Assembly Technology Show
I've just returned home from a trip to Chicago for the Assembly Technolgy Show plus a meeting with ABB at our offices.
Billed as co-located with the Robot/Vision show, this year's edition was noticably smaller in size. There were plenty of attendees, but the floor was far from packed. One disappoinment was the robot/vision part of the show. Since the co-locating began, the exhibition managers grouped the robot vendors and vision vendors together. This year, they were scattered throughout the hall. But then, only Adept had a significant presence and there was noticable excitement around its booth. (No, there weren't any dancers, just products.)
Adept showed off a parts finding vision system that drastically reduces the need for added lighting (always the bane of vision installations). When I used to sell and install these things, I'd tell the client "if I can fixture the part adequately and provide the right lighting, then the project can be accomplished." What a difference 10 years makes. You don't need either requirement any longer.
They also told me that the partnership with Rockwell to integrate a robot directly into the programming (ladder logic) of a PLC is becoming very popular. Adept has also struck a deal with Rockwell to sell the PLC Robot through its distribution channel. A couple of innovative marketing moves in an industry segment woefully short on marketing.
While I spent an hour with the folks at Bosch Rexroth and saw a bunch of cool things (including their newly completed complete line of HMI products), really the coolest product in the booth was ErgoTwist, an ergonomic handheld torque wrench with electronic feedback of information. That was a good one.
Meanwhile, Mark Taft and Bob Hausler of ABB stopped by the offices to tell us how successful the new 800xA platform has been in the market since its launch last January. They also offered a sneak peak of the next rev coming first quarter next year. ABB is definitely investing in this upgrade which will bring all the different platforms it has acquired over the years into one software platform with powerful information handling and batch processing capabilities.
6:40:00 AM 
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