Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for February 6, 2018

Alstom to supply traction and signalling systems for driverless metro line in China

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Alstom and its joint-venture companies in China, SATEE and CASCO, are to supply traction systems for 200 metro cars and the CBTC signalling system for the Chengdu metro line 9 phase one, the Chinese city’s first driverless metro line.

The line, expected to go into service by the end of 2020, will be 22km long and have 11 stations. It will connect the city’s business area in the southwest with the West Railway station in the northwest.

Alstom will be supplying its OptONIX metro traction system, specifically designed and developed for the Chinese market, and its Urbalis signalling system, a service-proven solution already ordered by 54 metro lines in China, 32 of which are in operation.

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Rethink Robotics signs up 11 new distributors in Europe and North America

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Rethink Robotics has signed deals with 11 new distributors throughout North America and Europe, building on its existing global network of channel partners.

The new relationships expand Rethink’s presence in North America and Europe to include the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Romania and Turkey.

The new channel partners will all carry Rethink’s Sawyer robot, which is powered by Intera 5.2.  [Read more…] about Rethink Robotics signs up 11 new distributors in Europe and North America

Framos presents logistics automation solutions at Logimat

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Image processing is one of the key technologies in automation and digitization. With the focus on dimensioning, classification and sorting intelligence, imaging specialist Framos will exhibit its range of logistics technologies and products at Logimat trade fair this March in Stuttgart, Germany.

Framos will showcase a new generation of cognitive systems powered by Intel®’s RealSense™ Technology, which adds human like sensing and intelligence to devices and machines.

The technology enables a complete new generation of logistics applications in the growing fields of drones, robots, virtual and augmented reality, mobile products and other segments.

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Robots to completely take over the lives of elderly people in Japan

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The government of Japan is planning to have robots take over the lives of the nation’s elderly citizens, according to a report in The Guardian. 

Japan’s elderly people are a growing proportion of the total population of 127 million, and taking care of them is becoming an issue of increasing concern.

Currently, there are around 33 million people in Japan who are over the age of 65, which is about a quarter of the total population.

According to The Guardian, the number of healthcare workers who can take care of the elderly will not be enough to meet growing needs.  [Read more…] about Robots to completely take over the lives of elderly people in Japan

Eltec Elektronik launches wireless router for trains and buses

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Eltec Elektronik is expanding its wireless routers family through the addition of the CyBox GW-P, which combines the functions of a Wi-Fi access point and a communication server in one compact system solution. The CyBox GW-P was developed specifically for deployment in trains and buses.

Thanks to the bundling of up to four LTE channels and data speeds of 600 Mbit/s (downloads) and 200 Mbit/s (uploads), the CyBox GW-P supports broadband vehicle-land data sharing communications.

A Wave 2 module provides data speeds of up to 1.7 Gbit/s and 4×4 MIMO as well as two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for local communication.

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Byton partners with Aurora on autonomous driving

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Electric vehicle maker Byton is to partner with Aurora, a self-driving technology company, to incorporate Level 4 (L4) autonomous-driving vehicle capabilities into Byton vehicles and bring them and eventually Level 5 (L5) cars to market.

In the next two years, Byton and Aurora will jointly conduct pilot deployment of Aurora’s L4 autonomous driving systems on Byton vehicles and explore the use of Aurora’s self-driving system in Byton’s series production vehicles.

According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, L4 autonomous vehicles can drive independently in most environments, with the expectations that humans may need or choose to drive in some conditions.

[Read more…] about Byton partners with Aurora on autonomous driving