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Sky-Trax New Product Announcement - the Sky-Box
 Sky-Trax Incorporated is please to announce the official commercial release of the Sky-Box™. Designed as a computing and connectivity module, the Sky-Box provides power to all aftermarket additions to any forklift, AGV, or other industrial vehicle. The Sky-Box also has the ability to receive transactional and/or location data from onboard sensors or transaction tools. This functionality combination creates and onboard mobile network; allowing all aftermarket vehicle additions to plug and play together with great ease.
The basic function of the Sky-Box consists of the compact internal computer which gathers sensor data several times each second. The data collected is then processed and depending on the application reveals vehicle location, load ID recorded and transaction data collected during a pick-up or put-away. The Sky-Box communicates all data collected via a wireless connection with the “host-system” or WMS. Other internal Sky-Box components include a DC power converter, analog-to-digital signal conversion, and an Ethernet switch.
The Sky-Trax Sky-Box is available for individual purchase and is also recommended as a power supply for Sky-Trax System and Skan-Free system components including the Optical Label Reader, Optical Position Sensor, Pallet Detector and Lift Height Sensor.
For more information about the Sky-Box, please contact a Sky-Trax Sales representative at:
866-927-4927 or skyinfo@sky-trax.com.
About Sky-Trax Inc.
Sky-Trax develops revolutionary inch-accurate tracking systems for warehouse vehicles. Safety and productivity applications employing IPS are economical and practical to deploy, allowing warehouse professionals to substantially increase safety and improve warehouse efficiency. The results are fewer safety incidents, much lower operating costs, improved inventory accuracy, and greater throughput. For more information, please visit www.Sky-Trax.com.
SI Systems Announcement
SI Systems, a division of Paragon Technologies, Inc., Easton, Pennsylvania, announced the promotion of Robert S. Leidy to Vice President of its Production & Assembly business unit. In his new position, Leidy, who had been the Director of Operations, will oversee all aspects of the business unit’s operations, including sales, marketing, engineering, and project and site management. The Production & Assembly arm of SI Systems markets its assembly conveyor systems and technologies to Fortune 500 manufacturing companies throughout North America, with a particular emphasis to manufacturers of vehicles of all types and vehicle component modules.
Seegrid Unveils GT3 Vision-Guided Industrial Mobile Robot
Seegrid Unveils GT3, the First Vision-Guided Industrial Mobile Robot Designed Specifically for Material Handling in Manufacturing, Warehousing and Distribution
Seegrid Corporation, the premier provider of vision-guided mobile robots for the material handling industry, today announced the introduction of its autonomous tugger, the GT3. The vehicle employs Seegrid’s Industrial Mobile Robotics (IMR) technology which enables it to move through manufacturing, warehousing and distribution operations utilizing stereo cameras to build a reliable 3D map of the environment. The GT3 then uses the map and its own reasoning ability to navigate a predetermined path to complete its assigned transport task.
“The GT3 is our first machine introduced to do facility-wide transport in the material handling industry,” said Scott Friedman, CEO of Seegrid. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the positive reception it has gotten from dealers and customers.”
The GT3 transports materials and finished goods without wire guides, magnets or lasers. It is designed to free up skilled employees by taking care of such tasks as pulling carts, delivering palletized materials and positioning supplies in tight areas. The vehicle is highly flexible and can be implemented quickly and easily with no workflow disruption. The GT3 frees up workers to focus on higher-valued tasks, increases productivity by constantly enforcing the work pace, fosters safety discipline and reduces labor, accidents and injury costs. It has the lowest total cost of ownership and the highest Return on Investment (ROI) in the material handling industry.
“What excites Giant Eagle about Seegrid’s technology is that it is incredibly sophisticated machinery yet it is easy to use and very durable with high reliability,” said Larry Baldauf, Senior Vice President of Distribution and Logistics of Giant Eagle. “We look forward to Seegrid’s future generations of products which we believe could change the future of material handling.”
Donnie Dixon, Supervisor of Materials Control at Daimler Trucks, NA, confirms the GT3’s flexibility. “We were looking at an AGV but didn’t want the wire guides, magnets and lasers that come with it – we needed flexibility to be able to change the routes easily and frequently, and the GT3 does that for us. We use the GT3 to continually supply parts to our assembly stations. We love its versatility--we are able to simply change and perform multiple routes for our first and second shifts and do a completely different route for our third shift – just that flexibility alone provided us real value.”
