The Ever-Changing Landscape of Robot Technology

“New robot tech­nol­o­gy” is some­thing that we see on a reg­u­lar basis in the indus­tri­al world these days. Com­pa­nies are con­tin­u­al­ly inno­vat­ing, mak­ing robots faster, more accu­rate, and even more envi­ron­men­tal­ly-friend­ly. As the face of the indus­tri­al robot­ics world changes, so does the rest of the robot­ics uni­verse – putting tech­nol­o­gy that start­ed in the man­u­fac­tur­ing indus­try, into the hands of those in oth­er industries.

There are robots every­where now – in banks, in movie the­aters, and even in our homes. With the new break­throughs in touch and vision sen­sor tech­nolo­gies, these robots are also mov­ing into the ser­vice field – tak­ing over as cooks, wait­ress­es, and bartenders.

How­ev­er, it is the changes in these new tech­nolo­gies for indus­tri­al robot­ics that is the real step into a brave new world for man­u­fac­tur­ing and pro­cess­ing. Touch and vision sen­sors allow the robot to reach a lev­el of con­sis­ten­cy and accu­ra­cy that was thought unat­tain­able in the past, while also mak­ing robots with these advanced tech­nolo­gies safer than ever before.

One of the most impor­tant parts of any robot work cell is safe­ty equip­ment. In many cas­es, that includes caging or fenc­ing, but that could all be chang­ing. With improve­ments in sen­sor tech­nol­o­gy, as well as inno­va­tions in area scan­ners and oth­er ​“invis­i­ble” safe­ty equip­ment, those cages are start­ing to come down, and man­u­fac­tur­ing is shift­ing into a time where human work­ers may be able to direct­ly inter­act with robots. There are even new safe­ty guide­lines from the Robot­ic Indus­tries Asso­ci­a­tion (RIA) that allow for these inter­ac­tions, because of improved touch and motion sen­sors avail­able on cer­tain robot models.

Over­all, new robot tech­nol­o­gy is a con­stant con­ver­sa­tion that is for­ev­er chang­ing and shift­ing. While this year, it may be touch sen­sors, next year, it could be a way to make robots even faster, or a way to make them more effi­cient by adding an eighth axis. You nev­er know what the future could hold, but it is def­i­nite­ly one excit­ing ride.

Are you inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about robots and the new inno­va­tions that could improve the accu­ra­cy of your appli­ca­tion? Find out more by con­tact­ing Robots​.com experts today, online or at 877−762−6881.