Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

motor

Hyundai and Aptiv form autonomous driving joint venture

by

Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv are forming an autonomous driving joint venture.

The companies say the partnership “brings together one of the industry’s most innovative vehicle technology providers and one of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers”.

The joint venture will advance the design, development and commercialization of SAE Level 4 and 5 autonomous technologies, furthering the partners’ leadership position in the global autonomous driving ecosystem. [Read more…] about Hyundai and Aptiv form autonomous driving joint venture

Hyundai unveils wearable exoskeleton as part of a range of robotics developments

by

Hyundai Motor Group is developing a range of robotics technologies which the company says it will roll out over the next year or two. 

Hyundai has developed a new “Vest EXoskeleton” (VEX), a wearable robot created to assist industrial workers who spend long hours working in overhead environments.

The VEX enhances productivity and reduces fatigue of industrial workers by imitating the movement of human joints to boost load support and mobility. [Read more…] about Hyundai unveils wearable exoskeleton as part of a range of robotics developments

Yamaha taps into its $100 million fund to invest in Advanced Farm Technologies

by

Yamaha is using part of its $100 million investment fund to buy a stake in Advanced Farm Technologies.

Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley led the Series A funding round for the startup.

Yamaha says this latest investment reflects the company’s “core interest in businesses driving innovation in the agricultural sector. [Read more…] about Yamaha taps into its $100 million fund to invest in Advanced Farm Technologies

World’s largest hydrogen fuelling station launched in Shanghai

by

SAIC Motor and Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park have jointly launched a hydrogen fuel cell car refuelling station, which is currently the largest and highest-level of its kind in the world.

The Chinese auto maker has developed three types of new energy vehicles – electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs)– and mastered several FCV core technologies.

The company has participated in the formulation of 15 national standards on FCV and is the first Chinese auto maker to have achieved the commercial application of hydrogen fuel cell in passenger cars and commercial cars.

[Read more…] about World’s largest hydrogen fuelling station launched in Shanghai

Hyundai launches first car with solar roof charging system

by

Hyundai Motor is launching its first car with a solar roof charging system.

The automaker says the “groundbreaking eco-friendly technology” will provide vehicles with additional electrical power, as well as increasing fuel efficiency and driving range.

Hyundai Motor’s solar roof charging system makes its debut on the New Sonata Hybrid. The system supports the vehicle’s electric power source, improving fuel efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions. [Read more…] about Hyundai launches first car with solar roof charging system

This component could profoundly change robots and other machines in the future

by

 

Pictured above, in exploded view, is a machinery component called the “LiveDrive”. It’s covered by a variety of patents and has been described as “revolutionary” because it could – believe it or not – change the world. 

First unveiled about three years ago, the LiveDrive is a completely new type of direct-drive motor which can provide robots with more power without using as much electricity, lubrication or space – significant savings in each of those areas and perhaps others. Direct-drive motors do not use gearboxes, but to date, their limited torque means that they have only been suitable for a limited range of applications.

In overly simplistic terms, the LiveDrive is to robots what engines are to cars – it enables machines to move. And critically, it has far greater torque, according to its makers; and can generate this without the need for traditional gears, which have teeth that require lubrication, make a lot of noise, and wear out eventually. LiveDrive uses a patented combination and composition of magnets to achieve what traditional drives and motors achieve by using gears and other mechanisms. [Read more…] about This component could profoundly change robots and other machines in the future

Genesis and Demaurex to develop ‘next generation’ robotic systems

by

Demaurex, a Swiss robotics company and pioneer of high speed pick and place robotics, and Genesis Robotics and Motion Technologies, an innovative start-up robotics company, have signed a joint development agreement to integrate Genesis Robotics’ revolutionary LiveDrive Direct-Drive Motors into Demaurex’s latest generation “delta robot systems”.

The JDA was signed at an exclusive signing ceremony at the Lausanne headquarters of Demaurex to begin what both companies hail as a milestone in the development of advanced robotics.

Demaurex engineered and industrialized the original Delta robot in 1988, based on a patent of Prof Reymond Clavel of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, introducing high speed, vision guided product pick and place systems to the robotics market for the first time. [Read more…] about Genesis and Demaurex to develop ‘next generation’ robotic systems

Hyundai reorganises R&D centre structure to streamline vehicle development

by

Hyundai Motor Group has begun a series of sweeping changes to its R&D organisations and development processes, enabling greater responsiveness to the changing future mobility technology landscape.

Promoting a keener focus on customer needs, the new approach will also streamline the decision-making and development processes to achieve efficiencies and cost optimisation.

Through reorganisation under Architecture-Driven System-Based Organisation (SBO), technology units at the Group’s R&D Division in Korea will align their operational processes to transform the Group.

[Read more…] about Hyundai reorganises R&D centre structure to streamline vehicle development

Yamaha invests in drone tech startup Exyn

by

Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motor, has participated in the $16 million Series A funding round for Exyn Technologies, a developer of autonomous aerial robotics for GPS-denied environments.

The investment is one of the first out of the $100 million Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund established in 2018 and activated this year. The Exyn investment reflects YMVSV’s interest in developing innovation in the aviation sector.

George Kellerman, CEO and managing director of YMVSV, says: “Advanced aerial autonomy technologies have broad impacts across industry sectors, making Exyn Technologies a very attractive exploratory investment for us. [Read more…] about Yamaha invests in drone tech startup Exyn

How do DC/DC converters work in hybrid and electric cars?

by

Within every electric vehicle is a battery that outputs a certain voltage.

Given that this voltage might not be appropriate for the various devices being driven, we need to install another device along the signal path.

This device is known as a DC/DC converter, and without it, the modern electric car wouldn’t be possible. [Read more…] about How do DC/DC converters work in hybrid and electric cars?