Rockwell Automation Inc (the ‘world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation’) and Comau (a global leader in industrial automation and robot manufacturer) have announced that they are joining forces to give businesses worldwide ‘vital tools to maximise manufacturing efficiencies through unified robot control solutions’.
Blake Moret, Rockwell Automation’s chairman and CEO, said: “Industrial companies are looking for efficient ways to integrate robotics into their operations for process optimisation and agility.
“Rockwell Automation’s collaboration with Comau will simplify programming and lifecycle management, accelerating time to value for our customers.
“This expansion of robotic applications is rooted in Rockwell’s broader strategy to help industrial companies save time and improve performance with unified robot control, ultimately providing long-term value for their business.
“This collaborative development and selling model offers the unified robot control product to both companies’ customers.”
Paolo Carmassi, Comau’s CEO, said: “Comau’s robotics and industrial automation expertise, 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, household and personal care, and life sciences, give customers the incremental value of an integrated robot solution.
“Comau is eager to work with such an important partner that has a market-leading global footprint in all industries.”
Engineers will now be able to program their entire machine in one environment, including Comau robot arms directly controlled through Rockwell Automation’s Logix-based controllers.
Rockwell Automation’s Studio 5000 automation system design software provides “relief from the time-consuming and often difficult task of trying to coordinate traditionally separate machine control and robot systems to work together using two different software tools.
“Moreover, machine builders, system integrators, and others will gain development and deployment efficiencies through the use of digital engineering tools like Rockwell’s Emulate 3-D digital twin software, which creates digital models of production lines, auto-generates machine control code, and has built in capabilities for Comau robots.”
The companies say the combined Rockwell and Comau solutions will also offer benefits beyond enhanced integration.
“For example, end users can use analytics and digital twin tools to gain deeper insights into machine performance and potential production optimisation. They can also use safety and security solutions to reduce business risks.”