by Gary Mintchell | May 9, 2025 | Sensors
Second of a series of Automate announcements. This technology enables better response for autonomous mobile robots. Another company I’ve only just learned about.
‘ADAR’, an award-winning 3D ultrasonic sensor poised to challenge the dominance of LiDAR in robotics perception, will launch at Automate 2025, May 12-15 in Detroit, Michigan. The first orders are already in place and the sensor is on track to achieve safety certification, an industry-first for 3D ultrasonic sensing in air.
Sonair, a Norwegian sensor firm, introduces ADAR, said to be the world’s first safe 3D ultrasonic sensor designed to boost safety in spaces shared by humans and robots to North American audiences May 12 at Automate 2025.
A typical 2D LiDAR safety scanner in an AMR only sees a person’s legs in one horizontal plane. In contrast, Sonair’s patented ADAR (acoustic detection and ranging) technology detects people and objects in 3D. A single ADAR sensor provides a full 180 x 180 field of view (FoV), and a 5 meters range, for the robot’s safety function.
The core technology behind ADAR has been in development at the MiNaLab sensor and nanotechnology research center in Norway for more than twenty years. The imaging method is called beamforming; it’s the backbone of processing for SONAR and RADAR, as well as in medical ultrasound imaging, and now ready for ultrasound in-air applications.
More than 20 global companies, including AMR manufacturers, industrial manufacturing conglomerates, automotive technology suppliers, and vendors within the autonomous health and cleaning industries, have quietly validated the Sonair ADAR sensor’s effectiveness as part of a successful Early Access Program launched in Summer 2024.
Acoustic detection and ranging (ADAR) uses airborne sound waves to interpret spatial information. ADAR is developed according to ISO13849:2023 performance level d/SIL2. The sensor creates a virtual safety shield with a range of 5 meters, that enables people and robots to share space safely. The innovation lies in combining wavelength-matched transducers with efficient signal processing for beamforming and object recognition algorithms.
Sonair ADAR is scheduled to be ready for shipment in July 2025.
by Gary Mintchell | May 9, 2025 | Robots
A number of releases regarding next week’s Automate show have just come my way from one of my favorite professional PR contacts. This one is robotic-oriented. It appears that this will be very much a robot show. A company I don’t know (Inbolt) partnering with one I’ve studied extensively as an analyst (FANUC). This is pretty cool stuff.
Inbolt and FANUC are enabling FANUC robots to perform production tasks on continuously moving parts at line speeds. With Inbolt’s AI-powered 3D vision, manufacturers can now automate screw insertion, bolt rundown, glue application and other high-precision tasks on parts moving down the line without costly infrastructure investments or cycle time compromises. The new Inbolt and FANUC integration allows the CRX cobot and other FANUC robot models to operate with real-time 3D vision and adaptive trajectory correction, even with part variation or imperfect environments.
General Motors is the first to adopt this new integration, while other leading brands, including Stellantis, Ford, Whirlpool, ThyssenKrupp Automotive, and Toyota, use Inbolt’s technology across various applications.
This solution combines FANUC’s streaming motion capabilities, which enable real-time trajectory input via Ethernet, with Inbolt’s lightweight, robot-mounted vision system and ultra-fast AI model.
- Real-Time 3D Guidance: Inbolt’s proprietary localization AI refreshes at a high rate continuously identifying object orientation and adapting robot paths on the fly, enabling high-speed screwdriving and part insertion without indexing.
- Flexible Deployment: Operates in low-space environments, with no need for fencing. Ideal for General Assembly stations.
Significantly lowering the barriers to high-performance automation, this integration eliminates the need for specialized lighting or custom jigs, making it easier to deploy robots in complex, real-world environments. A single robot can now handle over 100 part models with real-time accuracy, even on continuously moving lines. Deployment is streamlined through Inbolt Studio, an intuitive platform that allows users to import CAD files, train the AI model, validate tracking in real time, and launch the program directly on the line.
by Gary Mintchell | May 6, 2025 | Technology
Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM) do not reside in my my specific level of expertise. I love new applications of technology, though. Hexagon engineers have brought CMMs into the digital age with many benefits for manufacturers. These words fail to adequately express the power of the advancement. I’d recommend visiting the website to watch demos. Pretty cool.
