The industrial automation industry is at a turning point. After years of dealing with complex, inaccessible, and expensive technologies, a new era is emerging. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the way you automate your manufacturing floor is about to be transformed with the introduction of smarter, more accessible, and cost-effective solutions.
In this new era, creating practical solutions for real manufacturing challenges will be paramount. Vention is dedicated to helping you navigate the world of industrial automation and feel empowered by the technology to create limitless possibilities.
At Demo Day 2024, we announced the launch of many cutting-edge products that seamlessly integrate AI with real manufacturing work. These innovations feature more intuitive design, programming, and deployment environments, enabling manufacturers to swiftly and effortlessly adopt industrial automation and robotics solutions.
Demo Day is an annual event to announce the year’s biggest innovations and product launches from the Vention team. This year, we brought together clients, partners, suppliers, investors, and industry leaders in both Chicago and Berlin to experience the launches firsthand.
For those who couldn’t attend in person, you can watch the full recording of the event below. Keep reading for more details about the exciting announcements from Demo Day 2024.
Watch Demo Day 2024 on-demand
Generative design meets industrial LEGO parts
MachineBuilder is the cornerstone of Vention’s Manufacturing Automation Platform, providing a 3D CAD environment specifically designed for creating automated equipment and robot cells. Recently, we introduced new AI-driven capabilities to create a smarter and more intuitive design environment.
Key enhancements included:
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Smart predictive placement: Utilize Vention’s AI-driven Geometric Reasoning Engine (GRE) to minimize the effort of designing mechanical structures in 3D. Components automatically snap into the desired orientation with minimal user input, streamlining the design process.
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Intuitive part manipulation: Access new part manipulation tools powered by contextual guidance and a more discoverable 3D manipulator. When moving a part in your design, all the components attached to that part will automatically slide. Now, you can easily move parts while still maintaining the design’s integrity.
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Real-time BOM and pricing: See your bill of materials, pricing, and part specifications updated in real-time as you add or remove parts from a MachineBuilder design. With part dimensions, weight, 2D drawings, and other technical specifications now available directly within the 3D environment, validating your design is faster than ever.
At Demo Day 2024, we continued to build on these AI capabilities by introducing generative AI technology to MachineBuilder. The latest enhancements to MachineBuilder include:
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Enhanced grouping: Create groups within your design, then easily insert, remove parts, and resize extrusions all within the context of that group, eliminating the need to design a new group or delete it. This makes component categorization seamless by keeping the same groupings for the entire length of the project.
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Design Assistant: Leverage generative AI and machine learning technology to receive prompts on where and when to add joints and gussets to your design. Based on an algorithm created from over 350,000 MachineBuilder designs, the model recommends parts to strengthen the intersection of two extrusions, eliminating guesswork and improving design accuracy. With the Design Assistant, there’s no need to manually search the Design Library—necessary joints and gussets are automatically integrated into your design. Simply look for the crystal ball icon to see this new feature in action.
With these advancements, MachineBuilder continues to set the standard for design of automated equipment and robot cells. The integration of AI-driven capabilities not only enhances the user experience but also significantly reduces the complexity and time required to design robust designs—unlocking your full creative potential.
Digital twins are going mainstream
MachineLogic caters to the next generation of automation practitioners with an intuitive environment for programming and simulating automated equipment and robots—all before committing capex. Earlier this year, MachineLogic got a boost to its robotic programming capabilities, paving the way for more complex cloud applications. At Demo Day 2024, we expanded on these enhancements, making the creation of digital twins an even more crucial step in de-risking a project.
Developments to MachineLogic’s digital twin and simulation environment include:
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Robot programming with scene assets: Use scene assets to easily define critical robot programming assets, such as Reference Frames and Targets directly from the scene. Once Robot Targets are defined, you can create a move sequence with just a few clicks by using the new MachineLogic Instruction to simulate and test robot motion directly from your browser.
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One-click deployment: Instantly transfer programs and machine configurations from your digital twin to the physical machine. This is done directly in your web browser with a single click—all without interrupting production.
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Calibration apps and robot jogger: Quickly calibrate your robot cell with minimal margin for error with the new calibration apps and enhanced robot jogger. These tools ensure that the program you’ve created in MachineLogic is reproduced accurately. This streamlined calibration process enables consistent and precise redeployment from your digital twin to the factory floor.
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Physics engine: Receive the most accurate results for testing and debugging program behavior available with the new physics engine within Vention’s cloud-based digital twin simulation environment. This integration allows you to simulate programs in a realistic virtual environment prior to deployment and provides near-accurate results that simulate movements as they would happen in the real world.
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Box input module: Configure dynamic parameters for box insertion on conveyors, including dimensions, insertion rate, weight control, and part insertion. This feature is key for complex conveyor projects that require a reliable simulation environment.
