What We Discovered Final Time

Automatica is simply across the nook — one of many world’s largest and most enjoyable commerce gala’s centered on automation and robotics.

At Robotiq, we’ve got been going to Automatica for years. This will probably be our fourth outing as a group. Each time we go, we get dozens of distinctive insights into what’s new in our business and what we have to regulate over the next years.

What helpful insights did we study in earlier years that may aid you put together for this yr’s present?

As all the time, this yr we’ll be bringing the newest information and developments on to you… proper from the ground of Automatica itself. We’ll be dwell running a blog and posting to social media all through the occasion.

Now we have dozens of articles from our previous Automatica protection.

Listed here are some issues we discovered up to now…

What do you assume has modified post-pandemic?

The final incarnation of Automatica was in 2018, two years earlier than the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. They needed to cancel the deliberate occasion in 2020.

Most industries have skilled seismic modifications over the previous few years. How do you assume these modifications will have an effect on the automation business?

I believe there are 3 potentialities for the way the worldwide state of affairs has affected our business and the numerous corporations inside it:

1. Nothing has modified. Maybe every part has been “on pause” in the course of the pandemic and we are going to see few modifications at Automatica. This appears unlikely, however it’s potential.

2. There are huge modifications! Maybe the pandemic has turned the automation business fully on its head. Possibly we are going to see huge shifts available in the market with dozens of latest entrants to the automation area and fully new tendencies.

3. A gentle tempo. Or maybe the automation business has simply been advancing at a secure fee. There will probably be some new entrants, however lots of the present gamers will nonetheless kind the spine of the business.

Personally, I believe there will probably be a combination between all 3 of those. Some corporations could have stopped adapting and gone into “preservation mode” in the course of the pandemic. Others could have modified up their choices fully.

Total, I reckon that the business will hold advancing at a gradual fee. That is what the robotics business has carried out over the past 30 years, in any case.

5 classes we discovered on the final Automatica

Our predicted regular development of robotics and automation is one thing we’ve got seen in earlier variations of Automatica.

For instance, listed here are 5 issues we discovered at Automatica 2018:

1. The expansion and acceptance of cobots was now right here

Now we have watched the evolution of collaborative robots since Robotiq’s story started in 2008. Over that point, cobots have seen an preliminary skepticism, a rising standing as “the brand new pattern,” and a remaining acceptance into the business.

Automatica 2018 was the primary yr when it felt like cobots had lastly “arrived.” They had been now not the brand new child on the block, as they’d been at earlier years.

2. Good factories had been in every single place

One enjoyable side of Automatica 2018 was the plethora of good manufacturing facility demos. For instance, we extremely loved the KUKA good manufacturing facility sales space, the place you possibly can order a bespoke robotic mannequin to be made on-the-spot of their manufacturing facility demo.

This enjoyable sort of demo is barely potential because of the benefit and portability of contemporary robots. We hope to see some equally enjoyable demos this yr!

3. There was a pattern in direction of teeny tiny robots

An attention-grabbing pattern in 2018 was the race for robotic producers to create “the world’s smallest robotic.” We noticed a number of tiny tabletop robots, from ABB, Comau, and Yaskawa.

Will this pattern in direction of tiny robots proceed on this yr’s Automatica? We should wait and see.

4. Straightforward robotic programming was The Massive Factor

At Robotiq, we’ve got been championing simple robotic programming for years. However Automatica 2018 was actually the yr when simple programming turned the “will need to have” characteristic.

It appears possible that simple robotic programming will proceed to be vital at this yr’s present. We count on there to be much more choices for programming.

5. Superior imaginative and prescient obtained the “simple programming remedy”

One pattern at Automatica 2018 was robotic imaginative and prescient options. There have been laser-based programs, 3D bin-picking options, and numerous different superior imaginative and prescient sensing applied sciences.

Loads of imaginative and prescient options are complicated to program. Nonetheless, on the final Automatica, we had been seeing simpler programming choices for imaginative and prescient purposes. We introduced introduced updates to our Robotiq Digicam on the occasion, for instance.

Will we see these identical tendencies at Automatica 2022?

Within the robotics and automation business, tendencies typically to advance at a gradual fee.

At every Automatica, you possibly can normally see the “seeds” of the brand new tendencies that can change into The Subsequent Massive Factor.

This time, we’ve got had 4 years of a niche between variations of Automatica. Now we have additionally had an entire international pandemic!

Will the tendencies we noticed final time even be huge at Automatica 2022?

We are able to make some guesses as to what would be the huge tendencies this yr (and we’ll do this in an upcoming submit). However we’ll solely know for positive after we get to the present itself!

Preserve your eyes out for our dwell Automatica protection!

Do you wish to hear concerning the newest tendencies in robotics as they arrive out?

This yr, we’ll be dwell running a blog once more from the ground of Automatica 2022. Even if you cannot make the present itself, you possibly can expertise the motion via our running a blog protection.

You possibly can comply with our protection right here on the weblog and on our social media channels.

And if you may make the present, come and say “Hi there!” to us. Our sales space this yr is Corridor B4.502.

Cannot watch for the present? Do not hesitate to succeed in out to us.

What do you assume would be the largest robotics tendencies this yr? Inform us within the feedback beneath or be part of the dialogue on LinkedIn, Twitter, Fb, or the DoF skilled robotics neighborhood.