News in brief:
- Faster inspection with no trade-offs – designed and engineered from the ground up to deliver precision while closing productivity gaps and eliminating bottlenecks
- Enables intuitive operation for all skill levels through simplified workflows and cloud-powered software
- Built for connected facilities with an end-to-end digital architecture, seamless automation integration, and scalable upgrade paths
Transforming quality inspection with high-speed, connected measurement workflows, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division announced May 6, 2025 the launch of MAESTRO, an all-new, next-generation coordinate measuring machine (CMM) engineered from the ground up to meet the rising productivity demands of modern manufacturing. Designed to combat global skills shortages and increasing quality requirements, MAESTRO sets a new standard for speed, simplicity, and digital integration in metrology.
Expanding on Hexagon’s heritage of metrology excellence, MAESTRO is built upon four principles: to be fast, easy to use, connected and scalable. Its digital-first architecture offers the industry rapid measurement routines, an intuitive user experience and seamless data integration. With modular software and hardware, it is designed to scale with evolving production needs, making it ideal for aerospace, automotive, and high-precision manufacturing environments where there is a high demand for accuracy to deliver safety, compliance, and performance.
MAESTRO features a newly-developed digital architecture, incorporating digital sensors, a single cable system, and a completely new controller with brand new firmware. Together, these new capabilities increase throughput, streamline the complete measurement operation, and ensure future-ready connectivity for modern production environments.
Customers will benefit from:
- Unmatched precision at speed: MAESTRO’s redesigned mechanical structure, single-cable digital platform, and advanced sensors enable fast measurement with sub-micron tolerances that satisfy stringent industry standards. Customers gain the confidence of repeatable, certified measurements for critical quality control. This provides reliable results, even for complex shapes and the most demanding applications.
- Breakthrough speed: MAESTRO delivers industry-leading throughput through high-speed motion while maintaining exceptional precision. Synchronised axis movements, rapid calibration, and cloud-connected software significantly accelerate set-up, programming, execution, and reporting.
- Simpler use and programming: MAESTRO remasters quality inspection by simplifying CMM programming and streamlining workflows. An intuitive user interface, combined with next-generation cloud-native metrology apps powered by Hexagon’s Nexus platform, enable both expert metrologists and less-specialised staff to generate repeatable, standard-compliant measurements effortlessly – without the need for coding.
- End-to-end connectivity: Designed as an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) native measuring device, MAESTRO integrates into Hexagon’s Nexus ecosystem, sharing real-time data across design, production, and quality teams, driving data-driven decision-making and improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Near-line or in-line integration with automation systems is seamless.
- Scalable platform: With a modular design and a robust roadmap for future upgrades, MAESTRO is built for scalability. Manufacturers can easily update software, sensors, and additional capabilities over time, ensuring that their investment remains future-proof and continuously supports evolving production needs.
MAESTRO will be offered initially in multiple sizes and configurations, each engineered for automated multi-sensor workflows utilising tactile probes and laser scanning probes from a new “digital rack” that tracks occupancy status, sensor supply health and status that can be accessed on-device and throughout the desktop and cloud-native apps. Additional future-ready models and enhancements will follow, all based on a single, coherent platform.
MAESTRO will be available for order from 30 June 2025.
by Gary Mintchell | May 5, 2025 | Operator Interface
News from the upcoming Automate 2025 show continues to dribble in. This looks like an update on HMIs. Let’s take it to Android (I assume some of you are on that platform).
Olis will launch a remote automation monitoring, diagnostic and error recovery app that turns Android smartphones and tablets into gateways for any automation cell without the need for additional hardware at Automate 2025.
By connecting their mobile device to a PLC through the new Olis app, attendees can experience how easy it is to get going with Olis. They will also be able to remotely control a robot arm and view live video of a remote robot with PLC/telemetry data overlaid, enabling users to diagnose automation issues instantly from anywhere in the world.
The Olis app synchronizes real-time video with system logs, providing a complete picture of what went wrong.
Full set-up takes less than five minutes – including a simple online purchase – making it an efficient retrofit for legacy automation systems. Users download the Olis app onto an Android tablet or phone and connect an ethernet connection to the controller. From there, they can configure IP addresses and start collecting diagnostic data.
