Beckhoff at Automatica 2010

At the Automatica trade fair in Munich, Germany, (8 to 11 June) Beckhoff had a 200 sqm booth presenting its PC-based control technology for robotics applications including handling, production and assembly. 700 exhibitors from 42 countries were present at the 4th international trade fair for automation and mechatronics. Automatica took place in four halls with a total floor space of 44,000 sqm and attracted around 31,000 professional visitors from 114 countries.

At the Beckhoff booth the focus was on TwinCAT automation software: on the one hand, the new features offered by TwinCAT 3 and, on the other, the extension of robotics functionalities. TwinCAT supports various parallel and serial kinematics, such as those used for pick-and-place tasks. One of the innovations Beckhoff presented at Automatica was a kinematics system for
6-D cable robots. The workpiece gripper can be rotated and tilted.

The EtherCAT technology developed by Beckhoff has now become the communication standard in many robots. Robot controllers benefit from EtherCAT features such as very short cycle times, precise synchronisation, flexible topology, no special hardware requirements, integrable safety functions, and seamless integration of other bus systems.