Gary Siefert, Vice President of Customer Service at GENCO Supply Chain Solutions stated, “Our facility is a product returns processing center for Sears where, as you might imagine, we process a large volume of packaging waste which needs to be cleared and moved to disposal areas to keep the operations productive. We use the GT3 to move the packaging material waste from numerous work stations spread throughout our facility to a central disposal point. The GT3 is constantly traveling along its designated route, driving productivity and freeing up our employees to perform other more valuable work. After utilizing the GT3 for a number of weeks we were able to determine that the ROI on the GT3 was exceptional.”
About Seegrid Corporation
Seegrid (www.seegrid.com) brings a new class of affordable industrial mobile robots to the material handling industry that operate reliably and safely in dynamic warehouse, distribution and manufacturing environments. Seegrid’s robots differ from today’s AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) in that the company’s IMR technology is the first to provide early-stage capabilities of autonomous robot behavior with Sense, Move, Analyze, Interact and Repeat capabilities. The result--AGV-like competence but with greater flexibility at a considerably lower cost. IMR-enabled robots provide WalkThroughThenWorkTM capabilities, providing an operator with the ability to simply and easily instruct the robot along a desired path, adding behaviors such as horns and stop stations, usually in minutes. Seegrid robots literally come straight off the truck, an operator quickly inputs the path and the robot is immediately productive.
HEIDENHAIN Introduces Innovative TNC 620 Contouring Control
With the TNC 620 with digital drive control, HEIDENHAIN Corporation introduces an exciting new control for use on both milling machines and machining centers with up to 5 axes plus spindle. This new TNC is based on an innovative software platform NC Kernel.
Once again proving its ability to offer a conversationally friendly control, HEIDENHAIN offers its
TNC 620 equipped for handling even very complicated tasks, including those that use swivel and rotary axes. And for simultaneous machining with up to five axes, the TNC 620 offers special functions that produce optimal machining results. Dynamic look-ahead, algorithms for jerk limitation and intelligent motion control are the type of available functions that enable the TNC 620 to handle even very stringent requirements on the surface of a finished workpiece.
It is important to note that the main computer, controller unit, and other components of the HEIDENHAIN TNC 620 control system feature a new, powerful interface: HSCI (HEIDENHAIN Serial Controller Interface). HSCI is based on the 100BaseT Ethernet standard so well known in network connections. This helps make short cycle times for data transfer possible, considerably reduces cable costs and eases installation. Together with the new, purely digital EnDat 2.2 encoder interface, the
TNC 620 has a uniformly digital design from the main computer to the encoder.
Unlike many of its competitors, the main computer of the TNC 620 is housed inside the operating panel, behind the TFT flat-panel display. Because of this, complicated wiring into the electrical box is a thing of the past.
Lastly, this TNC 620 can be customized with select functions from many available options to meet the needs of the customer; from very simple to highly complex machine applications.
For more information, contact HEIDENHAIN at (847) 490-1191, or write to us at HEIDENHAIN CORPORATION, 333 E. State Parkway, Schaumburg, IL 60173. HEIDENHAIN can also be accessed directly via our web site at www.heidenhain.com or e-mail at info@heidenhain.com.
HEIDENHAIN CORPORATION is the North American subsidiary of DR. JOHANNES HEIDENHAIN GmbH, a leading international manufacturer of precision measurement and control equipment. The product line includes linear scales, rotary and angular encoders, digital readouts, digital length gages, CNC controls and machine inspection equipment.
PCB Automotive Sensors Debuts High Temperature Preamplifier
The Automotive Sensors division of PCB Piezotronics (PCB®) has announced release of a new high-temperature preamplifier, designed to overcome high temperature testing challenges associated with NVH powertrain and vehicle underhood testing applications, and to broaden options for NVH test engineers collecting acoustic data in high temperature areas.
 Automotive engineers routinely perform NVH tests in areas around the powertrain, where elevated operating temperatures can present major measurement challenges. Underhood temperatures can peak at +125 0C under normal driving conditions, and can be significantly higher near turbochargers and exhaust system components, such as manifolds and diesel particulate filters. In the past, test engineers were limited by preamplifiers offering operating
temperature ranges to + 70 0C. Model HT426E01 is a 1/2” preamplifier operating from ICPâ sensor power, terminating with a BNC connector and utilizing standard coaxial cables. The model also features a low attenuation factor (-0.06 dB) and low noise characteristics, 4.9 µV, based on an A-weight scale.
Common automotive applications include underhood measurements for benchmarking and issue identification, including engine radiated, induction, ancillary and turbocharger noise; near-field measurements on manifolds; mufflers; exhaust after treatment components; and tailpipe noise. NVH groups within OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers involved with testing of powertrain components, including engine, engine ancillaries, turbocharger, transmission, intake, and exhaust, will benefit most from this product.
