Collaboration enables industrial customers easier, smarter and more productive ways to develop, deploy and manage robotic applications
Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest industrial automation and digital transformation company, and Comau, a global leader in industrial automation and robotics, today announced they will henceforth work together to provide companies around the world with essential tools to maximise their manufacturing efficiencies through unified robot control solutions.
"Industrial companies are looking for efficient ways to integrate robotics into their operations for process optimisation and agility," said Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO Blake Moret. "Rockwell Automation's collaboration with Comau will simplify programming and lifecycle management to accelerate value creation for our customers."
According to Moret, this expansion of robotic applications goes back to Rockwell's broader strategy of helping industrial companies save time and improve performance with unified robotic control and deliver long-term value to their business. This joint development and associated sales model will enable both companies' joint customers to access the unified robot control offering.
"Comau's expertise in robotics and industrial automation, as well as its reputation for high performance, reliability and quality, combined with Rockwell Automation's global capabilities and experience in automated material handling, food and beverage, home and personal care, and life sciences, brings customers the added value of an integrated robotic solution," says Comau CEO Paolo Carmassi. "Comau is keen to work with such an important partner that has a world-leading market presence across all industries."
Engineers can now program their entire machine in just one environment, with Comau robotic arms controlled directly by Rockwell Automation's Logix-based controllers. Rockwell Automation's Studio 5000® automation system development software eliminates the time-consuming and often difficult task of trying to coordinate traditional separate machine control and robotics systems to work together using different software tools.
Using digital engineering tools such as Rockwell's Emulate 3D Digital Twin software, which creates digital models of production lines, automatically generates machine control codes and has built-in deployment capabilities for Comau robots, provides development and deployment capabilities for machine builders, system integrators and others.
The combined Rockwell and Comau solutions also offer benefits beyond advanced integration. For example, end users can use analytics and Digital Twin tools to gain deeper insight into machine performance and potential production optimisation. They can also use protection and security solutions to reduce business risks.
Users deploying Rockwell's FactoryTalk® software package in the manufacturing environment benefit from seeing both plant and robotic control systems in a single operator interface. Plant and field technicians only need to become familiar with one architecture to monitor both systems. They can also use Rockwell's augmented reality (AR) tools to improve service life and maintenance cycle.
Automazioni Industriali Capitanio, a recognised systems integrator in the design, manufacturing and commissioning of automation systems for the metals industry, is among the early adopters of the combined solution. According to Marco Capitanio, managing director of AIC, the collaboration between Rockwell and Comau allows the company to offer its customers a seamless robotic solution - a key advantage for a machine builder.
"We appreciate the simple and flexible programming environment, full access to robot monitoring and diagnostics parameters, and the ability to use existing automation elements and standard control devices," Capitanio says.
Rockwell products and technologies important for robotics integration include:
Allen-Bradley ControlLogix® control systems
Kinetix® 5700 servo drive platform
Studio 5000® automation system development software
FactoryTalk® View human-machine interface (HMI) software
FactoryTalk® InnovationSuite™, with PTC digital transformation software package.
Emulate3D™ Digital Twin software
PTC Vuforia AR tools for remote collaboration and information gathering.
Comau's comprehensive range of robots meets the needs of a wide range of industries - from automotive to logistics, food and beverage to packaging, to name a few. It includes more than 40 different industrial robot arms with payload capacities ranging from 3 kg to 650 kg.
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