Business Law | RoboLive®

50 Years of Expertise: The RoboLive^® Story

If you’re a tech-forward manufacturing professional working with industrial robots, you probably already know what RoboLive^® can do for you. Whether you’re a manufacturer or system integrator, a plant manager or a robot programmer, RoboLive^® offers tools and insights that help you take control of your industrial robots. But here’s something you might not know: These features combat the exact issues manufacturing automation pros face, because they were developed from years of manufacturing automation experience.

RoboLive^® was created by a team of engineers from Dressler Automation, an international leader in electrical engineering for automotive manufacturers. Founded over 50 years ago in Germany, Dressler Automation began in the then-developing field of early robotics and electronic boxes. Over the years, the firm’s reputation and client base spread, with a team setting up the company’s first US office in the vibrant automotive manufacturing hub of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Automotive manufacturers and their suppliers are well established in the area, with the largest producing over 250,000 vehicles annually.

Dressler Automation’s Chattanooga team tackled big projects in commissioning and industrial maintenance but the rising tide of Factory 4.0 began to pose new challenges that the manufacturing industry was unprepared to face. How do staff keep track of the massive amounts of production data generated each day? When a bad part is produced, how can engineers quickly determine where and when the error occurred? Visualization tools exist for other parts of the factory, but what about programming data like weld or glue parameters? These are all challenges that the RoboLive^® software now addresses—but at the time, no such solution existed. It was up to Dressler Automation to invent the next phase of the robotic revolution.

RoboLive^® combines several key features—path calibration, base frame correction, documentation, and more—around a base of process visualization to give you the most complete look into your robotic production lines possible. The software automatically retrieves actual process data from your robots at regular intervals and displays it alongside planned instructions and part CAD models. Code rules, specifications, and specific standards are factored in, meaning you can see any issues or deviations instantly. A robust set of analysis tools and custom warnings provide a clear look into errors and information that otherwise would be impossible to visualize.

RoboLive^® was originally developed and deployed on the factory lines in Chattanooga, and that’s where we first proved the software’s value. With all production information viewable in 3D at a glance, downtimes decreased and specialized personnel were no longer necessary for understanding data. RoboLive^® allowed staff to identify and correct issues before bad parts were produced, leading to a reduction in scrap costs and decreased potential for recall.

The function of a completely new solution like RoboLive® was clear immediately—as was the need to share it with other manufacturers. The dedicated RoboLive® software team at Dressler Automation was created and began to refine the software into a versatile toolkit for maintenance managers, QA, and plant management alike. Working with manufacturers from a variety of industries and countries, RoboLive® has become a critical part of the production process at some of the largest plants in the world.

Whatever manufacturing challenges you’re facing—complex variants, unique processes, or specific standards—RoboLive® offers a solution. Our software is custom tailored to each facility’s needs, and we develop lasting relationships with our clients to ensure you’re making the most of your industrial robots. Reach out today for a free custom consultation, or submit a contact form for information on how to request a trial or pilot project.

Mobility Startup Day 2022

What will the car of the future look like?

How will adequate charging infrastructure be developed?

Will autonomous driving make our roads safer and more efficient?

These are the types of questions that come to mind when talking about the future of mobility. Less of these questions, however, focus on the future of corresponding production. It’s a field that’s ripe for innovation—and the conversation is already starting: Held in Lower Saxony, Mobility Startup Day is a celebration of future-oriented innovation that brings together startups, investors, and leaders in automotive production. This year’s festival took place on December 14^th in the city of Hildesheim, Germany, and focused sustainable approaches to production and propulsion in automation.

While automation is widely seen as a solution to manufacturing challenges, the increased use of industrial robots has led to new challenges. More robots deployed on the floor means more data accumulated, and it ends in rapidly increasing complexity of modern manufacturing plants. And complexity is the perfect breeding ground for hidden errors. It’s a growing challenging for the automation industry, and manufacturing as a whole: Already over 3 million industrial robots are being used in production lines around the world, with more and more installed each day.

These are exactly the kind of challenges that RoboLive® was designed to address. Through five main services—process visualization, path calibration, vehicle-0 determination, software overview, and robot documentation—RoboLive® offers a window into robotic processes and a single source of truth for even the most complex manufacturing operations. In front of more than two hundred spectators, including the Lower Saxony Minister of Economics Olaf Lies, our team led a conversation on the effects of process visualization in everyday production and the future digital twin technology.

Mobility Startup Day marked the final appearance for the RoboLive® team in 2022, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the year. In addition to our own presentation, the event featured networking opportunities and a full roster of discussions led by local manufacturing professionals.

We would like to thank Automotive Agentur Niedersachsen, Startup Niedersachsen, Entrepreneurship Hub and Wirtschaftsförderung Hildesheim for hosting this event and giving our team the opportunity to share insights. For the latest information about RoboLive®, keep an eye on our news page or reach out to a team member today.

