New Product Roundup: Wetour Robotics, Emerson, Rockwell Automation, ABB Robotics

• Wetour Robotics is launching an AI operating system for wearable industrial hardware.  
• Emerson updates OT data fabric with an industrial data backbone designed to scale with customers and support AI capabilities. 
• Rockwell Automation announced new capabilities of its EtherNet/IP In-cabinet Solution for additional motor control.  
• ABB Robotics announced an automated sanding and polishing tool for manufacturers.

Editor’s note: Smart Industry New Product Roundups are digests of manufacturing technology offerings recently brought to market.

Wetour Robotics and Emerson both launched AI systems and updates while Rockwell Automation and ABB Robotics announced new capabilities to improve functions in manufacturing environments.

AI infrastructure company Wetour Robotics is launching Orchestra, an on-device AI operating system that connects AI agents to wearable industrial hardware in real time, with no cloud dependency.  

The platform is open architecture and designed for third-party manufacturers and operators to build applications on top of it. Wetour’s application Vision Link perceives the environment through to assist physical movement.  

See also: Stories of AI adoption: Wolfspeed all-in with 22 agents across key company teams 

According to Wetour, the platform is designed for industrial and manufacturing environments, as workers augmented by AI-powered exoskeletons that respond to intent rather than manual input.  

Wetour is demonstrating Orchestra on May 28 in Austin, Texas.

Emerson announced updates to the AspenTech Inmation OT Data Fabric to build it as an enterprise-scale intelligence layer for the AspenTech Inmation Data Platform.

The enhanced Inmation OT Data Fabric creates an industrial data backbone designed to scale with customers, support analytics, AI capabilities and the development of an enterprise operations platform that connects data across the organization. 

See also: Why industrial AI requires a data ops foundation to scale 

The AspenTech Inmation OT Data Fabric contains a new distributed node‑based architecture with a modular foundation that delivers consistent behavior across sites while reducing operational complexity, according to Emerson. This design enables customers to expand from individual plants to global deployments using a common operating model with centralized governance. 

The data fabric also enables end-to-end edge-to-cloud deployment with consistent operation on Windows and Linux platforms, including lightweight edge systems. Improvements in hierarchical data modeling, performance, and distributed computing allow the fabric to scale horizontally as data volumes and organizational complexity grow.

Rockwell Automation announced new capabilities of its EtherNet/IP In-cabinet Solution, expanding support for additional motor control and protection devices and enabling manufacturers to connect more components inside the control panel, simplify wiring and gain diagnostic insight.  

The EtherNet/IP In-cabinet solution streamlines communication between devices inside the panel, which Rockwell claims can improve data availability, installation and motor control systems maintenance. The updates are designed for panel builders, manufacturers, and OEMs, according to Rockwell.

See also: Integrating IT, OT, and AI for real-world competitiveness 

Key features of the update, according to Rockwell, include: 

• Supplemental power tap: Helps maintain stable performance as device counts increase. 
• Expanded smart motor control capabilities: Extends EtherNet/IP communication to 140ME Motor Protective Switching Devices and E100 Electronic Overload Relays using a 100-E Contactor communication module.  
• Faster installation: In certain case studies, EtherNet/IP In-cabinet Solution has been shown to reduce wiring time by up to 80% compared to traditional hard-wired installations. 
• Optimized space: Compact components allow more devices to fit within the same footprint, helping reduce overall panel size.  
• Improved data access: Communication between devices can support productivity through connectivity across more components as users gain access to more data.  
• Scalability: Easily adapts to future networking needs without major redesigns or infrastructure changes.

ABB Robotics launched the OmniVance Collaborative Surface Finishing Cell, its first fully automated sanding and polishing cell that aims to allow manufacturers to automate key surface finishing tasks like sanding and polishing.  

The cell uses ABB’s GoFa sensing robot to execute surface finishing and is a self-contained device complete with the GoFa cobot and safety components. It is fully CE-certified, and cell does not require any additional engineering to begin production, and the addition of new tools makes it adaptable in high-mix environments, according to ABB. 

See also: Physical AI in manufacturing: Assistant, replacement or something in between? 

The cell is able to automate repetitive sanding and polishing tasks, which ABB claims saves time, effort, and costs. The cell also has integrated dust extraction, lead-through 3D path recording, 2D preset path creation, and intuitive path editing integrated into Wizard Easy Programming blocks.