Robots on Camera in San Francisco, CA

When you think of robots on screen in movies, tele­vi­sion shows and com­mer­cials, you prob­a­bly think of the John­ny Five robot from Short Cir­cuit or a robot like The Ter­mi­na­tor. How­ev­er, indus­tri­al six-axis artic­u­lat­ed robots have had their days in the lime­light as well. There are many com­pa­nies in Cal­i­for­nia that use robots for movies, pho­tog­ra­phy and tele­vi­sion – and some of those com­pa­nies are locat­ed in San Francisco.

One pro­duc­tion group locat­ed in San Fran­cis­co, Aut­o­fuss, used four indus­tri­al robots for a com­mer­cial about the Nexus S by Google. The com­mer­cial depict­ed a Nexus smart­phone being han­dled by four dif­fer­ent artic­u­lat­ed robots, and it showed the robots work­ing togeth­er to use the phone to take pic­tures, give direc­tions, etc. Com­mer­cials like this can demon­strate some­thing oth­er than the use­ful­ness of the Nexus by Google. It can also demon­strate the effec­tive­ness of indus­tri­al robots and their abil­i­ty to work togeth­er. So, while Aut­o­fuss may have been pro­duc­ing an ad for Google, they may have inad­ver­tent­ly giv­en a man­u­fac­tur­er a solu­tion for fix­ing his weld­ing, mate­r­i­al han­dling or mate­r­i­al removal prob­lem. And that solu­tion is indus­tri­al robotics.

Of course, Aut­o­fuss is not the only group in San Fran­cis­co using indus­tri­al robot­ics. Com­pa­nies like Wal­ter Kim Pro­duc­tions can also use robots for place­ment not only in com­mer­cials, but also in tele­vi­sion shows and movies. There have been indus­tri­al robots used in all three of the Iron Man movies. They have been used in the Ter­mi­na­tor series of movies. They’ve even been used in music videos. But, it’s not just about get­ting these robots on screen and mov­ing them around. Some of the robots used by pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies are used to shoot the movies, not be in the movies. One exam­ple would be the four indus­tri­al robots used by the 2013 movie Grav­i­ty. Anoth­er exam­ple would be the orig­i­nal Star Wars series, which refur­bished robots for dif­fer­ent cam­era angles.

All in all, robots are in use in the tele­vi­sion, music and movie indus­try for more than just props. They are char­ac­ters and they are filmmakers.

Pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies look­ing for robot­ic automa­tion need to look no fur­ther than Robots​.com in Mar­i­on, Ohio. Robots​.com is a cer­ti­fied inte­gra­tor for ABB, Motoman, Fanuc, Uni­ver­sal Robots, and KUKA robot­ics. Our high­ly-qual­i­fied team of engi­neers and tech­ni­cians can get you the sys­tem you need for your next project.

For more infor­ma­tion about Robots​.com, con­tact us today online or at 877−762−6881.