Now, with the most reliable and accurate simulation environment on the market, you can validate and resolve all risks prior to deployment, eliminating costly errors down the road. MachineLogic continues to empower automation practitioners to push the boundaries of what’s possible, ensuring every project is executed with accuracy and confidence.
Programming environments are converging
At Demo Day 2023, Vention launched Python programming in MachineLogic, enabling robot programmers to leverage one of the most versatile and widespread programming languages available today.
With this year’s release, we expanded MachineLogic’s capabilities to cater to this new generation of robot programmers. Equipped with the knowledge and desire to apply software development workflows to robotics and industrial automation, they will now have access to a powerful software development environment to meet their more complex needs.
Enhancements to MachineLogic’s Python API include:
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IDE for Python programming: With new improvements to both our front- and back-end systems, access a fully featured, browser-based development environment that supports multi-process applications. This allows you to build programs faster than ever before.
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Custom user interface: Create completely custom operator interfaces in MachineLogic. Code the interface to tailor it to your unique needs using web development frontend practices, all from your web browser, offering unparalleled control and flexibility.
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Reference frame detection: Adapt to changes in position during production with computer vision capabilities. With QR code detection, your robotic systems can autonomously adapt to changes, ensuring operations are precise, reliable, and highly intelligent.
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Co-pilot programming: Program with Co-pilot, our Python programming AI assistant, which accesses a large-language model (LLM) knowledgeable of Vention’s Python APIs. Simply write a prompt, insert code snippets, and simulate your application in a fully integrated workflow, drastically reducing development time and the learning curve for new users.
With these new releases, AI is being infused into MachineLogic to further support control and robotics experts seeking a powerful software development environment. This integration will enable faster innovation throughout more complex projects.
Motion control is entering the post-PLC era
MachineMotion, first introduced in 2017, is the cornerstone of Vention’s mission of bringing automation to all manufacturers. It was the first enclosure-free, plug-and-play motion controller that lowered the barrier to entry for automation, allowing manufacturers to create a motion program in a few clicks, wire equipment in minutes, and start production the same day.
At Demo Day 2024, we announced the next generation of MachineMotion: MachineMotion AI. This third-generation plug-and-play automation controller is ushering in the post-PLC era, where the divide between PLC and robot programming is eliminated. Now, all devices—whether PLC or robot—are programmed in the same environment with the same tools, benefiting from an accurate digital twin with embedded physics simulation. This ensures that the user experience in the cloud is seamlessly replicated on the edge, thanks to simple plug-and-play capabilities across robot arms, conveyors, actuators, safety devices, vision systems, and more.
As the cornerstone of Vention’s plug-and-play ecosystem of industrial components, MachineMotion AI is set to transform the deployment of standalone robot cells. It supports leading robot brands of ABB, Universal Robots, and FANUC, and is offered in three configurations: MachineMotion Lite, up to complex multi-process automated equipment with MachineMotion 1.5kW or 3.0kW.
MachineMotion AI wouldn’t have been possible without the most advanced AI-ready hardware from NVIDIA. By combining Vention’s modular hardware and plug-and-play motion control with NVIDIA’s Jetson technology, MachineMotion AI is ready for autonomous robotics and will provide Vention’s modern cloud robotics platform with modern automation control on the edge.
New Collaborations
Welcoming ABB to the Vention ecosystem
Vention is excited to welcome ABB GoFa cobots to the Vention ecosystem. Now available on Vention.com, ABB GoFa cobots are fully compatible with the Vention platform, including MachineBuilder, MachineLogic, MachineAnalytics, and Remote Support.
This collaboration is a testament to Vention’s dedication to building a fully robot-agnostic platform. By adding ABB, one of the largest cobot makers on the market, alongside Universal Robots, FANUC, and more, users can program any robot using the same interface for one of the most user-friendly and intuitive industrial automation programming experiences.
Collaborating with NVIDIA Robotics
Earlier this year, we announced a collaboration with NVIDIA Robotics to bring advanced industrial automation to small and medium manufacturers. By leveraging NVIDIA AI and accelerated computing technology, we aim to advance cloud robotics and simplify robotic projects from design to operation.
The collaboration with NVIDIA focuses on using AI to create near-accurate digital twins significantly faster and more efficiently so manufacturers can test their projects before they invest. Areas of development include MachineMotion AI, generative designs for robot cells, co-pilot programming, physics-based simulation, and autonomous robots.
Artificial Intelligence. Real Manufacturing Work.
As industrial automation technology enters a new era fueled by artificial intelligence, welcoming small and medium manufacturers into this world is paramount. At Vention, this means injecting our technologies with AI to make designing, automating, deploying, and operating automated equipment and robot cells easier and more intuitive.
Thank you to our clients, partners, suppliers, investors, and industry friends who attended the fifth-annual Demo Day event. We couldn’t be more excited to usher in this new era and see the unlimited possibilities you’ll create with it.
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