MachineMetrics, Universal Robots to Automate Robot Performance Monitoring and Intelligence Together

Precision manufacturers can now track collaborative robots from Universal Robots in real-time to improve performance and reliability.

FREMONT, CA: “Connecting to and capturing real-time data from " manufacturing equipment is what enables our customers to quickly and easily understand their production performance and the health of their machines," says Bill Bither, CEO and Co-Founder of MachineMetrics. "By connecting UR cobots to MachineMetrics, users can gain real-time insights into cobot productivity, alert teams when issues arise, and remotely troubleshoot and diagnose issues to get the cobot back up and running." The leader in machine connectivity and production analytics for manufacturers, MachineMetrics' Connector for Universal Robots (UR) can easily connect to and collect valuable data from any equipment from UR. This latest connector, which is now available via the UR+ program to all current UR cobot users, gives them instant information about the health and performance of their cobots. Now, they can maximize their cobots' uptime to increase productivity and drive more throughput without adding more staff.

"MachineMetrics, like Universal Robots, is at the forefront of delivering innovative solutions that lower the barrier to automation for manufacturers," says Christopher Savoia, Regional Head of UR+ Ecosystem. "Their unique ability to deliver real-time insights into the health and performance of UR collaborative robots means increased reliability, uptime, and productivity of automated work cells."

The Connector for Universal Robots unveiled followed MachineMetrics' successful series B investment round in June 2021, headed by Teradyne, Universal Robots' parent company.

The manufacturing industry is experiencing a renaissance as factory owners seek to upgrade and accelerate operations. According to a recently published study by Research Dives, the global collaborative robot (cobot) market is anticipated to expand at a phenomenal CAGR of 41.2 percent by 2026. Cobots provide a cutting-edge solution that makes it easier to automate manual operations such as loading and unloading materials and parts, resulting in significant productivity improvements and an increase in throughput without the need for extra staff. However, like with all machines, ensuring these cobots operate to their fullest capacity is crucial to their success.

MachineMetrics is a pioneer in simplifying Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) technologies for the manufacturing floor. Its networking architecture is designed to enable rapid data collection from any piece of production floor equipment. Users can install it independently without costly and time-consuming system integration procedures. The data is sent instantaneously and securely to the MachineMetrics Cloud Platform, where users can observe and examine data from any asset.

“Extending the value of MachineMetrics to drive automation is the next generation of solution for manufacturers,”  says Bither. “On its own, MachineMetrics can let the right person or system know at the right time what is happening to keep machines running. In an autonomous factory powered by MachineMetrics, machine data can trigger an action by a robot that feeds the bar into the machine without human intervention.”