In addition to receiving synchronized telemetry and video in parallel, engineers can set up alerts regarding irregular activity before it escalates into a costly hard stop. The Olis app also supports screen-sharing functionality, enabling troubleshooting teams to collaborate in real-time.
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 29, 2025 | Security
In the cybersecurity game of “You make a move, and I counter it,” here is a new one on me—Identity Resilience. OK, I’m not an expert in the field. Identity theft has been around for a long time. Resilience has become a current beneficial concept. This news from Rubrik blends the two concepts.
In brief:
- Disrupt Identity-Based Attacks: Counter fastest-growing threat vector with advanced resilience for complex identity environments
- Unified Protection on One Platform: Designed for data and identity security to eliminate vulnerabilities from disparate point solutions
- Complete Resilience Coverage: Protect across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS with visibility into data and identity interactions to accelerate detection and recovery
In a world of nonstop cyberattacks, Rubrik announced April 24 its upcoming solution, Identity Resilience, designed to secure the entire identity landscape alongside data. Identity Resilience aims to protect the most common entry points for attackers – human and non-human identities (NHIs) – to help organizations maintain operations with minimal downtime.
Identity Resilience aims to address a blindspot in enterprise security. A critical piece of infrastructure utilized by a vast majority of organizations, identity remains a consistent target for hackers. When compromised, these identity systems grant attackers access to critical data and credentials, and their disruption can prevent cyber recovery. Rubrik’s solution is designed to secure this vulnerable authentication infrastructure that powers virtually every major enterprise.
“Identity systems are not only complex and hard to manage, but they have also become the primary gateway for attackers aiming to access an organization’s valuable data,” said Mike Tornincasa, Chief Business Officer at Rubrik. “Today, we signal our commitment to identity protection, to address our customers’ needs by detecting threats that target identities and proactively reduce identity risks, just as we have successfully done with data security.”
Similar to how Rubrik monitors and sustains data, the company’s anticipated capabilities are designed to identify, monitor, and safeguard critical, sensitive, and active identities, including non-human identities (NHIs) such as machines using service accounts and access tokens.
NHIs, which outnumber their human counterparts, are complex to manage and introduce vulnerabilities that are increasingly targeted by attackers who compromise and escalate privileges. Current identity security approaches fail to provide enterprises the capability to assess NHI risk, view data access, and track suspicious activity over time.
Too often, identity management, identity protection, and data security are siloed as different products run by different teams in an organization. In contrast, Rubrik uniquely aims to combine these capabilities to provide new capabilities, and a holistic view of identity and data.
- Hybrid Protection for Active Directory (AD) and Entra ID: With automated and orchestrated recovery workflows, organizations can restore complex hybrid identity environments – like Active Directory forests and full Entra ID tenants – faster and with greater confidence than before. Active Directory recovery can involve up to 22 manual steps. Rubrik reduces that with an easy-to-use wizard, dramatically cutting complexity and time to recovery. As a result, these capabilities are among the fastest-growing in Rubrik’s history, safeguarding millions of identities and the sensitive data they access.
- Comprehensive Risk Analysis for Human and Non-Human Identities: With a unified view across identity providers showing human and non-human identities who have access to sensitive data, organizations can identify dormant or orphaned accounts, detect risky privilege escalations, and expose problematic combinations of access that traditional tools often miss. Beyond visibility, organizations can track the risk associated with identities and target remediation by revoking identity access, data access, or both. This approach enforces the least privilege, shrinks their attack surface, and proactively shuts down potential identity-based threats.
- Complete Identity and Data Context: Instead of working with limited context from identity providers, organizations can tie identity-based information with sensitive data (e.g., healthcare, financial) context, privilege, and activity. This critical context can reduce remediation work while strengthening risk posture before a cyber attack, thereby speeding up threat hunting and remediation during and after an attack.
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 28, 2025 | Robots
Automate is coming to Detroit this year May 12-15. I cannot make it due to family events. When I began the phase of my career that included robotics, automation, and machinery, most of the trade shows were in Detroit due to the influence of the auto industry. There was a programmable controller show, vision show, and robotics show. All separate; all pretty big. Ah, for the good old days.
I have robot news previewing the show from all my friends in Denmark. OnRobot who continues to innovate in end effectors. I was positive that would never be a growth and innovation area, but they proved me wrong. Also more news from Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots.
