When Bill de Blasio was running for president, he wrote an article for Wired recommending that robots be taxed. This, he figured would “protect workers from automation” — specifically, robots taking the jobs of American workers. The pandemic sped up the spread of automation. As contactless connections became more desirable to consumers, our attitudes toward… Read more »
It’s sometimes difficult to know where to begin when troubleshooting Indramat errors. System diagnostic messages are one of the great features of Indramat motion control systems. An Indramat error code provides vital diagnostic information, but the exact problems that generate the error code can vary. An Indramat EcoDrive Error code F219, for example, may be… Read more »
It’s easy to forget just how fascinating manufacturing is. Nowadays, people think of assembly lines as commonplace and unremarkable, not giving a second thought to the fact that automated robots are building our products at a pace that humans could never hope to match. If you were to go back a few hundred years and… Read more »
Sangbae Kim has written a thought-provoking piece at IEEE Spectrum on the cognitive biases we bring to our understanding of artificial intelligence. One example is the way we get impressed when we see a robot dancing or doing backflips. Kim points out that when we see a human being doing a backflip, we know that it’s… Read more »
Japan is s global leader in robotics, and the Tokyo Olympics were intended to showcase this fact. Pink and Blue robot mascots were going to greet human participants and impress people. There are also field support robots to fetch thrown objects like javelins. Other robots were intended to flesh out the virtual experience and make… Read more »
Good communication is essential. Without proper communication, you lack vital information that you need to take action. This is true of work situations, personal relationships, and even your industrial machinery. One of the great things about Indramat motion control systems is how well they communicate with the user. Indramat diagnostic messages communicate the operational state… Read more »
Your motion control system just shut down and you see a diagnostic message indicating a problem with the motor – an F219 Motor Overtemperature Shutdown error code, for example. Clearly, your system isn’t working properly, and, clearly, the problem pertains to the motor. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your Indramat servo is broken, however. Before… Read more »
Vox took an interesting position on the whole robots-taking-jobs quandary. Utopian or dystopian? “In the utopian vision, technology emancipates human labor from repetitive, mundane tasks, freeing us to be more productive and take on more fulfilling work,” they wrote. “In the dystopian vision, robots come for everyone’s jobs, put millions and millions of people out… Read more »
Indramat servos can still be found powering industrial robots in plants and factories across the globe. Needless to say, these robots are an important, integral part of manufacturing, and industry would be very different without industrial automation. While the fact that robots are essential to manufacturing is undeniable, whether or not this is a good… Read more »
Around the world, populations of pollinators are on the decline. Bees are succumbing to climate change, pesticides, threats to their habitats, and predators. U.S. beekeepers have been losing 30% of their bees each year. The total bee population in Japan has declined by 40%. Farmers worry that their crops won’t be pollinated and food shortages… Read more »