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 | Mar 14, 2025 | Sensors, Technology
I’ve had a soft spot for visual systems ever since my introduction to the technology in the mid-1980s. Trends of more powerful video sensors plus AI have combined to form a number of interesting new products.
This news comes from a company called Cybord (that I previously wrote about here), who bills itself as “the leading provider of advanced AI-powered electronic component analytics.” They have announced the launch of its Real-Time Interception (RTI) solution, an advanced visual AI-powered software that prevents defective components from being assembled onto Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (PCBAs) in real time. By identifying and discarding faulty components within milliseconds before placement, Cybord’s RTI safeguards product quality, integrity, and compliance while significantly reducing manufacturing waste and costs. The solution, which is already integrated into Fuji’s NXT III placing machines, is currently expanding to manufacturing lines globally.
The solution provides:
- Instantaneous Detection and Rejection: The solution identifies every type of defect and discards defective or unauthorized components in real time before they are assembled onto electronic circuit boards, ensuring only top-quality and approved components are utilized.
- Seamless Manufacturing Integration: The flexible, drop-in software solution easily integrates into existing manufacturing lines to enhance quality control without disrupting production workflows.
- Data-Packed Insights: The platform provides manufacturers with crucial analytics and monitoring and ensures compliance with IPC standards.
- Value-Add for Machine Manufacturers: RTI allows machine manufacturers to empower their EMS customers with enhanced production efficiency and quality control by reducing rework and scrap. EMSs, in turn, prevent unnecessary revenue loss.
The RTI solution builds on Cybord’s successful Quality Component Inspection (QCI) and Traceability Component Inspection (TCI) offerings, addressing a critical need voiced by manufacturers: the ability to prevent faulty components from penetrating the assembly line rather than detecting them post-assembly. The RTI solution has already driven high demand from leading industry players and is currently integrated in Fuji America’s pick-and-place machines.
Powered by a database of nearly five billion components and counting, Cybord utilizes deep learning and AI algorithms to advance the next generation of AI in electronics manufacturing. During placement on the assembly line, the visual AI solution prevents defective, damaged, and counterfeit components from being assembled onto PCBA in real time with 99.9% accuracy. Cybord currently works with industry leaders including Fuji America, Siemens, and Flex.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 21, 2025 | Internet of Things, Sensors, Wireless
Following the “fieldbus wars” came the “wireless wars.” Bringing the entire automation and control community together for standards seemed to be The Impossible Dream. I predicted that the market would settle things, and it did.
Wireless sensors ushered in the Industrial Internet of Things era. One constant concern for engineers was powering the many sensors—many, or most, requiring batteries.
I didn’t have to attend CES to get news. I preferred the vacation in Australia and New Zealand we took instead of a crowded Las Vegas. This news comes from a company I’ve never heard of (always a joy).
G-Lyte to Introduce Sensitized Solar Cell Technology To Create a Durable Alternative to Disposable Batteries
(Aside: I take about 75 lbs. Of household batteries to recycling from our community every month. This keeps the toxic chemicals out of the landfill. Plus, companies really do recover the chemicals for reuse.)
Every day, consumers discard more than 72 million non-rechargable batteries contributing to high levels of toxicity that pose a serious risk to the environment while also needlessly driving up consumer prices. Recognizing this urgent need for alternative device powering solutions, G-Lyte has perfected their best-in-class, proprietary Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) technology to create a durable, high-efficiency power source in low light environments that’s eco-friendly and 99%-plus recyclable.
Created as an embedded technology for product integration at the OEM level, G-Lyte is designed to power such products as computer accessories, remote controls, electronic shelf labels (ESLs), smart watches, trackers, sensors and more.
Manufactured for integration into both existing and new electronic devices, G-Lyte’s dynamic team of scientist-inventors work with product manufacturers at every level of the engineering process to evaluate their products’ power requirements and the prevailing lighting conditions in which the device will ultimately operate to first determine if the photovoltaic in-dye solution is, in fact, the best approach before deploying standard or custom sized and shaped products to power the device. G-Lyte also offers the only cell efficient in indoor conditions and stable under prolonged direct sun exposure.
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 11, 2024 | Automation, Sensors
My marketing communications colleague has another new client from outside my usual comfort zone. The autonomous mobile robot (AMR) continues to grow becoming more valuable not only for warehousing, but also for manufacturing. One of the more costly components is the 3D LiDAR sensor.
She introduced me to Sonair. This Norwegian technology company has closed a new funding round, led by Skyfall Ventures. The investment introduces a completely new category of sensors said to transform a mobile robot’s spatial awareness from 2D to 3D, offering a significantly improved safety performance over traditional vision systems while cutting costs by 50-80%. The company’s Early Access Program now counts AMR manufacturers, automakers, and distributors from across the world. This technology uses ultrasound for 3D spatial awareness.
