2.2012
trends in automation
Cover story
Intelligent products and processes:
In the factory of tomorrow, products will be
able to tell you what is to be done with them.
Cyber-physical systems will communicate
with one another using the Internet of Things.
Microsystems will make decisions autonomously
and highly sensitive robots will support employees
so that they can continue to work even in their
later years. In this issue of trends in automation,
we take a glimpse into the future of production,
a future that is already beginning to take shape.
Editorial
3
Panorama
6
Festo worldwide
41
About this magazine
45
Soft Stop
46
(
R)Evolution 4.0
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wahlster is one of
the world’s leading experts in artificial
intelligence. In this interview he talks
about the “fourth industrial revolution”,
Industry 4.0, in which machines will
understand their environment and
communicate with one another using
the Internet Protocol.
8
Movement of the third kind
With SmartInversion, the intelligent
combination of lightweight design,
electric drives and open- and closed-
loop control makes endless inversion
in the air possible.
12
Movement by the power of thought
Can people sense what robots feel? Can
machines really be controlled by thought?
Yes, they can – thanks to advanced
technologies such as the ExoHand and
CogniGame from Festo.
16
“
A critical success factor for
Industry 4.0 is semantic
communication between all of
the machines in a factory.”
SmartInversion:
Forward
motion through inversion.
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12
Inspiration
Compass
Photo: kgtoh/Prisma