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Danish innovator Universal Robots claims it has revolutionised the robot market with its UR5 and UR10 robotic arms, which can handle payloads of up to 5kg and 10kg respectively. These flexible, lightweight and user friendly 6-axis robots have been developed specially for small and medium enterprises, where the key requirement is for flexible and effective automation with a fast return on investment. The robots use patented technology to measure electrical current in their joints to determine force and movement, rather than expensive sensor technology. This means the 5kg robot, for example, can undercut the price of robot solutions from the better known manufacturers by more than 50%. Another interesting design feature means that the robots are completely safe to work alongside, without the need for expensive guarding systems.

Looks like Amazon is getting some robots. LOTS of robots. The giant online retailer announced that it is acquiring Kiva Systems, a North Reading, Mass.-based company that invented a revolutionary way of managing vast warehouses by using fleets of mobile robots to sort, organize, and transport inventory. Amazon agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Kiva for approximately US $775 million in cash. The companies expect to close the acquisition in the second quarter of 2012. “Amazon has long used automation in its fulfillment centers, and Kiva’s technology is another way to improve productivity by bringing the products directly to employees to pick, pack, and stow,” Dave Clark, Amazon.com’s vice president of global customer fulfillment said in a statement.

Despite the weakening global economic situation a further robot sales increase of about 9% to about 181,000 units is likely. The sales increase will mainly be driven by the automotive industry and the electronics industry as well as by the increasing number of customers with low-volume orders from other industries. The main impulses are coming from North America, China, Brazil and Central- and Eastern European countries as well as from Japan due to the restoration of the damaged production facilities. Robot supply to the Republic of Korea will again grow in 2012, but only moderately after the strong investments of the past years. Robot sales in Germany will reach almost the peak level of 2011 while in Italy and Spain a decrease due to the worsening of the economic situation is likely. Robot supplies to France and the United Kingdom are expected to increase according to announcements of the automotive industry and other industries. Robot supply to the Americas will increase by 17% and to Asia/Australia by 12% while robot sales to Europe will only slightly increase by 2%.

The latest product introductions from technology leader ABB include two new palletizing robots, three palletizing grippers and an easy-to-use programming software – all designed to make palletizing simpler, faster and more efficient.

Former eastern block countries are switching to market economies, joining the European Union, and attracting foreign investment. That, combined with their central location and moderate labor rates, has already transformed countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary into manufacturing powerhouses, according to an article in the Financial Times in early December. “Central and Eastern Europe is the factory of Europe, just as China is the factory of Asia,” Lee Tai-sik, chairman of the Korea Business Centre, which promotes South Korean trade and investment in Poland, told the Financial Times.