Like the self-maintaining robots of science fiction, modern machines have become more intelligent, and in some ways also more human. They are incorporating more decentralized intelligence, which operates like a human’s autonomic nervous system. This makes it possible for a packaging machine, for example, to protect itself from ex…
Packaging machinery OEMs need to find a way to set themselves apart to succeed, and one way may be with attention to energy efficiency. Doug Burns, practice lead for sustainable production at Rockwell Automation, says, “We are starting to see end users ask for energy data and add it to their primary decision points of cost and perfor…
In the suburbs of Lansing, MI, far from the Pacific coast, there is a huge tank of salt water filled with many small creatures. Watching this tank, it is not uncommon to see a live shrimp flip into the air. But Andrew Wesolek just shrugs it off. He has seen startled shrimp before. “Yeah, they like to jump,” he notes. Wesolek oversees operations at S…
The vibratory bowl conveyor provides an economical and reliable method of presenting small parts in a given orientation. However, a key weakness of the vibratory bowl feeder is its use of mechanical channels and guides to orient parts. This limits it to handling just one part or one family of similar parts. Loading aerospace fasteners into a p…