For more information on these or other automotive product offerings, contact PCB Automotive Sensors toll-free (in the US) at 888-684-0014; via E-mail: automotivesales@pcb.com, or fax 248-478-2094. For detailed drawings, specifications, or additional information on other PCBâ products, please call +716-684-0001, or visit www.pcb.com.
Seegrid Co-Founder Hans Moravec's Article Published in Scientific American
Seegrid Corporation (www.seegrid.com), the premier provider of vision-guided mobile robots for the material handling industry, today announced Hans Moravec, the company’s co-founder and chief scientist, has published an article in a Special Edition on Robots in Scientific American. In the special issue he joins authors Bill Gates and Ray Kurzweil to explore the state of robots today and the vision of tomorrow’s robots.
Moravec’s article titled “Rise of the Robot” discusses the reasons why robots have not become ubiquitous in daily lives; how today’s computer power and other technologies are helping robots’ “brains” achieve autonomous, intelligent behavior; and Moravec’s prediction that by 2050 robot “brains” based on computers that execute 100 trillion instructions per second will start rivaling human intelligence.
In the article Moravec describes how his company, Seegrid, is first to introduce true autonomous mobile robots in the material handling industry, providing low-cost step-change automation in manufacturing, warehouse and distribution environments.
“It amazes me that commercial mobile robots have found few jobs in manufacturing and warehouse facilities,” said Moravec. “AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) have been operating in limited environments with technology that has been around at least for the past two decades. Installation of AGVs is expensive and time consuming and creates inflexible routes. Vision-guided robots, on the other hand, can be easily installed and rerouted.”
An excerpt from the article states:
Seegrid’s “Tugger” autonomously pulls a loaded cart along a memorized route. It sees the world through four stereoscopic cameras on its navigation “head,” which glimpses a few thousand visual features per second. A human “trains” the tugger by leading it through a new route. Thereafter the tugger can automatically retrace the route, matching what it sees with a 3-D grid map built from glimpses during training.
“Seegrid’s computers and software and thus its products will become more powerful, intelligent and functional—all this while the price of computing power continues to decrease,” Moravec said. “The result – more functionality and greater flexibility in Seegrid’s robots at a lower price.”
For more than 155 years, Scientific American, one of the world’s most enduring and revered science and technology magazines, has chronicled for its readers major and technology innovations and discoveries using expert accounts and assorted journalistic features. The magazine publishes 15 foreign language editions with a total circulation of more than 1,000,000 worldwide.
MobileRobots Inc Overcomes Hurdle of Dynamic Robot Navigation, without GPS
MobileRobots Inc announced today that it has the first robot guidance system that can self-navigate and autonomously update its knowledge of its surroundings, even when signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites are blocked. The announcement signals that the company is nearing its 12-year, $15-million dollar research program to create an out-of-the-box ubiquitous commercial autonomous robot guidance system that can drive robots seamlessly indoors and out.
 As anyone who’s driven their GPS system through a tunnel knows, GPS is only good when there’s a signal. Without it, even DARPA Grand Challenge robots may become lost in a short time. MobileRobots Inc, which has worked since 1995 designing intelligent robotic bases from their core heartbeat systems to the highest levels of autonomous navigation, demonstrated one of its new capabilities for hours -- driving successfully outdoors with no GPS -- before military officials at the National Defense Industry Association in San Antonio, TX last week. Today, it announced that it can now autonomously re-map spaces, updating the map automatically on a regular basis so that the robot can adjust to changes in its environment.
 MobileRobots Inc uses advanced techniques fusing multiple sensor readings so that robots combine information from lasers, cameras and GPS. Comparing this multi-modal picture of the world to its mapped information, MobileRobots can drive even near buildings, in urban or rural canyons and through tunnels as well as follow fences and plan GPS-based best-paths. Its patent-pending Dynamic Guidance System (mDIGS) also enables it to drive intelligently through garages, warehouses, airplane hangers and other rapidly changing spaces using vision information from an omni-directional camera. Its re-mapping system functions from MobileRobots MobileEyes robot control GUI with or without mDIGS to update map site data without losing goals, forbidden areas and other information embedded in the map. Fleets of robots cooperate with each other using MobileRobots Central Server software.
 MobileRobots Inc manufactures its own autonomous bases for VARS to use in security, remote viewing, visitor guidance and delivery applications. It also supplies autonomous guidance systems for use in OEM robots. MOBILEROBOTSinside technologies are used by factories in the auto and steel industries, as well as hospital and clean-room laboratories. MOBILEROBOTSoutdoors, intelligent guidance system using GPS, has been released for researchers and is in testing for commercial applications. It was demonstrated at FPEDVI near Quantico last August. Last week was the first showing of MobileRobots’ non-GPS driving to a military audience. MobileRobots Inc will be beta testing its re-mapping in a pharmaceutical warehouse in late April.
