Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

building

Swiss robots planning to build houses using 3D printers

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ETH Zürich, a university in Switzerland, has unveiled a plan to build a three-storey house – dubbed DFab House – using robots and 3D printing. 

Structural engineers and sustainability experts from ETH Zürich have teamed up with business partners on the project, which is designed to bring numerous building technologies from research labs into the real world.

The project is overseen by the National Centre of Competence in Research Digital Fabrication, and its architects, robotics specialists, and materials scientists.  [Read more…] about Swiss robots planning to build houses using 3D printers

Slovenia backs Yaskawa with €6 million

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yaskawa slovenia

The government of Slovenia has decided to back Yaskawa’s investment in the country with €5.6 million of public money. 

Yaskawa is building a factory in the country and plans to invest a total of €25 million in the European nation of just over 2 million people.

Prime Minister Miro Cerar said at the time: ““I am very pleased that our efforts paid off and that the renowned Japanese company of Yaskawa Electric decided to invest in Slovenia.”

The Yaskawa investment is forecast to create more than 170 new jobs and the industrial giant is regarded as the “most important Japanese company” with assets in the country by the Slovenian government.

Boeing completes prototype parts for 777X wing at new billion-dollar advanced manufacturing facility

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boeing 777x

Boeing says it has completed prototype parts for the wing of its new 777X Dreamliner aircraft. 

The company is using advanced manufacturing methods, including additive or 3D printing, in the construction of the passenger plane at its new $1 billion Everett, Washington facility.

When completed, the wing for the 777X will be the largest wing Boeing has ever built.  [Read more…] about Boeing completes prototype parts for 777X wing at new billion-dollar advanced manufacturing facility

Office building in Montreal given top energy-efficiency certification

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The Le 1500, an office building in Montreal

A landmark building in Montreal, Canada has been given an energy-efficiency certification.

Le 1500, an office building on Robert-Bourassa Boulevard in Montreal, is now “Leed” certified in the category of “Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance” by the Canada Green Building Council.

The building was designed and developed by real estate company Ivanhoé Cambridge.  [Read more…] about Office building in Montreal given top energy-efficiency certification

Construction: Interference could undermine development of crane technology

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crane collapse

Keith Armstrong, worldwide electromagnetic compatibility specialist at EMC Standards, looks at problems with electrical interference and how construction managers can minimise their risk

Cranes are synonymous with the idea of development. Typically used to construct buildings, cranes aid the economic and social development of a town or city. However, cranes suffer from a persistent problem that is indicative of a significant threat to the future of technology: interference.

In the early days of the UK Department of Trade and Industry’s EMC Awareness Campaign, there was an infamous incident where a man was crushed to death by a crane. In this case, electrical interference caused the crane to prematurely release its load while the man was operating it with his radio-control pendant. Unfortunately, this tragedy is not an isolated incident.

There was another incident with a company that claimed to have made the controls and drives for the first large scale hovercraft-testing tank in the late 1960s. It was, in effect, a sophisticated travelling overhead crane, which ran the length of a gantry along overhead rails and towed a hovercraft shape along a large pool of water in an even larger building. In those days, they used resistor-transistor logic, which ran on a 40 V rail to provide noise immunity.

[Read more…] about Construction: Interference could undermine development of crane technology

Smart buildings: Delta says it saved a lot of money for Telecom Italia

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telecom italia building

Delta says its smart building automation solutions delivered “substantial energy savings” for Telecom Italia’s office building in the Veneto Region of Italy

Delta, which calls itself “a global leader in power and thermal management solutions”, says it has successfully implemented its Building Automation Solutions at an office site of Telecom Italia, Italy’s largest telecom operator and one of the most prominent carriers in Europe.

The smart solution, which includes Delta’s cloud-ready Building Energy Management System, enables real-time automated and remote supervision and eco-friendly control of the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system to attain estimated annual HVAC-related electricity savings of more than 12 per cent and an expected payback period of “lower than two years”, according to Delta.  [Read more…] about Smart buildings: Delta says it saved a lot of money for Telecom Italia

CES: What’s in it for me?

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The Consumer Electronics Show will be on soon. January 5-8, in Las Vegas, US. If you’re one of the lucky people going along, send us a picture or note about your highlights of the event. 

As a preview to the show, we find out from Infineon, one of the leading chipmakers for the auto market, what their view of the highlights will be, not just at CES, but also for the year ahead.

Infineon is probably going to face much more intense competition this year, mainly because of Qualcomm’s entrance into the auto market.  [Read more…] about CES: What’s in it for me?

Dassault Systèmes launches solution for architecture, engineering and construction industries

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dassault-systemes-architecture

Cloud collaboration solution from “design to fabrication” aimed at solving problems ahead of construction

Dassault Systèmes, a provider of product lifecycle management solutions among other software, has launched its “design for fabrication industry solution experience” for architecture, engineering and construction.

The company says the software gives architects, engineers, contractors, fabricators and building products manufacturers access to a digital, collaborative environment on the cloud for civil and building projects, from concept through fabrication detail with shop floors that reduces waste and rework.

Each architecture, engineering and construction project brings together new teams of designers, fabricators and contractors who use their own building information modeling solutions.  [Read more…] about Dassault Systèmes launches solution for architecture, engineering and construction industries

Hitachi puts robots on trial at Japan airport

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hitachi emiew haneda airport japan

Hitachi, and its subsidiary Hitachi Building Systems, have begun a trial of their “Emiew 3” humanoid robot at Haneda Airport, in Japan. 

The robot, developed by Hitachi, looks a little bit like the Nao robot, in its red colouring and dimensions.

The tests will be conducted at Haneda Airport Passenger Terminal 2 (Domestic Flights) in collaboration with Japan Airport Terminal.  [Read more…] about Hitachi puts robots on trial at Japan airport

Verdigris launches Einstein intelligent building solution

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jabil centre

Verdigris, an artificial intelligence software company, has launched Einstein, an internet of things smart sensor and metering solution that reduces energy consumption and cost in buildings.

Einstein is Verdigris’ latest IoT energy management platform. It was designed to be the easiest most-scalable connected sensor for complex enterprise facilities. By analyzing Einstein’s continuous stream of energy data, Verdigris drives smarter and more responsive building operation, saving customers tens of thousands to millions of dollars annually on energy costs.

Verdigris CEO Mark Chung says: “Einstein makes it unbelievably easy to know what’s happening inside your building in real time, down to a single appliance.

“We put hard-earned money back into our customers’ pockets each month by predicting the most accurate forecasts of utility, weather and energy data, and automating the reduction of their most inefficient energy operations.” [Read more…] about Verdigris launches Einstein intelligent building solution