core focus was to prepare the startups fo

Claire chatted to Matt Beane from the University of California, Santa Barbara about how humans can learn to work with intelligent machines. Matt Beane conducts field research on robots and AI in the workplace, focusing on positive exceptions applicable to the broader world of work. He has published his award-winning research in top management journals and presented on the TED stage. He’s been recognized as a Human-Robot Interaction Pioneer and named to the Thinkers50 Radar list. Matt is an assistant professor in the Technology Management department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Digital Fellow with Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab and MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy. View Source