Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Sam Francis

Apple begins manufacturing iPhones in India

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After months of protracted negotiations, Apple has started manufacturing its iPhones in India. 

The factory is variously said to be in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and / or Karnathaka. Not knowing the geography all that well, we think this is slightly south-west of the middle of India.

The picture above is from IndRead.com, which seems to suggest Foxconn is setting up and running the factory. Foxconn is the Taiwanese company which manufactures most of Apple’s products.

Apple has begun making what was described as “a small number” of iPhones in the country, although a “small number” could mean hundreds of millions, considering there are more than a billion iPhones in the world today.

In comments to CNBC, Apple said, “We are beginning initial production of a small number of iPhone SE in Bengaluru”, adding that it plans to begin shipping to customers as early as this month.  [Read more…] about Apple begins manufacturing iPhones in India

Video: Massive growth in collaborative robots market could strengthen Universal

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The market for collaborative robots is growing at a phenomenal rate, with some estimates suggesting it will go from $150 million a year now to more than $3 billion in five years.

The market leader in the cobots sector is currently Universal Robots, and this video is an interview with Helmut Schmid, the company’s general manager, with responsibility for a number of countries in Europe.

RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com spoke to Schmid at this year’s Hannover Messe, held in Germany recently.  [Read more…] about Video: Massive growth in collaborative robots market could strengthen Universal

Increased use of AI and robotics linked to brighter outlook for US business growth

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randstad people image

Business optimism may be fueling recent spike in number of executives reporting increased use of automation

The number of US companies reporting an increase in their use of automation doubled in the first quarter of 2017, fueled in part by a recent spike in business confidence, according to a report released by global talent solutions firm Randstad Sourceright.

Based on a global survey of C-suite and human capital leaders, Randstad Sourceright’s Talent Trends research finds that 36 percent of US companies have increased the use of artificial intelligence and robotics over the last 12 months, up from 18 percent during the fourth quarter of 2016.

Over the same period, the number of respondents indicating that they expect significant growth in the next 12 months soared from 10 percent to 28 percent.  [Read more…] about Increased use of AI and robotics linked to brighter outlook for US business growth

Exclusive interviews: Genesis Robotics bosses claim their LiveDrive could ‘change everything’

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A company called Genesis Robotics is claiming that its new innovation could change the world of robotics, as well as the whole area of motion control in general. 

The company’s LiveDrive is a component which could replace traditional gears in everything from industrial robots to cars and even bicycles.

In an interview with RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com, Genesis Robotics’ president, Michael Gibney, and James Klassen, CTO, both of whom we met at Hannover Messe, provide some background about how the company was formed as well as some insight into the new technology.  [Read more…] about Exclusive interviews: Genesis Robotics bosses claim their LiveDrive could ‘change everything’

TI unveils ‘world’s most precise’ single-chip millimeter wave sensor portfolio available today

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ti chip

Texas Instruments is bringing what it calls “an unprecedented degree of precision and intelligence” to a range of applications spanning the automotive, factory and building automation, and medical markets.

TI’s new millimeter wave (mmWave) single-chip complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) portfolio includes five solutions across two families of 76- to 81-GHz sensors with a complete end-to-end development platform.

Available for sampling today, the AWR1x and IWR1x sensor portfolio delivers up to three times more accurate sensing than current mmWave solutions on the market.

The combination of sophisticated analog design techniques paired with digital signal processing enables designers to implement intelligent and contactless sensing in their systems.

Robotic co-pilot autonomously flies and lands a simulated Boeing 737

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Aurora Flight Sciences
Aurora’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (Alias) program (Picture: Aurora Flight Sciences)

Aurora’s Alias system performs various flight scenarios, further demonstrates capabilities

Aurora Flight Sciences’ work on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (Alias) program has further demonstrated its automated flight capabilities with various successful flight scenarios in a Boeing 737 simulator.

These accomplishments build on Aurora’s successful installation and testing of Alias components on a Diamond DA42, Cessna 208 Caravan, UH-1 Iroquois, and DHC-2 Beaver aircraft.

Aurora’s Alias technology demonstration system is designed to function as a second pilot in a two-crew aircraft, enabling reduced crew operations while ensuring that aircraft performance and mission success are maintained or improved.  [Read more…] about Robotic co-pilot autonomously flies and lands a simulated Boeing 737

Miniature 700-watt servo motor drive with integrated motion controller

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Granite Devices, a Finnish servo drive manufacturer, has released a new industrial servo motor drive contributing high degree of time and cost saving features to the machine automation market.

A “Swiss-army knife of motion control”, Ioni starts a new era of servo drives by bringing snap-on installation, built-in SIL2 safety functions and unforeseen compactness in 700 W class in just 70 x 37 x 7 mm form factor.

Ioni implements industry standard, torque, velocity and position controls for AC, brushless DC, brushed DC, linear servo motors and stepping motors between 2 W and 700 W power.  [Read more…] about Miniature 700-watt servo motor drive with integrated motion controller

Acorn shortens supply chain with Rethink Robotics’ Sawyer

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Acorn Sales, a specialist in customized, handmade rubber stamps and embossing seals, says it has significantly shortened its supply chain by deploying Rethink Robotics’ Sawyer at its facility in Richmond, Virginia.

Family-owned and operated for over three generations, Acorn is a self-described “small business operating in an Amazon world”.

With Sawyer, the company says it has maintained throughput, improved quality and reduced its reliance on outside suppliers, results that even five years ago would have been nearly impossible for a company of its size to attain affordably.  [Read more…] about Acorn shortens supply chain with Rethink Robotics’ Sawyer

Video: Stäubli Robotics investing in software for the future

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One of the first industrial automation companies in the world, Stäubli, is investing in the next generation of technology for the future. 

In an exclusive interview with Robotics and Automation News (video above), Stäubli Robotics group division manager Gerald Vogt says the company is “investing and developing in the software side”.

A range of Stäubli robots
A range of Stäubli robots

However, he added that hardware remains fundamental to the company’s business. “I think mechanics will still be the basis on which software is built, meaning that if you don’t have good mechanics, the software will not help.”

Vogt says this is an exciting time for the robotics and automation sector because “we have the technology” to see what the applications of Industry 4.0 technologies are going to be.

How China’s ‘copycat’ tech companies are now the ones to beat

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made in china label

By Edward Tse, CEO of Gao Feng 

For a long time, Chinese companies have been known for copying market-proven products, brands and business models from the West and adapting them for the local market with only minor modifications. Such a phenomenon is known as shanzhai, a Chinese term that was originally used to describe a bandit stronghold outside government control. In today’s slang, it refers to businesses based on fake or pirated products.

Shanzhai has been prevalent in China in recent decades and this has earned China the reputation of being a “copycat nation”. Western media report that China’s preferential policies and regulations to restrict market access, such as the the “Great Firewall” in the internet industry, and the lack of intellectual property protection, give Chinese companies an unfair home advantage to create copies.

While shanzhai is common across a range of products and services, it is particularly prevalent in the internet sector. Chinese internet companies are often compared to their Western counterparts based on the similarity of their business models. For example, Baidu is known as the “Google of China”, Alibaba as the “eBay of China”, and Xiaomi as the “Apple of China”, just to name a few.  [Read more…] about How China’s ‘copycat’ tech companies are now the ones to beat