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Google research reveals ‘what’s needed for AI acceleration in manufacturing’

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By Dominik Wee, managing director manufacturing and industrial, Google Cloud

While the promise of artificial intelligence transforming the manufacturing industry is not new, long-ongoing experimentation hasn’t yet led to widespread business benefits. Manufacturers remain in “pilot purgatory,” as Gartner reports that only 21% of companies in the industry have active AI initiatives in production.

However, new research from Google Cloud reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic may have spurred a significant increase in the use of AI and other digital enablers among manufacturers.

According to our data—which polled more than 1,000 senior manufacturing executives across seven countries—76% have turned to digital enablers and disruptive technologies due to the pandemic such as data and analytics, cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI). And 66% of manufacturers who use AI in their day-to-day operations report that their reliance on AI is increasing.

The top three sub-sectors deploying AI to assist in day-to-day operations are automotive/OEMs (76%), automotive suppliers (68%), and heavy machinery (67%). [Read more…] about Google research reveals ‘what’s needed for AI acceleration in manufacturing’

Hyundai’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics can reinforce its position in smart mobility, says GlobalData

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Hyundai Motor Group has agreed to acquire approximately 80 percent stake in American engineering and robotics design company Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group for $1.1bn.

The move can fuel Hyundai’s long-term goal to become a smart mobility solutions provider by leveraging Boston Dynamics’ robots such as bipedal and quadruped equipped with 3D vision, navigation and advanced intelligence, says data and analytics company GlobalData.

Venkata Naveen, senior disruptive tech analyst at GlobalData, says: “Hyundai’s move to acquire major stake in Boston Dynamics polarizes with many automakers competing to add their name to the me-too stack of autonomous carmakers by purchasing self-driving tech startups. [Read more…] about Hyundai’s acquisition of Boston Dynamics can reinforce its position in smart mobility, says GlobalData

ABB selects Google Cloud to expand its cloud coverage

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Google Cloud has been selected by ABB to further expand the cloud footprint of its ABB Information Systems (IS) services business unit.

The Swiss-headquartered global technology leader has chosen Google Cloud as part of the organization’s “Rationalizing IT Operations” – codenamed “Program RIO” – initiative, which seeks to further increase the scalability and resilience of its infrastructure services to all ABB businesses.

Google Cloud will collaborate with ABB’s hosting services team to layout an optimized cloud migration that is tailored to meet the IS needs of ABB businesses. [Read more…] about ABB selects Google Cloud to expand its cloud coverage

Do we really need a professional translator for instruction manuals?

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Whether we like it or not, it is a well-established fact that we need instruction manuals. Indeed, in some instances it may be a legal requirement for the manufacturer of the product to supply one.

In fact, numerous directives in Europe, the US and much of the rest of the world make it compulsory to provide information, most often in the form of an instruction manual. [Read more…] about Do we really need a professional translator for instruction manuals?

US targets Chinese tech giants for bans and sales

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The United States is targeting a range of Chinese-owned tech giants for bans or sales in a bid to put pressure on its economic rival.

The administration of President Donald Trump appears to be conflating “national security” issues with economic measures which it believes are fair while others consider protectionist.

Trump has signed executive orders which may see the sale within 45 days of video-sharing app TikTok to Microsoft. Another app in the administration’s bad books is WeChat, according to the South China Morning Post. [Read more…] about US targets Chinese tech giants for bans and sales

Google to allow 200,000 of its employees to work from home until next summer

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Google, the world’s biggest internet company, is to allow 200,000 of its employees to work from home until this time next year, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal website. 

Although Google officially has just over 100,000 full-time employees, the company’s decision will affect its freelance workers, part-timers and contract staff.

The directive comes amid the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with the US seeing an upsurge in cases in recent weeks, after becoming the nation with the world’s highest number of deaths caused by the Covid-19 virus. [Read more…] about Google to allow 200,000 of its employees to work from home until next summer

Tech giants and driverless cars: Racing against the automakers

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Modern tech conglomerate Amazon – whose interests range from online shopping, through computing devices such as the Kindle and Amazon Echo, to cloud computing and even space exploration – is in advanced talks to acquire self-driving startup Zoox, according to a report on the Financial Times website. 

It’s not the first time Amazon has shown interest in the automotive sector. The company was the lead investor in Aurora Innovation’s $530 million funding round last year.

Aurora is seen as a rival to Waymo, the driverless car company set up by Google, another tech giant. [Read more…] about Tech giants and driverless cars: Racing against the automakers

Veo Robotics could make all industrial robots collaborative

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Traditional industrial robots tend to be very large and potentially dangerous, which is why they tend to be caged off and kept separate from human workers.

But a new company called Veo Robotics says it has the technology to transform traditional industrial robotic arms into safe machines that humans can work alongside, within close proximity.

Veo’s solution could make every industrial robot a collaborative robot. The term “collaborative” is recognized by international standards organizations and usually applies to much smaller, newer types of robots which are specifically designed to safe for humans to work with.  [Read more…] about Veo Robotics could make all industrial robots collaborative

Google unveils cloud robotics initiative

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Google Cloud has unveiled what it describes as a “Cloud Robotics” service with a view to a commercial launch next year. The search giant says the initiative represents “a new approach to intelligent automation”.

Google says its Cloud Robotics platform will cover “foundational needs”, including “secure and robust connectivity between robots and the cloud”.

The management of digital assets can also be done with Kubernetes, which is described as “an open-source container-orchestration system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications”.  [Read more…] about Google unveils cloud robotics initiative

You could be seeing things that aren’t there: Google Glass finds new home in old industries

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About four years ago, when Google first showed off its Glass product – a pair of hi-tech spectacles capable of running augmented reality apps – it was met with some scepticism, incredulity even. 

Few people thought it would take off, as interesting as the idea was. Maybe people generally couldn’t see themselves walking around wearing glasses which could be seen as intrusive.

Theoretically, Google Glass could display images on pretty much everything and everyone you looked at while wearing them – and would people in your eyeline appreciate that?  [Read more…] about You could be seeing things that aren’t there: Google Glass finds new home in old industries

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