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Sony showcases new concept car with tech for autonomous driving

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Sony has showcased a number of new technologies at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and one of them was a concept car packed with the company’s sensors and other components that provide a package that supports autonomous driving.

Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony president and CEO, says: “It’s not an exaggeration to say that mobile (communication) has been the mega-trend of the last decade. I believe the next mega-trend will be mobility.”

Yoshida formally unveiled the prototype vehicle, which incorporates imaging and sensing technologies that Sony says “contribute to safer and more reliable autonomous driving”. [Read more…] about Sony showcases new concept car with tech for autonomous driving

Omron unveils ‘industry’s fastest’ 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands

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Omron has introduced what it claims is the “industry’s fastest” 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands.

The compact vision sensors can three-dimensionally recognize the position and orientation of target objects.

Incorporating this technology with robots will enable fast and accurate assembly of bulk parts by automating the conventional human-intensive process. [Read more…] about Omron unveils ‘industry’s fastest’ 3D vision sensing technology for robot hands

BMW provides insight into how it uses artificial intelligence in production

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise in automotive production. Since 2018, the BMW Group has been using various AI applications in series production.

One focus is automated image recognition: In these processes, artificial intelligence evaluates component images in ongoing production and compares them in milliseconds to hundreds of other images of the same sequence.

This way, the AI application determines deviations from the standard in real time and checks, for instance, whether all required parts have been mounted and whether they are mounted in the right place.

[Read more…] about BMW provides insight into how it uses artificial intelligence in production

BMW highlights application of virtual and augmented reality in production

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Automotive giant BMW is providing an insight into its application of virtual and augmented reality in the company’s production system.

The company says the “fast and flexible” planning of new workstations in production is made possible by virtual reality and digitized 3D factory data.

It’s still a learning process but augmented reality technologies is making it possible to design training courses without any coding knowledge.

It also enables comparison between the camera image and CAD models for fast, straightforward quality checks of parts and vehicles. 

Full story below… 

[Read more…] about BMW highlights application of virtual and augmented reality in production

Sony Semiconductor Solutions acquires network virtualisation firm Mido Holdings

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Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation  has acquired the network virtualisation technology developer Mido Holdings Ltd. Consequently, Mido Holdings has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Semiconductor Solutions.

Virtualisation technologies include virtual network technology, which uses software to reconfigure networks without altering the physical infrastructure of communication devices such as routers and switches, and technologies that virtually integrate and control multiple servers and storage devices.

These technologies are used to build cloud computing systems and other such highly flexible systems.

[Read more…] about Sony Semiconductor Solutions acquires network virtualisation firm Mido Holdings

Isorg and Sumitomo Chemical partner to develop organic photodetectors

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Isorg, a developer of organic photodetectors and large-area image sensors, and Sumitomo Chemical, a provider of OPD materials production and other fields, have agreed a partnership to develop new OPD products for use as smartphone fingerprint sensors and hybrid organic CMOS image sensors.

This agreement expands the existing collaboration between Sumitomo Chemical and Isorg that began in 2013.

Isorg will license its technology processes to its OEMs, while Sumitomo Chemical will manufacture the dedicated organic semiconductor material, as well as support Isorg in terms of production technology and marketing. [Read more…] about Isorg and Sumitomo Chemical partner to develop organic photodetectors

Sony and Docomo to test driverless concept vehicle via 5G trial network in Guam

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Sony Corporation and NTT Docomo, Inc. will jointly trial Sony’s conceptual driverless vehicle, the New Concept Cart SC-1, which uses 5G mobile technologies for various remotely controlled functions.

The test will be conducted using the trial network in Docomo 5G Open Lab Guam, which will provide test facilities and an outdoor verification environment constructed by Docomo.

The test will verify data transmission and operational performance required to remotely control the cart from a long distance via the extra-high speed, large capacity, low latency and massive-device connectivity.

[Read more…] about Sony and Docomo to test driverless concept vehicle via 5G trial network in Guam

Framos and Pyxalis expand partnership on custom image sensors

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Framos, an image sensor distributor, and Pyxalis, a advanced custom image sensor supplier, have extended their collaboration.

Framos has been working with Pyxalis for several years and, after a very productive relationship, have entered into a formal agreement.

This partnership provides Framos partners with fully customized, high performance sensors, including sensor specification elaboration support, sensor architecture, design, prototyping, validation, industrialization and manufacturing.  [Read more…] about Framos and Pyxalis expand partnership on custom image sensors

New Infineon chip enables Lenovo to build world’s smallest 3D camera, bringing augmented reality to smartphones

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Lenovo is the first manufacturer worldwide to bring Tango technology to a consumer product.

Google’s technology that allows devices to understand spatial information is an exclusive feature in the Phab2 Pro smartphone.

Based on the Time-of-Flight principle, the Real3 image sensor chip from Infineon Technologies equips the smartphone with a 3-dimensional perception of the surroundings in real-time.

Infineon provides the only image sensor chip in the world meeting Google’s specifications.  [Read more…] about New Infineon chip enables Lenovo to build world’s smallest 3D camera, bringing augmented reality to smartphones