Robots and intelligent machines are increasingly being found in manufacturing and warehouse environments. Processes such as the flow of materials, assembly lines and preparation for shipping are being automated by sophisticated industrial robotics. The influence of ‘industry 4.0’, the digitization of manufacturing, is also driving greater connectivity between once-disparate production and operations functions.
The power supply needs of industrial robotics applications, such as assembly process and material handling machines, are common to many critical industrial applications: efficiency, durability and reliability. The motors, servos and actuators in these robots and material handling machines give the equipment specific power requirements, such as high inrush current on startup, which power supplies must accommodate.