Robotics innovations at the 2009 Assembly Technology Expo

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the robots at the Assembly Technology Expo. Assembly Expo is the feature show, which is combined with five other manufacturing shows at the same time at the same venue in Chicago.Design/methodology/approach – In‐depth interviews with exhibitors of robots, system integrators as well as suppliers of robot‐related components such as end‐of‐arm‐tooling.Findings – Smaller, even nano‐precision‐sized robots are becoming more available as the range of applications ever increases.Originality/value – The paper suggests that users who investigated robot solutions in the past and found they did not meet application requirements may find it is time to revisit robotics. Robot builders and system integrators are providing more suitable solutions that can better address application needs in a more cost‐effective manner than ever before.