At the world's first Robotic Coopetition in Nancy, France, 150 leading robotics experts from all over Europe and 20 robots came together from November 25 to 28, 2024. Their joint mission: a coopetition.

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At the general meeting of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association, the members of the VDMA Machine Vision Division elected a new board of directors. Dr. Olaf Munkelt, Managing Director of MVTec Software, will take over as Chairman.

Wandelbots claims to have introduced the world's first operating system developed specifically for industrial robotics automation. CPO Stephan Hotz explains the details.

How can software platforms help to comply with the IEC 62443 safety directive? Falk Plonus from Copa-Data provides information using the 'zenon' software platform.

Taking the asset further: the management interface offers the option of standardized data exchange between systems in the engineering process in public cloud environments. Dr. Marco Litto, Senior Vice President Strategy at Eplan, explains the solution approach and the Eplan roadmap for this.

Hilscher is launching a new gateway to connect Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) to industrial Ethernet networks. Dennis Gündel, Product Manager for Gateways, shares insights on market expectations and the technological implementation.

Each connected module now includes integrated AI functions: while this is standard in today’s smartphones, it remains rare in automation. Yet, such AI could serve as a foundation to detect communication issues caused by cyberattacks in real time.

Rittal aims to make power distribution in control cabinets safer, faster, and easier with the launch of ‚RiLineX‘, an open platform system for 60mm busbar systems. Raphael Görner, Head of the Business Unit Energy & Power Solutions at Rittal, shares more insights.

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Sustainability is a megatrend in the industry. We spoke to Belden‘s CEO Dr. Ashish Chand about the vision of a CO2-neutral future and the role automation technology will play in it.

In an exclusive interview, Nick Westra from DigiKey explains how Edge AI reduces latency and enhances privacy by processing data locally, avoiding cloud connections. He explores the role of Neural Processors in speeding up Edge AI, DigiKey's partnerships with NXP and STMicroelectronics, and the future of energy-efficient, AI-driven technology.

A seamless network using OPC UA PubSub and TSN all the way down to simple field-level sensors—can a streamlined TSN stack help make this vision a reality? BE.services is putting it to the test. Product Manager Melvin Francis explains the plans.

Thanks to improved computing power in hardware and software, industrial image processing can now handle large data volumes more efficiently and in shorter time frames. An even greater technology boost is expected from AI, as explained by Jan Nieswandt from Sick.

Matlab and Simulink are instrumental in developing and deploying Machine Learning (ML) models, offering robust tools for feature engineering, training, and parameter optimization. Dr. Rainer Mümmler, Principle Application Engineer at Mathworks, explains the details in an interview.

5G-ACIA and the OPC Foundation have jointly published a whitepaper that analyzes the network capabilities of 5G and the potential integration of OPC UA. Dr. Xueli An on the contents.

Dassault Systèmes has signed a letter of intent with Kuka. The aim is to link Kuka's new cloud platform »mosaixx« with Dassault Systèmes' 3D experience platform.

Virtualization is on the rise in automation technology. Phoenix Contact is now introducing its proven PLCnext controller in a virtual version. Dr. Tobias Frank discusses the advantages of the Virtual PLCnext Control.

The interest in innovative automation solutions reamins unbroken, as SPS 2024 demonstrated once again. Despite the concurrent event, the industry get-together recorded an increase in visitor numbers.

Sustainability and energy efficiency are increasingly taking center stage in the industry. As a result, the use of direct current (DC) is also increasingly coming under the spotlight. The increasing proportion of renewable energies such as solar and wind, which generally generate direct current, is making the integration of DC microgrids in the industrial environment increasingly attractive.

High torque density and rigidity, good damping properties, zero backlash and a large hollow shaft - these are the features combined in the new miniaturized 'Galaxie' actuator from Wittenstein.

The current variants of the 'NearFi couplers' from Phoenix Contact enable a doubling of the range for radio-based data transmission.