February Automation Highlights: Beckhoff, Yaskawa, Emerson & More

There was so much great industrial news from February 2025. Join us as we recap some of the highlights from among the most trusted names in automation.

Techman Robots in Semiconductor Manufacturing

Techman Robots announced the signing of an MOU with ASMPT, a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing. Techman, a solid leader in the cobot space, will lend robotic system expertise to accelerate innovation in the semiconductor industry. This is yet another example of companies working together to boost growth by combining subject matter knowledge in independent fields of technology.

Tolomatic Linear Actuator Commissioning tools

Motion control requires detailed attention to the motor, the drive unit, the feedback, and the controller. Tolomatic, a pioneer in linear motion technology, recently announced the Drive Integration Tool, which guides design engineers through the selection and sizing of the proper motor, drive, and associated cables for best performance. The tool also automatically creates a matching datasheet and pinout diagram for the selected system.

Tolomatic’s new Drive Integration Tool. Image used courtesy of Tolomatic

NIST Spearheads Robot Standards Workshop

A workshop to discuss robot standards relating to accuracy and performance will be hosted by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) in March. Topics will include the assessment of relevant robot performance specs, applications that may require the enforcement of standards and the option of new sensors and instruments for future performance. The workshop will be hosted live and virtually on March 11-12, 2025, from Rockville, MD.

Beckhoff Accelerates IPC Computing

Computers may have gotten much faster over the past decades, but the applications that demand computational resources have equaled, and in some cases even outpaced computer specs. Industrial PC leader Beckhoff recently unveiled dramatic performance increases with the new TwinCAT Core Boost, allowing users to increase clock frequencies on certain processes (cores). This flexibility can yield an increase of up to 50% in system performance, which is great news for today’s high-demand industrial environment.

Beckhoff’s new Core Boost for IPC acceleration. Image used courtesy of Beckhoff

Yaskawa Motoman Enables Faster Robotic Welding

The number of installed robots continues to climb, but without an extensive lineup of end tools and applications, the robots won’t be increasing productivity for any task. One of the most recent products unveiled for robots is the Weld Builder software package from Yaskawa. This tool, available for the Smart Pendant V3.0 or newer, provides a wizard for selecting weld type (including weaving, stitching, and more), weld path, program integration, and even a dry run to test the program without an active weld.

Emerson Launches Pressure Safety Valve Series

Safety in gas applications is a paramount design specification. Emerson has recently launched the Anderson Greenwood Type 84 pressure relief valve, designed with resilience against H2 gas, which is known to cause premature failure in the materials that make up traditional relief valves. The pressure rating for this valve is 20,000 psi for helium and hydrogen gases and 21,756 psi for other gasses.

The new Type 84 pressure relief valve. Image used courtesy of Emerson

Advantech IPC Powered by NVIDIA Jetson

Computation for robotic systems increases in complexity every day. For fixed robots, the introduction of AI-enabled vision and more complex motions demands tremendous real-time data, while mobile robots must take in data about the surrounding environment to likewise respond quickly to the influx of huge amounts of information. Advantech, a leader in the industrial AI and computing space, has announced the MIC-AI computer series, tailored for AI applications involving fixed and mobile robotics, as well as autonomous in-vehicle systems.

These innovations are only a few of the topics being revealed by the leaders in automation technology. Stay connected with Control.com as we cover these companies (and many more) to examine the technical details and engineering highlights of the newest industrial products for your designs!