Nowadays, you can find scientists and engineers creating micro-robotic creatures for a slew of fascinating research projects.

New generation sensors are improving our quality of life.

Does the U.S. renewable energy solution lie offshore? An update on the status of offshore wind projects.

Options abound for increased efficiency in lubrication.

Manufacturing employees have always kept their eyes on the robotic systems that continue to pop up in assembly lines and industrial workspaces. These metallic, low-maintenance robotic employees don’t waste time with smoke breaks or catching up on episodes of Lost. They tend to stick to the task at hand with little argument or attitude, giving human counterparts a bad name when they gripe about factory temperatures or lack of a decent dental plan.

Before Mike Cicco was involved on the engineering side, he used to sell robotic systems to manufacturers. Most of his sales pitches were met with hesitation and skepticism as he tried to explain the “benefits” of replacing employees on the shop floor with an automated system.

Sunnen grows product portfolio with motion control solution from Siemens.

Scientists have been hard at work creating a robotic system with the capabilities to sweep and collect garbage in urban environments. This real-world Wall-E is known as the DustBot, aimed at designing, developing, testing and demonstrating a system for improving the management of urban hygiene.

The Royal Danish Theatre has occupied the heart of Copenhagen for centuries and recently upgraded to a new control system featuring Sprint Electric DC drives to extend the lives of the existing motors, keeping replacement costs down. The Swedish stage design and technology company Visual Act retained most of the original motors and mechanics while providing a much-needed facelift to the stage.

The repair-versus-replace decision is quite complicated, depending upon variables such as rewind cost, severity of the failure, replacement motor purchase price and other factors.