OnRobot to Showcase Effortless Automation Deployment
OnRobot will showcase its D:PLOY platform and latest gripper innovations at Automate 2025. In collaboration with integration partner EMI, OnRobot will offer attendees hands-on experience demonstrating how D:PLOY fully automates the deployment of robotic applications. This will be showcased through a live demo of a D:PLOY packaging application featuring OnRobot’s VGC10 gripper, set up rapidly in just hours with no programming.
D:PLOY is the first automatic development platform for cobots and industrial robots that enables the configuration of complete, Off-The-Shelf robotic systems for high-mix manufacturing applications. With full price transparency and same-day installation, D:PLOY gives manufacturers the freedom to adapt in real time, without relying on external experts or programming – and with typical ROI in less than a year.
Visitors will also experience the benefits of OnRobot’s One System Solution: seamless integration of the company’s end-of-arm-tooling across all major robot brands, and true plug-and-produce functionality. Tool changes happen in seconds – no rewiring or reprogramming – showing how easily manufacturers can scale across new applications.
A diverse range of OnRobot’s flexible grippers will be on display, including the new 2FG14, 3FG25, and VGP30. These tools are designed to easily automate diverse tasks, support quick workpiece changeovers, and empower operators to take control. Notably, the VGP30 high-payload pneumatic vacuum gripper is a powerful and robust solution for palletizing boxes, capable of handling cost-saving, thinner cardboard and irregular shapes and porous surfaces. It is ready for immediate deployment out of the box and features intelligent vacuum control that automatically adjusts to any box or interlayer, minimizing air usage and energy costs – ideal for high-mix palletizing applications. Additional OnRobot grippers, including the 2FG7, 3FG15, and Soft Gripper, will be showcased by EMI.
Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots to Debut New and AI-powered Automation Solutions Across Integrated Industry Workflows
Joint showcase from Teradyne Robotics companies will feature comprehensive automation solutions across automotive, electronics manufacturing, and logistics zones, highlighting the power of collaborative and mobile robotics.
Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) will demonstrate their joint commitment to empowering customers with increased productivity through a diverse range of automation applications at Automate 2025.
“Our combined presence is a powerful demonstration of how Teradyne Robotics addresses the complete spectrum of automation needs across diverse industries,” says Ujjwal Kumar, Group President of Teradyne Robotics. “The applications on display across automotive, electronics and logistics emphasize our holistic approach to automation that empowers businesses to optimize their entire workflow, from component handling to final palletization,” says Kumar, who will deliver the Automate keynote “Tech Hype vs Industrial Need: Separating Science Fiction from Scalable Solutions” at 9:00am on Thursday, May 15.
The Automotive zone will include a production flow, utilizing the same type of automotive workpiece across various applications. AI Automation will demonstrate painting with a new explosion-proof (ATEX certified) UR cobot; Mission Design will present dispensing applications; and 3D Infotech will feature a quality inspection process using a UR cobot and the new UR AI Accelerator toolkit to examine the part assembled by Mission Design, highlighting enhanced perception capabilities. Finally, Robotiq will demonstrate palletizing of the packaged workpiece.
The Electronics zone will feature Adaptive Robotics, performing cobot-assisted soldering of electronic components, alongside a hands-on demonstration of UR’s new OptiMove motion control algorithm that dynamically optimizes speed and acceleration within hardware limits, resulting in smoother cobot movements, reduced vibrations, and improved cycle times.
The AI Accelerator, UR’s new toolkit developed in close collaboration with NVIDIA, will also be hard at work in the Electronics zone, incorporated into Flexxbotics’ machine tending solution to provide improved part localization, and in Acumino’s innovative cobot training demo executing complex assembly of electronic components.
The Material Handling & Logistics Zone will underscore the combined strengths of UR and MiR to deliver fully integrated autonomous intralogistics solutions that are now powered by AI technology leveraging NVIDIA’s accelerated computing libraries:
MiR’s autonomous Pallet Jack – the MiR1200 – will demonstrate the movement of pallets within warehouses and production facilities with AI-driven perception systems for robust pallet recognition, even if pallets are broken or imperfectly loaded. The Pallet Jack will work with the MC600, a new mobile cobot that features a UR20 cobot mounted on a MiR600 AMR for increased payload and reach. This integrated MC600 solution, which just won an RBR50 award, will palletize and de-palletize the MiR1200.
