Technology in 60 seconds

All articles from 2020 

"Technology in 60 seconds" provides insights into the world of Festo and observes the latest developments in society, economy and science. Click through the archive from 2020:

Archiv 2020
Dental Treatment
Article of 18 December 2020

No fear of dental treatment

Small children are often harmed through loss of blood pressure, shock or unconsciousness during dental treatment. This is why training dentists and their assistants to prepare for the restlessness and anxiety of their youngest patients is so important. A humanoid robot can realistically simulate the behaviour of children during treatment – with fidgeting, wincing or clamping their mouths shut.

Diamanten
Article of 27 November 2020

10,000 diamonds per hour

Diamond cutting is a task for human beings. The cutting must be carried out by a perfectly trained specialist, because – no matter how flawless the gemstones may be – an incorrectly placed cut will ruin everything. The sorting of the stones according to size, however, is done by machines. Much depends on them, too: the sorting process has to be very fast, yet there must not be any scratches. A sorting system with fast-switching valves manages to sort up to 10,000 diamonds per hour according to size without scratches.

Autoreinigung
Article of 30 October 2020

Perfectly cared for

Cleaning agents for car care consist of numerous different substances. In the course of the production process, these first have to be stored, then transported and mixed, and finally filled into containers. Automation technology makes this faster, simpler and more reliable.

Biotechnological production
Article of 25 September 2020

Biotechnology instead of chemistry

Biotechnology enables environmentally friendly production. Soft sensor technology helps to determine the biomass relatively precisely and cost-effectively.

BionicMobileAssistant
Article of 26 August 2020

Flexible assistant

The BionicMobileAssistant moves autonomously in space and can independently recognise objects, grasp them adaptively and work on them together with humans.

Burgener AG
Article of 31 July 2020

Package pharmaceutical additives fully automatically

In addition to the active pharmaceutical ingredient, drugs always consist of one or more pharmaceutical additives. For transport, it is important to package the material quickly and hygienically. This is made possible by a fully automatic dosing and packaging line from Burgener AG with components from Festo. What is important here is the process, environmental and operator safety of the machine.

CAROLA
Article of 26 June 2020

Continuous production of masks

In the current situation, there is a strong demand for mouth and nose protection masks worldwide. All the more important is quick and easy production on site. With Festo’s engineering support, the mechanical engineering company Mikron has developed a system that allows practically anyone to produce the masks themselves.

High-throughput COVID-19 testing
Article of 29 May 2020

Diagnostics with high throughput

In the global COVID-19 pandemic, testing is in high demand. Liquid handling solutions enable scalable IVD devices with high throughput.

Oxygen-free transport of wafers
Article of 29 April 2020

Oxygen-free from A to B

In the production of semiconductors, wafers must be transported oxygen-free. This is made possible by special containers with a constant nitrogen supply.

plug_and_work
Article of 27 March 2020

Plug in and let’s go

Program, configure and network systems: The commissioning of a production line or machine can take considerable time and costs. Especially for electrical applications, employees must have specialist knowledge and software know-how. This is too cumbersome, particularly for applications that execute simple movements. However, some products do not require any software of their own. This is made possible by the so-called "plug & work" principle.

Rennwagen
Article of 28 February 2020

On the road to Le Mans

The Le Mans 24-hour race is legendary. The aim of the race is to cover as many laps as possible within the 24 hours, with three drivers alternating. Thanks to a pneumatic operated controls system on the car using Festo technology, disabled and able-bodied drivers can now compete in the race using exactly the same car.

Feuertopf
Article of 31 January 2020

A fiery mix

Hot pot (literal meaning in Chinese: ‘fire pot’) is one of the most popular dishes in China. As with fondue, various ingredients are cooked directly at the table and then enjoyed with dipping sauces. Traditionally, hot pot restaurants put the dips together according to individual customer wishes. This is a very time-consuming and detailed job for which the restaurants have to comply with strict hygiene regulations. With the help of automation technology, they can fill their serving dishes quickly and hygienically.