Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

Archives for April 19, 2019

ADAS: Top 40 advanced driver assistance systems companies

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The term “advanced driver assistance systems”, or ADAS, refers to a collection of automotive electronics technologies which are designed to enable vehicles to operate autonomously in certain situations.

The market for ADAS is forecast to be worth around $70 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research. And although it’s already a huge market, a lot of the activity now is with the future in mind, a future in which many believe autonomous and electric cars will dominate.

A longer list of ADAS functions can be found elsewhere on this website, but examples include cruise control, lane-keeping, self-parking, and collision avoidance.

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Apple’s recycling robot hungry for more defunct devices

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Apple’s recycling robots are hungry for more defunct devices, as tech giant announces a “major expansion” of its recycling programmes.

The company says it is quadrupling the number of locations US customers can send their iPhone to be disassembled by Daisy, its recycling robot.

Daisy will disassemble and recycle select used iPhones returned to Best Buy stores throughout the US and KPN retailers in the Netherlands.

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Toyota, Denso, and SoftBank pledge another $1 billion investment for Uber

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Taxi-sharing app maker Uber has been promised $1 billion in investment from companies including Toyota, Denso, and SoftBank Vision Fund.

The new funds will help accelerate the development and commercialization of its ridesharing services, says Uber in a statement.

Under the terms, Toyota and Denso will together invest $667 million and SVF will invest $333 million, valuing the new “Uber Advanced Technologies Group” entity at $7.25 billion on a post-money basis. [Read more…] about Toyota, Denso, and SoftBank pledge another $1 billion investment for Uber

Fanuc showcases ‘Zero Down Time’ IIoT solution

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Fanuc America demonstrated its Zero Down Time (ZDT) Industrial IoT solution at Automate 2019 .

The company’s augmented reality (AR) experience featured manufacturing situations where ZDT could help. The experience included six common manufacturing challenges printed on two graphic display panels that simulated manufacturing facilities.  

ZDT’s predictive analytics have already saved millions of dollars by preventing unexpected down time in the automotive industry, says the company.

In addition to reducing unexpected down time, ZDT allows users to maximise production throughput, optimise maintenance costs, increase the life of their robots, and access data from anywhere via the ZDT web portal.

Since its introduction in 2015, ZDT analytics have successfully identified potential equipment issues, and notified customers to take corrective actions and avoid unexpected down time in over 600 cases, saving companies more than $75 million, adds the company.

“The value of ZDT applies to every manufacturer,” said Joe Gazzarato, director of engineering, ZDT Product Development, Fanuc America. 

“No matter what industry you’re in, the prospect of maintaining consistent production uptime and reducing costs equates to a competitive advantage – which is what ZDT offers our customers.”


AutoStore announces newest distribution partner, Kuecker Logistics Group

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AutoStore has announced a partnership with Kuecker Logistics Group (KLG), located in Belton, MO, USA. KLG provides material handling solutions across North America.

It has experience in a diverse range of markets including solutions for e-commerce fulfilment, retail, wholesale, protein, cold chain, convenience store, pharmaceutical, 3PL and food/beverage distribution.

KLG provides solutions in supply chain management, industrial automation and robotics, life cycle services and more. It designs and builds systems to increase throughput and storage capacities while reducing labour and facility costs.

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