Festo's Bionic Learning Network is once again providing new impetus for the automation technology of tomorrow at the 2014 Hannover Messe. With the "BionicKangaroo", the "DualWingGenerator", the "MultiChoiceGripper" and the "eMotionSpheres" flying objects, Festo is showing how principles from nature can inspire unique solutions for the future of automation technology.

Mondelez has chosen Festo electric drive technology for a new automated chocolate Easter egg mixing installation at its site in Herentals, Belgium. The egg mixing line uses an ingenious system of conveyors to ensure that everyone finds a nice mix of flavours in their pack of chocolate eggs at Easter. Electric drives were chosen over pneumatics because they offer lower energy consumption, higher safety and more flexibility in controlling speeds and positions.

If there’s one thing the corona pandemic has taught us, it is that laboratories place tremendous importance on high sample throughput rates. Even with highly qualified laboratory personnel, this demand can no longer be met. There’s no getting round the automation of laboratory processes. That’s why MolGen in the Netherlands developed PurePrep TTR, which can prepare 320 patient samples per hour for molecular downstream processing. And the Dutch company uses laboratory-specific automation technology from Festo.