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Veoneer introduces autonomous driving supercomputer 

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Veoneer, Inc., which claims to be the world’s largest pure-play company focused on Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving (AD), has developed the “Zeus” supercomputer.

It has been designed to meet the requirements for level 4 Autonomous Driving with Zenuity’s Autonomous Driving software stack, based on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Xavier running NVIDIA DRIVE OS.

The supercomputer Zeus is an ADAS/AD ECU, a “brain” that fuses data from cameras, radars and other sensors, interprets the situation and takes required action.

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Škoda Auto extends data centre in the Czech Republic

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Škoda Auto is expanding the data centre at its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav into the largest privately owned computing and data storage centre in the Czech Republic.

Once the expansion is completed, the data centre will have a computing capacity of 15 petaFLOPS, which equates to 15 quadrillion computing operations per second.

Thus, it is capable of extremely challenging high-performance computing (HPC). To further improve energy efficiency, Škoda Auto will use heat generated by the computers’ cooling system to heat offices.

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Sequent Microsystems launches new Raspberry Pi card for industrial automation

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Sequent Microsystems, a tech startup from Cupertino, California, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new industrial expansion card for the Raspberry Pi platform.

The company says the I/O card is “loaded with inputs, outputs, and relays, the card challenges the traditional industrial automation market in features and cost”.

According to the Kickstarter page, the card attempts to integrate as many Industrial Automation functions as possible into the small, credit card format of the Raspberry Pi.  [Read more…] about Sequent Microsystems launches new Raspberry Pi card for industrial automation

FactoryFour raises $5 million for manufacturing management software business

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Startup company FactoryFour has raised $5 million for its manufacturing management software business.

The company says the Series A round will help it provide more manufacturers with software to manage production the way they want to, with “full customizability”.

The round, led by August Capital with Refactor reinvesting after leading the seed round, will help add headcount, improve and broaden the product suite, and establish a West Coast foothold in Los Angeles, California.  [Read more…] about FactoryFour raises $5 million for manufacturing management software business

Volkswagen and Microsoft announce strategic digital partnership

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Entering into a strategic partnership, Volkswagen and Microsoft Corp. will collaborate to develop the ‘Volkswagen Automotive Cloud’, one of the largest dedicated automotive industry clouds for all future Volkswagen digital services and mobility offerings.

The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG approved the conclusion of an agreement to this effect between Volkswagen and Microsoft on September 28, 2018.

With Microsoft as its strategic partner, the company is taking a decisive step in its digital transformation into a mobility provider with a fully connected vehicle fleet and the digital ecosystem “Volkswagen We”.

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Siemens completes acquisition of Mendex

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Siemens has closed the acquisition of Mendix, eight weeks after the transaction was announced as part of the company’s Vision 2020+ strategy.

As enterprises invest to digitalise their operations, demand for business applications is growing significantly faster than the capacity of IT organisations to deliver them.

This gap between business demand for smart applications and lack of adequate developer talent has created unprecedented demand for low-code, high productivity platforms.

[Read more…] about Siemens completes acquisition of Mendex

Synopsys launches embedded vision and AI development kit

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Synopsys has launched its DesignWare High-Performance Core Design Kit for EV6x Processors to help designers meet the performance, power, and area requirements of their systems-on-chips for embedded vision and artificial intelligence applications.

The DesignWare HPC Design Kit, a suite of high-speed and high-density memories and specialized logic libraries, allows SoC designers to optimize the EV6x processor’s vector DSPs and convolutional neural network engines for maximum speed, smallest area, lowest power, or an optimum balance of the three.

Depending on the requirements of the target application, designers using the HPC Design Kit for EV6x can optimize their implementation to achieve a 39 percent power reduction, a 10 percent reduction in area, or a 7 percent performance boost for their SoCs.  [Read more…] about Synopsys launches embedded vision and AI development kit

Moxa launches remote access solution for connection to machines

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To serve the needs of OEMs and machine builders who require remote connections to manage and maintain their machines at remote sites, Moxa has launched the Moxa Remote Connect Suite.

The suite is a remote connection management platform that includes server and client software and a hardware gateway to facilitate secure remote access.

The platform is hosted on Amazon EC2 and  ‘Gateway’ connects Ethernet-based edge devices to the server portal securely. Included is ‘Client’, which is a software tool that can connect an engineer’s laptop to the server portal.

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Fluor uses IBM Watson to deliver predictive analytics capability for megaprojects

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Fluor Corporation and IBM announced the use of artificial intelligence-based systems to predict, monitor and measure the status of engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPC) megaprojects.

Fluor’s engineering, fabrication, construction and deep supply chain expertise, coupled with artificial intelligence and analytic technologies from IBM Watson, forms the foundation for big data analytics and diagnostic systems that help predict critical project outcomes and provide early insights into the health of projects.

Large capital projects, especially in the energy and chemicals, and mining and metals markets, are incredibly complex with enormous amounts of data, people and moving parts that are constantly changing and need to be understood to keep a project on schedule and budget.

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Energid launches update to robotic motion control and path planning software

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Energid has released Actin 5, a significant update to its software development kit motion control software, that allows robotic system developers to focus on the robot’s task rather than joint movement and paths.

The Actin software responds in real time to sensory input and directs the robot on the most efficient path while avoiding collisions. The robot motion is updated dynamically without requiring reprogramming, even in dynamic, mission-critical environments.

It has a new robot controller development framework that is configurable through XML for application on a wide range of platforms, including real-time operating systems.

[Read more…] about Energid launches update to robotic motion control and path planning software