Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

shanghai

World’s largest hydrogen fuelling station launched in Shanghai

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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

Renault opens new design center in Shanghai

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Global automotive brand Renault has opened a new design center in the Chinese city of Shanghai.

The new design center in Shanghai will support Groupe Renault’s expansion strategy in China, which has been the world’s number-one car market since 2009.

China was Groupe Renault’s fourth-largest market in 2018, and the country is one of the key pillars of the automaker’s “Drive the Future” strategic plan. [Read more…] about Renault opens new design center in Shanghai

Nippon Express to construct new Shanghai warehouse

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Nippon Express Global has begun construction on a new warehouse in Shanghai Qingpu Industrial Park.

Situated in the western part of Shanghai, Qingpu Industrial Park was opened in 1995 as an industrial park receiving key municipal-level industrial support, and its location within 50 minutes of central Shanghai has attracted electronics, biotech, and hi-tech companies.

The industrial park is located adjacent to a highway linking Shanghai with cities across Jiangsu Province, which is now developing into a major production area, and growing attention on this strategic logistics location is driving warehouse demand higher.

[Read more…] about Nippon Express to construct new Shanghai warehouse

Magna celebrates growing footprint in China with two grand opening events

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Magna held two grand opening ceremonies last month in China, for new factories in Changsha and Shanghai.

The new plant in Changsha, a joint venture with GAC subsidiary GAC Component Co., Ltd. (GAC Component), began production of composite liftgates for a global automaker’s crossover vehicle in late 2018.

Last month, Magna’s plant in Shanghai started production on active aerodynamic grille shutters for an American brand producing multiple vehicle platforms for the China market.

[Read more…] about Magna celebrates growing footprint in China with two grand opening events

ABB to build ‘world’s most advanced’ robotics factory in Shanghai

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ABB has announced a major, new $150 million investment in Shanghai, China, to build what it calls “the world’s most advanced, automated and flexible robotics factory – a cutting-edge centre where robots make robots, says the company”.

The new Kangqiao manufacturing centre, near ABB’s China robotics campus, will combine the company’s connected digital technologies, including ABB Ability solutions, collaborative robotics and artificial intelligence research to create an environmentally sustainable “factory of the future.” It is expected to begin operating by the end of 2020.

Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone for ABB as China’s #1 robotics manufacturer as well as a critical global growth investment for the company in the world’s largest robotics market.

[Read more…] about ABB to build ‘world’s most advanced’ robotics factory in Shanghai

Universal Robots opens repair center in Shanghai

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Universal Robots‘ newly renovated location in Shanghai will handle all repair requests as well as house a complete inventory of spare parts for Universal Robots collaborative robot arms, servicing the entire China mainland region.

Universal Robots General Manager in China, Adam Sobieski, said: “In China, which is developing very fast, not only the system integrators but also the end users prefer just-in-time services and solutions,” he says.

With the 200 sqm new center in Shanghai and support from a local technical and application team, Universal Robots China says it is able to deliver a timely after-sales service locally.

[Read more…] about Universal Robots opens repair center in Shanghai

Intuitive Surgical to develop products in China with Shanghai Fosun

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Intuitive Surgical and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical have formed a joint venture to research, develop, manufacture and sell innovative, robotic-assisted catheter-based medical devices.

The joint venture between Intuitive Surgical, the global leader in robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery, and Fosun Pharma, a leading healthcare group strategically comprising the complete value chain, will initially produce products targeting early diagnosis and cost-effective treatment of lung cancer, one of the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer in the world.

The technology will be used in robotic-assisted medical devices based on catheters, and incorporates proprietary intellectual property developed or owned by Intuitive Surgical.  [Read more…] about Intuitive Surgical to develop products in China with Shanghai Fosun

The IoT – with Chinese characteristics

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Exclusive interview with Erik Walenza-Slabe, CEO of IoT ONE

Apparently, we are all either living in the Age of Industry 4.0 already, or we are entering it. And one of the main features of this age is a relatively new connectivity technology called the “internet of things”, often abbreviated to IoT.

The IoT is, as you might imagine or know, a network of “things”. These things can be computers, industrial robots or any other type of robot, any device or appliance – anything that is a thing or a machine, which is why it’s also sometimes referred to as the machine-to-machine (M2M) network.

Perhaps it’s not a particularly accurate label for it, mainly because the IoT can be part of the general internet that we all know and use, in that it can use the same Ethernet cables and WiFi and whatever other connections there are available, although it’s thought M2M communications could mainly be carried through radio-frequency identification technology.  [Read more…] about The IoT – with Chinese characteristics