Wolfsburg Autostadt and Factory Tour

The RoboLive® team is split between Germany and America, so we always make the most of a chance to meet in-person. After concluding our presence at IZB, we took a team visit to Autostadt, the automobile themed park and exhibition center in town. Built in 2000, the Autostadt is a symbolic representation of the automotive industry that powers Wolfsburg: The park is located right near the Volkswagen manufacturing plant in town, which is the largest automobile factory in the world.

The Autostadt is a big attraction for locals and tourists alike—across its museums, lawns, and pavilions, the park receives more than 2 million visitors each year, making it one of the most popular themed parks in Germany. The sprawling campus features content from brands like Audi and Porsche, whose information pavilion with real display vehicles was one of our team’s favorites. We also took an insightful tour of the ZeitHaus, an onsite museum dedicated to the history of the automobile.

Our visit to Wolfsburg concluded with a tour of the nearby Volkswagen plant. As expected of the world’s largest car factory, the plant produces almost a million cars each year. That means a lot of robots at work—many more than here at the Chattanooga plant, where RoboLive® is currently deployed. While all our team members are familiar with the inner workings of a car factory, experiencing a plant the size of VW Wolfsburg was a unique opportunity. All told, the factory is bigger than the entire country of Monaco.

After closing out our trip with a pizza dinner, we’re back in the office and ready to keep improving RoboLive®. It’s the end of a busy season that saw our teams travel from Smyrna to Detroit, to Germany and back again. We’re thankful for all the feedback we’ve gotten along the way, and already looking forward to the next opportunity. Want to be the next to see RoboLive® in action? Contact our team at any time for a consultation.

IZB 2022, Wolfsburg

900 exhibitions, 50,000 visitors, and 3 days after it began, last week marked the closing of IZB (the International Suppliers Fair) in Wolfsburg, Germany. It’s a major event—the biggest automotive trade show in Europe—and featured exhibitions and presentations from industry leaders and startups alike. As a provider of software used by major automotive manufacturers, we were thrilled to be among this year’s exhibitors. RoboLive®’s booth was located in Hall 6, in the area for metalworking, car body construction, and joining technology experts.

While the general show floor was exciting, the RoboLive® team made another appearance at IZB. We were chosen for exhibition in the Software Marketplace: a showcase space for 12 select software providers where we were able to demonstrate RoboLive®’s unique features. For manufacturers like Volkswagen (one of IZB’s sponsors), it’s an important part of maintaining efficient and quality robotic production.

Between our exhibition booth in Hall 6 and software marketplace presence in Hall 1, we had a great time meeting and talking with attendees. But the highlight of the show was the IZB Live Stage, space for industry leaders to give live presentations on the next generation of manufacturing technology. On Tuesday, our CEO Ralph Dressler led a talk on process visualization for robots. The full presentation has been archived on IZB’s website, so feel free to view it if you weren’t able to attend.

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Overall, IZB was a great success. As excited as we were to show RoboLive®, attendees were more excited to hear about it: At the show’s conclusion, we were honored to be named one of IZB’s Top 20 Innovative Products.

After a successful year of traveling to trade shows around the world, IZB is the final appearance planned for the RoboLive® team in 2022. RoboLive® is always improving thanks to feedback from real users and interested parties, so we’re grateful for a successful year of feedback—and ready to keep on improving.

Didn’t get a chance to attend the show? If you want to meet our team, or would like a demonstration of RoboLive®, please reach out via our contact form.

Automate 2022, Detroit

Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan.
608 miles between DSTATION CreativSpace in Chattanooga and Convention Center in Detroit.
Over a hundred songs in the car.

At the beginning of June, we presented RoboLive^® in the USA for the first time at Automate, the largest automation trade show in North America. What can we say? We weren’t expecting the amount of attention our booth received. But we did expect that all our guests would be enthusiastic about our solution RoboLive^®. This also applied to everyone we spoke to at the street food festival. And at the networking event. And at every booth we visited.

We met so many interesting people, had exciting conversations and continued to grow together as a team. And we noticed the interest RoboLive^® is getting. In summary, we can only say: Automate 2022 was a complete success.

608 miles.
And it was worth every mile.

Control 2022, Stuttgart

We were exhibitors at a trade fair for the first time! From May 03 to May 05, we stood with RoboLive^® in the Startup Area of Control, the world’s leading trade fair for quality assurance. We talked to many interested people about our software and the challenges of modern manufacturing plants. We also attended technical presentations and deepened our expertise in discussions with other exhibitors.

You could not visit us? Check out the virtual showroom.

Technical Congress in Berlin

We were participants at the technical congress 2022 of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) e.V.) in Berlin, Germany. We gained top-class insights and had the opportunity to exchange with leading experts from the automotive and supplier industry.

Above all, we presented our Software RoboLive^® to a broad public for the first time. See yourself: