Automation Articles for Manufacturers and Engineers

Servo drive manufacturers have coalesced around a new status quo: Safe Torque Off. After a decade of development, the technology has become widely recognized as the standard in workplace safety; cheaper, safer, and more compact than the competition. If you’re working to meet modern standards for workplace safety today, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to start here.

Yaskawa America's new GA501 AC drive includes embedded dual-port Ethernet capability and the ability to connect via EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus TCP/IP, EtherCAT, BACnet/IP, or MECHATROLINK-4. The drive also comes with standard DIN rail mounting for up to 7.5 HP, and spring-tension I/O terminals. With support for all major industrial Ethernet protocols and topologies, the GA501 eliminates the need for additional hardware, reduces installation time, and simplifies system design.

Instead of dedicated pick-and-place robots programmed for a single task, a new type of generalized artificial intelligence can allow for a more flexible and robust autonomous robotic implementation that scales across applications.

The semiconductor manufacturing industry continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, driven by rapidly increasing precision requirements and growing system complexity. As equipment configurations and control targets diversify, engineers are often required to modify or completely rewrite control software to accommodate new specifications or design changes. Because traditional controllers tightly couple software behavior to hardware, even small adjustments can lead to lengthy redevelopment cycles, slowing innovation and delaying equipment rollout. To overcome these limitations, Yokogawa has introduced a mechanism that enables software development centered on data rather than hardware dependencies. This architecture allows the control software to seamlessly absorb variations in equipment design, functionality, and operating conditions.