Smart Manufacturing Driven by Robot-Machine Connection

Smart manufacturing company Flexxbotics has launched a new technology to connect robots with other automation equipment in factories – enabling greater levels of autonomy and interoperability.

The new tech is the latest iteration of the company’s FlexxCORE platform and allows robots to “control and command” other machines on the factory floor. 

According to Flexxbotics, the FlexxCORE platform is compatible with more than 1,000 different models of factory equipment including CNC machines and inspection tools, and enables “22x faster connector creation than conventional automation integration methods.”

By giving robots greater control over factory equipment, Flexxbotics said it is pursuing “robot-driven manufacturing” and more thorough digitization of sites. The company said many automation initiatives fail due to a lack of interoperability between tools and creating a more holistic software to connect assets results in greater efficiency gains. 

“We believe that moving forward the robots must not only communicate with all the existing machinery in the smart factory, the robots will be the conductors of autonomous process control by orchestrating production and inspection in the work cell,” said Tyler Modelski, Flexxbotics’ co-CEO. “What we’re doing with our FlexxCORE technology is enabling global companies to embrace robot-driven manufacturing at unprecedented scale.”

Related:Osaro, Fanuc America Developing Warehouse Automation Robots

“We view the advancement of robotics in the smart factory as game-changing,” said Tyler Bouchard, Flexxbotics’ co-CEO. “Robots are shifting the use of digital technology in the factory from primarily planning and monitoring to true intelligent autonomy.”