Machine builders no longer need to choose between a stepper or servo drive, thanks to the CMMT-ST from Festo. This new extra low voltage servo drive is capable of open or closed loop positioning, which effectively bridges the gap between stepper and servo drives. This means the user can tailor the CMMT-ST to suit the needs of the application and reap the benefits of both control formats.

The FLAIROP (Federated Learning for Robot Picking) research project, which was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, was concluded at Festo in Esslingen-Berkheim. At the event, all project participants – as well as interested public – were on site or presented their results live from Canada.

"The shortage of skilled workers is a challenge for companies in Europe. We need to invest much more in education and training. That is why I propose to make 2023 the European Year of Skills," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The highlight of this Year of Skills will be the 8th EuroSkills competition of professions in September in Gdańsk, Poland. Mechatronics is one of the most attractive and promising skills, and it will be ...

According to estimates, by 2025 some 600,000 tons of used batteries from electric passenger cars need to be recycled. Since batteries are energy storage devices made from valuable raw materials, this inevitably raises the question of sustainability. Festo therefore offers modular automation concepts not only for cell producing, assembling battery modules and packs, and platform integration, but also for disassembling and recycling or separating the ...

The success and reputation of electric vehicle manufacturers depend on the safe and flawless functioning of batteries. HAHN Automation Group has therefore developed a battery tester that carries out a complete test of the mobile energy storage units fully automatically. A 3-axis gantry for optical and leak tests, consisting of electric drives from Festo, takes centre stage.

Standardisation is a recipe for success for a fruitful collaboration between packaging machine manufacturers and automation specialists. The strategic partnership between Syntegon and Festo is a great example of this. Thanks to this cooperation, Syntegon was able to simplify its processes and manage the challenges posed by the pandemic and the supply chain crisis more effectively.

If there’s one thing the corona pandemic has taught us, it is that laboratories place tremendous importance on high sample throughput rates. Even with highly qualified laboratory personnel, this demand can no longer be met. There’s no getting round the automation of laboratory processes. That’s why MolGen in the Netherlands developed PurePrep TTR, which can prepare 320 patient samples per hour for molecular downstream processing. And ...

The Festo Group achieved double-digit growth for another year in a row. Sales rose by 13.4% to €3.81 billion in 2022 (previous year €3.36 billion). Festo intends to continue growing in 2023. Innovative automation is the enabler for the industrial transformation towards renewable energies, sustainable production, hydrogen and circular economy.

The production of tyres and the production of wafers seem to have absolutely nothing to do with each other. In terms of automation technology, however, they use the same technology: Controlled Pneumatics. That is why Festo has further developed compressed air technology to make pneumatics sustainable, resource-saving and energy-efficient.

The software GripperAI from Festo enables "blind bin picking" and thus autonomous handling solutions with almost any robot, cobot or Cartesian gantry. The company ibk Ingenieur Consult GmbH is offering an online configurable robot cell as an entry-level model. This could become the patent solution for many gripping tasks, including customised designs and integration services.

On site and hands-on: At the Hannover Messe, visitors on the Festo booth can use all their senses experience comprehensive learning environments. Highlights of the product portfolio in the field of education and training will be on display – from the digital learning portal Festo LX and virtual reality learning to product innovations in the field of learning systems with cobots, AI and the digital twin.

At the Hannover Messe 2023, Festo is presenting the next step on the road to the industrialisation of biological transformation: BionicCellFactory. With automation technology from Festo, biomass can be cultivated on a large scale in a highly efficient, resource-conserving way. Everything that we currently produce from crude oil creating immense CO2 emissions can also be obtained sustainably from algae. With the BionicCellFactory, Festo is demonstrating ...

Digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) are megatrends that can also offer great potential for savings in tyre production. Machine learning algorithms can be implemented in a decentralised manner, for example on the edge, i.e. on the actual module to be monitored. An example is Festo AX. This AI software uses these algorithms to detect anomalies on tyre building machines or in curing presses.

Flexible, robust and offering high performance – the angle seat valve VZXA from Festo controls media flows quickly and reliably up to 230 °C. Its carefully thought-out product design and patented interface enable valve bodies and actuators to be freely combined, with a hot-swap function for quickly exchanging actuator or other spare parts.

The twin cylinder DGTZ from Festo is short, flat and extremely versatile. The versatility is ensured by the mounting options on four sides of this rigid and thus non-rotating twin cylinder that is also maintenance-free.

The lockdown in spring 2020 meant that the majority of Festo employees had to join the ranks of those working from home. Yet within the space of just four weeks they managed to develop a suitable solution for an emergency ventilator for a COVID-19 treatment, thanks to an agile development process and standard components that were quickly delivered.