With two years remaining in its 12-year program to develop comprehensive autonomous navigation, the company has three major goals left to integrate into its systems: 1) seamless automatic map swapping in the MobileEyes controlGUI so that robots can move without human intervention among building floors, between buildings and into separately mapped outdoor spaces (Summer, ’08); 2) a more sophisticated multi-level obstacle avoidance that will reduce the number of expensive sensors required to safely navigate complex environments (Winter, ’09); and 3) improved road-follow navigation for on-road vehicles (Spring, 09).
 MobileRobots is a founding member of the Robotics Technology Consortium, along with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Carnegie Mellon, General Dynamics, Foster-Miller, iRobot and other leaders of the robotics industry. The company has sold over three thousand robots world-wide and provides intelligent navigation platforms and systems to OEMs and VARs in Canada and the US. Customers include: BAE, GM, Microsoft, US Army and the US Navy.
MobileRobots Inc was founded in 1995 in association with Grinnell More, later a principal of iRobot. CTO, William Kennedy, PhD, its chief manufacturing officer, Gary Fischer and other MobileRobots employees moved from More’s company or iRobot as well. CEO, Jeanne Dietsch was partner with Pat McGovern of IDG on a technology venture prior to helping found MobileRobots Inc.
MobileRobots runs it R&D, manufacturing and administrative operations from a 25,000 square-foot facility in Amherst, NH, fifty miles northwest of Boston. For more information about MobileRobots autonomous navigation systems, see www.MobileRobots.com or contact Donna Doran, pr@mobilerobots.com, +1-603-881-7960.
Parker TFD Offers Flexible Equipment Acquisition Programs
Whether the project requires tube bending, tube end preparation, presetting or general cutting and deburring, having the right tools for a fabrication or assembly is essential in getting the job done. However, obtaining the equipment needed can be challenging when overhead costs are involved. Parker Hannifin’s Tube Fittings Division is making its equipment more accessible through a variety of programs, including a one-year, 0% financing option on new equipment purchases through June 30.
 An important first step in obtaining the equipment needed is to determine if leasing, renting or buying is the best solution. In many cases, equipment leasing is the logical choice because of the reasonable and flexible terms. Parker TFD has partnered with Vendor Lease Management Group to offer two leasing programs: Lease to Own and Long Term Rental.
Lease to Own makes it possible to acquire equipment without depleting cash reserves or capital equipment budget. No large cash down-payment is required, which helps preserve working capital while building equity in the equipment. Up to 100% financing also makes more equipment more affordable, providing access to equipment that might otherwise be out of financial reach.
Flexibility is another benefit. If production needs change, an option in the lease allows customers to upgrade to a larger piece of equipment. The financing terms offer reasonable interest rates and can range from one year to five years. At the end of the agreement, the customer owns the equipment. This approach also may offer tax and accounting incentives—consult a tax advisor.
 Parker’s Long Term Rental program (renting for six months or more) has distinct advantages as well. Customers can match production equipment needs with current business conditions without any obligation to keep the equipment at the end of the rental term. Monthly payments are generally lower and customers have the option to purchase the equipment at the end of the lease, with 70% of their payments applied toward the price. The lease can also be extended month to month.
Both types of lease programs are offered through participating Parker distributors, with the financing agreement established between the customer and Vendor Lease Management Group.
Parker also offers short-term rentals of used equipment, an ideal solution for a specific project or for a period of less than six months. Customers simply use the equipment and then return it.
The rental terms are established directly between the customer and a Parker distributor. Payments are generally competitive with the lease or buy programs, and there is greater flexibility for the rental time period.
Purchasing the tooling or equipment outright can be the smart choice if the equipment will be used long term or on a daily basis. Liquid capital or a loan is often used to make the purchase, and customers should consult a tax advisor for possible advantages regarding a capital equipment purchase.
For additional information on equipment acquisition programs from Parker TFD, contact your Parker sales representative or your local Parker distributor.
The Tube Fittings Division is a unit of Parker Hannifin Corporation's Fluid Connectors Group. The Group is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the world’s leading producer of tube fittings, rubber and thermoplastic hose and fittings, brass fittings and valves, quick-connect couplings and assembly tools.
With annual sales exceeding $10 billion, Parker Hannifin is the world's leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of commercial, mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets. The company employs more than 57,000 people in 43 countries around the world. Parker has increased its annual dividends paid to shareholders for 51 consecutive years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index. For more information, visit the company's web site at http://www.parker.com, or its investor information site at http://www.phstock.com.
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