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Perceive, Understand & Perform

AICA and Schaeffler demonstrate the role Physical AI can play in the manufacturing environment

Conversations on the role Physical AI will play on shop floors across manufacturing took place at every stop I made during the Automate Show in Chicago. Robots—in addition to literally doing the heavy lifting—are now being asked to independently learn from experiences and discover solutions without the assistance of human programmers. At the Universal Robots (Teradyne Robotics) booth, I was treated to some amazing force sensing applications that led to a discussion on a recent gearbox assembly use case between AICA (a partner of UR) and Schaeffler that tapped robots to assemble gearboxes.

The Near Future of Mechanical Drive for Humanoid Robots

AI has moved humanoid robots forward, but safety, reliability and cost in the actuator drivetrain still stand in the way of commercial deployment

Strain Wave Gear Production in the Age of Humanoid Robots

Humanoid robots need precise strain wave gears in their joints, and building and inspecting those gears at scale will call for equally advanced production technology

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Technical Articles

Couplings and Clutches

A technical overview of the three principal face couplings (Hirth, Coniflex, and Curvic), comparing their tooth geometries, self-centering behavior, and Gleason’s cutting and grinding processes for manufacturing them.

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Smart Alloying Eliminates Manufacturing Steps in Automotive Gears

20NiMo9-7 alloy achieves up to 48 percent higher fatigue strength than conventional carburizing steels in the as-carburized condition, eliminating the need for shot peening and grinding in automotive gear applications.

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Analytical Calculation of the Gear Body Stiffness of Face Gears

This paper presents a new analytical method using plate and disk mechanical models to calculate the gear body stiffness of face gear wheels, showing that stiffness decreases toward the outer radius—a behavior that conventional cylindrical gear approaches fail to capture.

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Twenty Years of Pulsator Tests on Helicopter Gears

Leonardo Helicopters’ 20-year, 650+ test campaign characterizing tooth-root bending fatigue strength across gear materials, heat treatments, and finishing processes (notably shot peening and superfinishing) to support aerospace gear design.

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Design

Variable loads resulting from a working process, starting process, or operation near a critical speed will cause varying stresses at the gear teeth of a drive system. The magnitude and frequency of these loads depend upon the driven machine, the motor, the dynamic mass elastic properties of the system, and other effects.


Grinding

When you talk with Jared Lyford, director of operations at Forest City Gear and the newly appointed president of the Rock River Valley Tooling & Machining Association (RRVTMA), it becomes clear very quickly: workforce development isn’t a program for him. It’s a calling—and one shaped by lived experience.

Inspection

In conventional gear manufacturing, quality control is carried out for a number of pieces per batch. Most parts enter final gearbox assembly without any inspection. Among other things, this approach is based on two facts: measuring time is significantly longer than the machining time, and the limited measuring capacity available.

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Videos

Forest City Gear Knows Robots!

Forest City Gear manufactures extremely high-precision gears made for the most advanced robotics, right in Roscoe, IL.  This family-owned team of gearheads specialize in high-precision gears engineered to handle the most demanding robotic applications—on Earth, and way beyond.

Industry News

New orders of metalworking machinery, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT (The Association for Manufacturing Technology), totaled $732.9 million in August 2026. 

Product News

Open Mind Technologies will highlight the latest hyperMILL 2026 CAD/CAM Software Suite at IMTS Booth #133351. 

Calendar

CES 2027

Jan 6, 2027 - Jan 9, 2027

Attracting a diverse range of professionals, including executives, engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs, CES (Las Vegas) is an excellent opportunity to connect, collaborate, and grow your professional network. The broad range of exhibits and industries represented at the show can inspire innovative solutions. Industries include 3D printing, AR/VR/XR, AI, cloud computing/data, construction tech, cybersecurity, robotics, e-Mobility, AI, vehicle tech and more.

PowerGen 2027

Jan 18, 2027 - Jan 21, 2027

SPS Smart Production Solutions 2026

Nov 24, 2026 - Nov 26, 2026

CTI Symposium Berlin 2026

Dec 8, 2026 - Dec 9, 2026

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