Industrial Automation and Motion Control Blog | The Knotts Company

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Twisted Vine Brewery is a three-man craft brewery located in Iowa, with a passion for creating the best possible beer. To achieve this goal, they wanted to implement a control system in order to automate and monitor the brewing process.

The Twisted Vine team selected a Unitronics Vision1040 PLC+HMI because it was reliable and robust, capable of running in the steamy brewing conditions. Additionally, the all-in-one programming software was easy to use and quick to set up.

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Robots & employment: Opportunities are bright for workers and their cobot colleagues

We recently wrote about the fascinating impact robotics is having on manufacturers’ reshoring initiatives, but there’s more to the employment and robotics story. In fact, automation is proving to have a substantial—and positive—impact on manufacturing employment around the world, and studies continue to bear out these conclusions.

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How can retrofitting old controls with an all-in-one PLC improve machine flexibility?

Summary:

OPA Consulting Services provide industrial process control solutions, including reetyofitting for a wide range of industries and customers. OPA often relies on Unitronics PLC+HMI controllers to offer powerful, easy-to-use solutions. For one recent project, OPA replaced the 40 year old control system on a monofilament extrusion machine with Unitronics PLCs. The new controls were user-friendly - with integrated HMI panels - and increased the application’s flexibility, leeting the customer switch between local and remote functions.

This post is brought to you by Dorner.

Dorner recently worked with a customer who needed to take a case and flip it 180° within a short distance. The case was slightly bulky at about 1’ x 1’ x 10”. While there are many different ways to rotate cases, the customer wanted a way to positively control the product as it rotated. 

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Ever tried to program a robot? If the answer is no, here’s your chance. Universal Robots Academy comprises a series of free e-learning modules that will eliminate your status as a novice and turn you into a robot programmer. And even if you already have some experience with robot programming, you might still benefit from a brush-up.

American workers spend countless hours on their feet walking, lifting, or moving items from one location to another. With the implementation of autonomous mobile robots, the effort involved can become much easier for the average worker, which can benefit both the company as well as the individual.

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Summary:  Mar Cor Purification, Inc. specializes in manufacturing pure water and disinfection products for the medical, pharmaceutical and other life science industries.  In order to develop a portable reverse osmosis water purification system—an important development for at home dialysis systems—they needed a compact, user friendly PLC to automate the purification and sanitization process.  Mar Cor selected the Unitronics Vision570 PLC with integrated 5.7-inch color touch HMI for its reliability, compact design and easy communication features.

This post is brought to you by Universal Robots.

French television viewers of the Rio Olympics were treated to robot enhanced camera work with Universal Robots’ partner Augmented Robotics, AR+. The company, located in Laval, France, joined a UR10 robot arm with its proprietary software for an operator-free camera solution where the camera can be mounted to either a gantry or dolly track system to work primarily in closed spaces or to perform precise, repetitive camera movements.