NEWS

Wind River Selected by Yaskawa Electric Corporation "MOTOMAN" to Develop Industrial Robot Controllers

  • Yaskawa Electric selects Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation
  • Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation to improve reliability and real-time processing for MOTOMAN robot controllers

Alameda, Calif.--April 22, 2004--Wind River Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: WIND), the global leader in device software optimization, today announced that Yaskawa Electric Corporation has selected Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation as the device software foundation for its NX100 and NXC100 robot controllers. Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation provides fully integrated device software technology and development tools that meet the stringent requirements for industrial control safety and reliability. Yaskawa Electric chose Wind River's integrated platform for industrial automation devices to increase efficiencies and reduce overall development time.

"Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation provided Yaskawa with unrivaled reliability, real-time performance and support of key industrial networks. In addition, with Wind River we were guaranteed clear product roadmaps and global technical support," said Fumihiko Takemoto, manager of Yaskawa Electric's Robotics Automation Division, Robot Plant, Control Technology Department, Controller Technology Section 2. "By basing our robot controller device on the Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation, we were able to focus our resources on innovating superior robotic controllers faster, better, less expensively and more reliably."

"The robotics market is a significant market opportunity for Wind River to provide Yaskawa Electric with the technologies and tools that optimize device software development for its industrial robotics," said Dave Fraser, chief marketing officer, Wind River. "Device software optimization builds sustainable competitive advantage for our customers -- from robotics to medical equipment to traffic control systems and more -- and we are committed to enable this marketplace with the best technologies for the creation of intelligent, connected industrial devices."

Yaskawa Electric was the first company in Japan to ship the all-electrical "MOTOMAN" industrial robots and to date the company has shipped more than 100,000 robots, making Yaskawa the world's leader in total shipments of industrial articulated robots. Brisk demand has been seen in different applications, particularly arc welding, spot welding, spraying and liquid crystal glass conveyance, while orders received for semiconductor related robots have also been on the rise.

About Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation
Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation is an integrated device software platform designed for the rapid development of reliable, connected, and manageable industrial automation devices. It integrates the necessary foundational software to quickly design, develop and deploy such devices. Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation is based on the proven reliable VxWorks® real-time operating system and powerful development tools. Devices can easily connect to fieldbus and Ethernet-based factory-floor networks, supervisory systems, business applications and the Internet. Wind River Platform for Industrial Automation is made for designers of factory automation applications, ranging from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to robotics and process control equipment. To learn more about Wind River Platforms for the industrial market, please visit www.windriver.com/products/platforms/industrial/

About Wind River
Wind River is the market leader in device software optimization. Wind River enables companies to develop and run software faster, better, at a lower cost and more reliably. Wind River Platforms tightly integrate a rich set of market-leading operating systems, development tools and middleware with services to provide a complete foundation that meets the specific requirements of a vertical market. Wind River's products and professional services are used in multiple markets including aerospace and defense, automotive, digital consumer, industrial, and network infrastructure. Companies from around the world turn to Wind River to create the most reliable products and to accelerate their time to market.

Founded in 1981, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, California, with operations worldwide. To learn more, visit Wind River at www.windriver.com or call Wind River at 800-872-4977.

Wind River Systems and the Wind River Systems logo are trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc., and VxWorks is a registered trademark of Wind River Systems, Inc. Third party marks and brands are the property of their respective holders.

Contact Information
Jessica Miller
Global Corporate Communications