A typical 2D LiDAR scanner in an AMR only sees a person’s legs in one horizontal plane. In contrast, Sonair’s patented ADAR (Acoustic Ranging and Detection) technology detects people and objects in 3D, with low energy and computational requirements.
Sonair has now raised a total of $6.8M with Skyfall Ventures leading the latest $1.6M round. RunwayFBU, another early-stage VC fund, also contributed to the round.
Ultrasonic sensors are less affected by environmental factors such as poor lighting, dust, or changing temperatures, ensuring reliable performance in diverse conditions where traditional sensors may fail. Sonair’s sensor can also detect reflective or see-through surfaces such as glass or mirrors without difficulty. Benefits recently recognized at the international Sensors Converge event in Santa Clara, California in June this year, where Sonair won the Best of Sensors Award 2024 in the Automotive & Autonomous sensor category.
The patented ADAR technology has been in development at the world-renowned 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 ultrasound imaging known in medicine but now used in the air.
By combining wavelength-matched transducers with cutting-edge software for beamforming and object-recognition algorithms, Sonair makes 3D spatial information available simply by transmitting sound and listening. This allows mobile robots to detect distance and direction to all objects in a 180×180 field of view with a range of up to 5 meters, providing a wider field of view than existing technologies, while also detecting obstacles above and below the 2D plane of the LiDAR.
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 19, 2024 | News, Organizations, Process Control, Sensors
Partnerships continue to form core strategy in this maturing industrial marketplace. This partnership allows each entity to focus resources on their core businesses forming a new entity with another focus.
Perhaps more technology companies should consider splitting out pieces of the business that could be focused and innovative. Then the core business could also be more focused and innovative. We’ve seen Emerson realign its portfolio over the past few years, for example.
German sensor company SICK and the Swiss measurement and automation technology specialist Endress+Hauser have agreed on a strategic partnership. Endress+Hauser will take over worldwide sales and service of SICK’s process analyzers and gas flowmeters, with a joint venture to be established for their production and further development. The aim of the partnership is to provide customers with even better support in increasing their efficiency and sustainability.
SICK and Endress+Hauser signed a joint memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership in October 2023. Since then, the project has been examined and plans for implementing the cooperation have been drawn up. Following approval by the respective supervisory bodies, representatives of both companies have now signed a corresponding agreement. The closing of the transaction is planned for the turn of the year 2024/2025 and is subject to approval by antitrust authorities.
As a key aspect of the strategic partnership, Endress+Hauser will take over sales and service for process analysis and gas flow measurement technology completely. Around 800 specialized sales and service employees in 42 countries will transfer from SICK to Endress+Hauser. Customers will benefit by receiving more products from a single source. The global Endress+Hauser sales network will enable additional customers to be acquired, more industries to be reached and new applications to be developed.
From 2025, the production and further development of process analyzers and gas flowmeters will be the responsibility of a joint venture in which each partner will hold a 50 percent stake. It will employ about 730 people at several locations in Germany. The joint venture will work closely with Endress+Hauser’s competence centers to drive product innovations forward efficiently.
SICK is one of the world’s leading solution providers for sensor-based applications in the industrial sector. The core business of factory and logistics automation, which accounts for more than 80 percent of sales, will not be affected by the partnership.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 17, 2024 | Automation, Robots, Sensors, Technology
One place where technology and integration and partners advances lies in the vision and robotics area. This news concerns Orbbec 3D vision systems integrating with NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor robotics platforms.
In brief: Gemini 330 cameras with built-in depth processing deliver high-precision Depth+RGB vision for NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor AI-based perception workflow for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in indoor and outdoor environments.
Orbbec, an industry leader dedicated to 3D vision systems, announced its Gemini 330 series Stereo Vision 3D cameras are now integrated with NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor, a reference workflow for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) built on GPU-accelerated Isaac ROS.
These cameras enhance depth quality and provide longer-range sensing in varied lighting conditions, which lets Isaac Perceptor – whose general availability was announced by NVIDIA today at COMPUTEX – output 3D reconstruction and obstacle cost maps of any unstructured environment.
The Gemini 335/335L/336/336L cameras operate in both passive and active laser-illuminated modes to ensure high-quality depth and RGB data output even in challenging lighting conditions. The depth algorithms are processed in the camera by Orbbec’s latest depth engine ASIC and thus eliminates the burden on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin module-based compute for such operations. The cameras include internal IMU and temperature sensors and have a working range of 0.2-10 meters, global shutter image sensors, wide field-of-view lenses, high frame rates, low latency and precise multi-camera synchronization.
Orbbec also announces the Gemini 336/336L variants for improved performance in indoor environments by adding NIR bandpass filters. This reduces the potential of “holes” in a depth map due to glare from shiny floors and other reflective surfaces and “ghost” images from repetitive patterns in the environment.
In addition to AMRs, the Gemini 330 series cameras are well suited for robot arm applications that utilize AI vision for bin-picking, palletization, scanning and sorting applications, especially where reduction in glare and resulting holes from glossy surfaces are important.
