Analog Devices
Webinar Date: March 18, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Enhanced perception and navigation: Learn how our cutting-edge Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) are revolutionizing next-generation robotics with unparalleled perception and precision.
- Seamless data transfer: Explore best practices for high-bandwidth data transfer using GMSL connectivity, ensuring your systems operate smoothly and efficiently.
- Safety and security strategies: Understand the robust safety and security measures made possible with Analog Devices’ specialized integrated circuits (ICs) and system-level solutions.
- Advanced battery-management technologies: Gain insights into hardware-software integration for scalable, future-ready robotic platforms, ensuring your robots are not only smart but also sustainable.
- Real-world applications: Gain insights from real-world examples showcasing smarter, more agile robots—from precision assembly processes to dynamic human-robot collaborations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is robotics moving toward more collaborative and flexible environments?
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Manufacturing and logistics are evolving rapidly, requiring more flexible and adaptive systems. Instead of traditional, fixed-purpose machines, companies now need robots that can handle changing tasks and layouts. These robots are also becoming more collaborative, working alongside humans rather than being isolated in cages.
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At the same time, growing demand for product customization - like personalized car features -means production can no longer rely on uniform, repeatable processes. As a result, manufacturers are shifting toward more versatile robotic systems that enable flexible production and allow for greater customization at the end of the process.
How do better sensors help robots work more reliably?
- The quality of a system’s performance depends heavily on the quality of the data it receives. Just like poor eyesight affects everyday tasks, inaccurate or low-quality sensor data can negatively impact how a robot operates. Noisy or low-resolution inputs - such as unclear camera images or imprecise motor position readings - make it difficult for robots to detect obstacles or act correctly. As a result, higher-quality sensors that provide accurate, reliable data lead to better decision-making and overall improved performance.
Why is safety such an important focus in modern robotics?
- Human-robot collaboration is increasing, alongside stricter industry safety regulations. Modern robotic systems are designed to adapt to their environment - slowing down or adjusting their movements when humans are nearby - rather than completely stopping or operating in isolated spaces. This allows humans and robots to safely share the same workspace and work more efficiently together.
Why is the robotics industry moving from centralized control cabinets to decentralized, joint level electronics?
- There is a growing trend - especially in lightweight robots - toward integrating motor controls directly into each joint. This joint-based architecture reduces the need for extensive wiring between the control cabinet and the robot, while also allowing better separation of power and signal lines. These changes support improved safety compliance and reflect a broader shift in mechatronics toward more compact, standardized designs and faster, more efficient robotic systems.
What are the biggest challenges robots face in real‑world environments?
- A key challenge today is that robots are no longer confined to cages, making their environments less predictable. While some level of prediction is still possible, reliable navigation and operation now depend on much more accurate and dependable sensors.
I have heard that there is a significant cost advantage to use CAN-FD in robotic actuator comms buses rather than EtherCAT or Two Wire Ethernet. Is that currently the case?
- CAN‑FD does offer a meaningful cost advantage for robotic actuator communication today — but only when the system architecture is designed to exploit it. For cost‑sensitive, distributed, or mobile robotics, CAN‑FD remains the lowest‑cost, highest‑maturity solution. For tightly synchronized, high‑performance motion systems, EtherCAT’s system‑level benefits often outweigh its higher cost. Two‑wire Ethernet is strategically important.
What kind of message security features are currently used in internal robotics communication channels? If these are all unauthenticated messages, anyone can introduce systems inside the robot chassis which can spoof both commands and telemetry data.
- In many legacy robot architectures, internal communications rely on physical containment and trusted topology rather than cryptographic authentication, so messages are often not individually authenticated—meaning physical access inside the chassis could enable spoofing of commands or telemetry. Modern designs address this by adding device level authentication and message integrity, for example using I secure authenticators and device identity solutions in combination with technologies like MACsec or SecOC. These approaches align with IEC 62443 and are designed to secure internal communications without impacting real time safety behavior.
What does GMSL stand for?
- This stands for Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link.
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