Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

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ZF wins multi-billion-euro order for 8-speed automatic transmission

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ZF Friedrichshafen has received a customer order with a double-digit billion euro value for its enhanced 8-speed automatic transmission. The business is planned to run over a period of several years.

The latest version of ZF’s 8-speed transmission – a technology which has been production since 2009 – has been improved by integrating an electric drive. This also includes a hybrid variant.

The new transmission generation will start series production in 2022 at ZF’s plant in Saarbrücken, the lead production facility for ZF’s automatic passenger car transmissions.

[Read more…] about ZF wins multi-billion-euro order for 8-speed automatic transmission

HPE to acquire supercomputer manufacturer Cray for $1.3 billion

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise has reached an agreement to acquire Cray, the manufacturer of supercomputing systems.

HPE says the acquisition will cost $35 per share, in a transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion, net of cash.

Antonio Neri, president and CEO, HPE, says: “Answers to some of society’s most pressing challenges are buried in massive amounts of data. [Read more…] about HPE to acquire supercomputer manufacturer Cray for $1.3 billion

Volkswagen to invest €1 billion in new battery cell production facility

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Volkswagen is planning to move into the battery cell manufacturing market with an investment of €1 billion in a new production facility in Europe.

The automotive giant will set up the battery cell production facility in the Lower Saxony region of its native Germany.

The company is working with the local government to choose a suitable location for the factory complex, and is likely to partner with businesses from relevant sectors.

[Read more…] about Volkswagen to invest €1 billion in new battery cell production facility

Trump trade tariffs to hit $300 billion worth of Chinese goods

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US President Donald Trump’s proposed increase in tariffs will hit $350 billion worth of goods imported from China, according to economic analysts.

Trump announced his intention to impose the additional tariffs recently in a tweet, but the US and China are currently locked in trade talks and there may be some modifications to the proposal.

The effects of his announcement, however, have been far-reaching, and are said to be the reason for the $1 trillion fall in share prices around the world.

[Read more…] about Trump trade tariffs to hit $300 billion worth of Chinese goods

OnRobot opens Singapore office for its robot end-of-arm tools

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OnRobot, the Danish end-of-arm tooling specialist, is opening regional headquarters in Singapore.

OnRobot says it will closely focus on the growing demand of end-of-arm-tooling (EOAT) in robotics automation in Southeast Asia.

OnRobot specializes in EOAT for collaborative applications, where machines and humans come together to automate, for faster and cost-effective production. [Read more…] about OnRobot opens Singapore office for its robot end-of-arm tools

Exoskeleton market projected to grow to $6 billion

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The current robotics limelight tends to focus on the ability of new innovations to automate tasks, but a less publicized development is taking place whereby passive exoskeletons have been slowly deployed and adopted to help augment the capability of human workers.

Exoskeleton popularization through passive suits will provide a base for increased resources for powered suits, which will eventually provide significant augmentative capability to the industrial workforce.

By 2028, global Exoskeleton revenues will reach $5 billion with hundreds of thousands of active exoskeletons being deployed, according to ABI Research. The research consultancy’s findings are on its report, Exoskeletons for Industrial Use Cases.

[Read more…] about Exoskeleton market projected to grow to $6 billion

GM’s autonomous driving business Cruise raises another $1.15 billion

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The autonomous driving business which General Motors acquired three years ago, Cruise, has raised more than $1 billion in its latest funding round, bringing total capital raised to approximately $7 billion.

Cruise says the equity investment of $1.15 billion is from a group comprising institutional investors, including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and existing partners GM, SoftBank Vision Fund and Honda.

Dan Ammann, Cruise CEO, says: “Developing and deploying self-driving vehicles at massive scale is the engineering challenge of our generation.

[Read more…] about GM’s autonomous driving business Cruise raises another $1.15 billion

Trump to raise tariffs on China goods to 25 percent

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US President Donald Trump is preparing to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to 25 percent from the current 15 percent.

The levies will affect approximately $350 billion worth of Chinese exports to America.

Trump made the announcement through Twitter. He tweeted: “For 10 months, China has been paying tariffs to the USA of 25 percent on $50 billion dollars of high-tech, and 10 percent on $200 billion of other goods.

[Read more…] about Trump to raise tariffs on China goods to 25 percent

Foxconn boss reiterates commitment to build factory in Wisconsin

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Foxconn boss Terry Gou has reiterated his commitment to building a multi-million-dollar factory in Mount Pleasant, in the US state of Wisconsin.

The chairman of Foxconn, which is better known as Hon Hai Precision in its native Taiwan, met with US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this week.

After the meeting, media reports suggested that Foxconn will make additional investments in the Wisconsin facility.

Read moreCNBC

Samsung moves into the vertical farming market

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Agricultural innovations are essential for feeding our ever-growing global population.

Especially these days, as industrialisation and global warming continue to negatively affect soil fertility and reduce the amount of arable land.

According to the United Nations, the world’s population is set to reach 9.8 billion by 2050.

[Read more…] about Samsung moves into the vertical farming market