Control Intelligence

A conversation with robot royalty Joe Gemma

This week’s guest on Control Intelligence is robot royalty. Joe Gemma was the 2024 winner of the Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award for Leadership, but that was just a touchstone along a career that continues to move robotics and automation forward.

Gemma serves on the board of directors for the Association for Advancing Automation, A3, which hosts the annual Automate Show, this year taking place in Detroit the week of May 12.
He’s also past president and board member of the International Federation of Robotics. He’s been the CEO of KUKA Robotics Americas and CEO of Staubli North America, and this month he was named CEO of Wauseon Machine, which specializes in automation, endforming equipment and precision machining, where he’s been since 2022.

What is MQTT?

Message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) is a protocol. It has a broker and a client and can run over Ethernet.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses MQTT and how it is used in different industries.

Presence-sensing tech for safer automation

Manufacturing is wrought with safety devices. As we progress further along with cobots and mixing humans and automation together, presence sensing becomes more important, not only for operations, but for functional safety.

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses machine safety, specifically presence-sensing technologies.

What's in store for upcoming automation conferences and trade shows

Spring is sprung, and it’s time to start making plans for upcoming conferences and trade shows. In this episode of Control Intelligence, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares two of his favorite upcoming automation events—Automate and the CSIA Conference—and what attendees can expect.

March 2025 industry news: facilities, VFD integration and Hannover Messe

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from the month of March.

How industrial safety sensors have your back

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Charles Palmer, editor in chief Mike Bacidore explains the different types of industrial sensing technologies and why they're critical to ensure safety.

Securely implementing remote monitoring and diagnostics

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Jeremy Pollard, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses remote monitoring and diagnostics, and how they require security.

PLCs v. PACs: similarities and differences

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Tobey Strauch, editor in chief Mike Bacidore shares the similarities and differences between programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs).

IPCs, IT departments and software updates: how they work together

In this episode of Control Intelligence, written by contributing editor Joey Stubbs, editor in chief Mike Bacidore discusses industrial PCs, IT departments and software updates.

February 2025 industry news: robotics, acquisitions and the two Pats

In this episode of Control Intelligence, managing editor Anna Townshend shares machine builder and system integrator news highlights from the month of February.