Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered

In this episode, we connect with Aaron Rothmeyer from Sick USA to learn about LiDAR sensors, how they differ from other sensors commonly used in the manufacturing industries, how the 2D and 3D images they produce are used, why they're widely used on autonomous mobile robots and how they can be used in quality control operations.

Automation World connects with Heather Cykoski, senior vice president of industrial and process automation at Schneider Electric, to learn more about what constitutes a smart factory, how the concept is advancing at manufacturing facilities across the globe, its connection to digital transformation initiatives and the biggest challenges manufacturers face when seeking to become a smart factory.

In this episode, we’ll be looking at how Nvidia’s graphics and artificial intelligence technologies are impacting industrial automation on a large scale via collaborations with Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric and Aveva, Siemens, and Teradyne Robotics via its Universal Robots and MiR businesses.

In this episode, we connect with Steve Biegacki of the FDT Group to get a better understanding of the FDT open standard industrial device communication technology, how it's used across industry, the FDT Group's work with OPC Foundation and what end users should know about the FDT technology in their automation devices.

In this episode we look at the growing use of cloud computing in industry and the surprising, but erroneous post from Microsoft that it was planning to discontinue a key component in its cloud platform. Feedback from industrial automation technology suppliers explains why deprecations of cloud applications by the cloud platform providers will likely not impact the cloud applications you use from them.

In this episode, we connect with Jim Toman of system integrator Grantek to explain the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) formula, how to calculate it for a typical manufacturing line, how to apply the results to improve production operations, and why the long-standing OEE metric continues to be relevant in the age of new and advancing industrial optimization technologies.

Automation World Editor in Chief David Greenfield was recently invited to appear on Southern California Public Radio's LAist AirTalk program to discuss the realities around the impact of increasing automation use—particularly robots—on industry's workforce. Also featured in this discussion is Ben Armstrong, executive director of MIT’s Industrial Performance Center.

In this episode we connect with Ken Crawford of Weidmüller USA about the us elf open system tech in automation and more specifically about Weidmüller's use of open systems in its new u-OS technologies and how it can benefit OEM and end-user operations.

In this episode, we look at some of the most common machine safety devices, such as light curtains, laser scanners, safety controllers and interlock switches and share insights from industry experts on how to determine the right safety device or system for your application.

With system integrator and technology supplier insights, we take a look at the rise of industrial data ops—how it differs from historical data storage and trending activities and how it can be used to predict future trends to optimize supply chains and derive strategic business insights.

In this episode, we connect with Steven Ward from Emerson to learn about IoT platforms, how they're applied across different industries, what operations technology professionals need to be aware of during IoT platform assessments and lessons to be learned from industries that have a high level of IoT platform adoption.

In this episode, we connect with Ira Moskowitz, CEO of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, to learn about its work supporting the use of robotics and AI in the manufacturing industries and how it helps manufacturers deploy and expand robotic applications.

An update on two high-profile integrations of Microsoft's artificial intelligence with operations technology software from Aveva and Siemens.

In this podcast featuring Anthony Leo of Norgren, we discuss how multi-axis electric motion control differs from general electric and pneumatic motion control, its suitability for hazardous environments, as well as its speed, accuracy and distance characteristics.

Collaborative robots are known for their ability to operate safely near humans, but their operation should be assessed just like any other piece of automated industrial equipment. Listen to this discussion with Devin Murray of Schmersal USA's technical engineering services division—tec.nicum—to learn about the specific safety standards related to cobots, safety hazards that are common or overlooked with cobots and how to ensure safe cobot operations in your facility.

Hear about some of the biggest automation news to come out of Pack Expo 2023 in Las Vegas, including new industrial cameras, lighting from Beckhoff, the integration of multiple automation technologies in Emerson's Floor to Cloud system and Weidmüller's new u-OS open operating system for device maintenance and application integration.

Find out how analytics technologies, such as Model Predictive Control (MPC), are impacting production operations, not just in the continuous processing industries, but discrete manufacturing as well. In this discussion with Bruce Slusser with system integrator Avanceon, we discuss how MPC can be integrated into digital transformation initiatives, the impact of artificial intelligence on MPC and the key elements manufacturers need to have in place to use effectively use MPC.

Find out the difference between traditional and high-performance HMI screen styles, as well as which type manufacturers tend to use most and how difficult it is to switch from one version to another in this episode featuring Travis Cox of Inductive Automation.

Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere these days, but it’s been a part of machine vision technology for years now. Given those years of use and the growth of new capabilities in AI, what’s the outlook for AI machine vision use in manufacturing. In this podcast discussion with Kevin McCabe of IDS Imaging Development Systems, we look at how AI enables vision system use in quality control, the connection between machine vision AI and large language models such as ChatGPT, and how to begin exploring use of AI-powered machine vision in your operations.

In this episode we connect with Kristen Ballistrea of B&R Industrial Automation to learn about B&R's Acopos 6D levitating transport system. This transportation system uses levitating shuttles to move materials and parts between various production systems for applications ranging from assembly to packaging.