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International Transport Workers’ Federation calls for virtual counter-revolution against robot bosses

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Picture credit: Alper Cugun via Flickr and ITF

The International Transport Workers’ Federation is calling on all its members and affiliates worldwide to “work together” and launch a virtual revolution to counter the growing oppressive power of robots. 

Autonomous driving technology threatens to displace millions of truck drivers and cab drivers and other transport workers worldwide, and the ITF says the bosses and the elite are introducing these inhuman technologies without bothering to properly consider the “social costs” to the proletariat.

The ITF has 16 million members worldwide and almost 700 individual unions affiliated to the organisation.

In response to the robot takeover, the ITF is promoting a hashtag for people to tweet to – #futureofwork – as well as its own hashtag, #WeAreITF.

The ITF also organised a gathering in Stockholm, Sweden for the first meeting of the federation’s new automation working group.  [Read more…] about International Transport Workers’ Federation calls for virtual counter-revolution against robot bosses

China’s enthusiasm for robots and electric cars creating oversupply of clean technology

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China’s enthusiasm for new technology, combined with its paranoia about being left behind in a globally intensifying high-tech competition, sometimes leads it to create small bubbles in its economy which may or may not dissipate in the disciplined manner in which the markets they encompass may have emerged in the first place. 

Two years ago, the government of the world’s most populous nation of 1.4 billion people launched a 10-year national plan to “transform China from a manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power”, in the words of XinhuaNet, the state propaganda outlet.  [Read more…] about China’s enthusiasm for robots and electric cars creating oversupply of clean technology

Bosch to build gigantic semiconductor production plant in Germany

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German industrial giant Bosch is building a massive semiconductor production plant which would represent the single largest investment in the company’s 130-year history. 

The high-tech facility, to be located in Dresden, would employ around 700 staff working on 300-millimeter semiconductor chips which Bosch says has growing applications in the automotive market, smart cities and on the industrial internet, all strong markets for Bosch.

The construction of the high-tech factory is to be completed by the end of 2019, says Bosch, and production is expected to begin at the end of 2021 after a start-up phase. Overall, the investment volume for the site is estimated to be around $1.1 billion.  [Read more…] about Bosch to build gigantic semiconductor production plant in Germany

Got milk? How a Swiss company builds filling and packaging systems for milk, coffee and other products

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Scaled technology and functioning interfaces are essential for Swiss Can Machinery, which is why the company’s filling and packaging systems have a modular design throughout, and why it uses a product program with a scaled structure for the drive technology. 

The filling and packaging systems at Swiss Can Machinery – which was established by brothers Marc and Michael Grabher – shows how this objective can be achieved.

The company turns to stainless steel motors for the actuators; for example, when these systems are used for filling and packaging pharmaceutical products.  [Read more…] about Got milk? How a Swiss company builds filling and packaging systems for milk, coffee and other products

Audi autonomous car tech boss chats with humanoid robot as though it were entirely natural

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Audi has demonstrated its autonomous car – which it calls “Jack” – in a road test featuring a humanoid robot called Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics.

Audi’s head of concept development, automated driving, Klaus Verweyen, was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, while Sophia was in the passenger seat.

Verweyen chatted away to Sophia as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile, Jack drove itself from Audi’s facility onto a main highway and back again.  [Read more…] about Audi autonomous car tech boss chats with humanoid robot as though it were entirely natural

FemtoPrint signs up new partners ahead of important microtechnology event

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FemtoPrint, which specialises in the production or printing of 3D microdevices out of glass and other transparent materials, has signed up new partners ahead of EPHJ, one of the most important microtechnology exhibitions in the industry calendar. 

FemtoPrint has reached a distribution agreement with Japan Laser Corporation and, separately, a production deal with high-end mechanical watchmaker Ulysse Nardin.

The agreement between FemtoPrint and JLC involves a commercial collaboration which will result in the commercialization of FemtoPrint products and services into the Japanese market.  [Read more…] about FemtoPrint signs up new partners ahead of important microtechnology event

Robot cars pose ‘unprecedented risks and costs’, warns Consumer Watchdog

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Robot cars pose unprecedented risks to the American public, Consumer Watchdog warned in a report, Self-Driving Vehicles: The Threat to Consumers.

In a representation to the Senate, Consumer Watchdog says robot cars – also known as driverless, self-driving, autonomous or highly-automated cars – require mandatory safety, security, privacy and ethical standards.

The organisation also warned that getting Madd is not enough.

The Consumer Watchdog report is being issued in conjunction with a day-long program, Driverless Cars: The Legal Landscape, sponsored by George Washington University Law School and a hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee, Paving the Way for Self-Driving Vehicles.  [Read more…] about Robot cars pose ‘unprecedented risks and costs’, warns Consumer Watchdog

Pepperl+Fuchs launches incremental rotary encoders with new BlueBeam technology

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The new ENI58IL with BlueBeam technology

Pepperl+Fuchs has launched blue emitter LEDs which it says ensure increased efficiency.

The new BlueBeam technology for incremental rotary encoders with optical sensing principle increases efficiency when generating signals, says the company.

Specially developed blue emitter LEDs, combined with modern and more finely structured sensing chips, allow a more energetic penetration depth of the blue light in the chip.  [Read more…] about Pepperl+Fuchs launches incremental rotary encoders with new BlueBeam technology

World Economic Forum selects robotics and automation companies in its ‘Technology Pioneers 2017’ list

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The World Economic Forum, the global nonprofit foundation whose annual meeting in Davos is attended by global leaders from business and politics, has published a list of companies which it considers to be the most pioneering in the field of technology.

In publishing its Technology Pioneers 2017 list, WEF has chosen 30 different companies to highlight from a variety of industries including biotechnology, agriculture, energy, transport, as well as a number of companies from the robotics and automation sector.

One of them is Horizon Robotics, a Chinese company which develops computer infrastructure to enable artificial intelligence computing and real-time decision-making, mainly aimed at enhancing self-driving vehicle safety.  [Read more…] about World Economic Forum selects robotics and automation companies in its ‘Technology Pioneers 2017’ list

General Motors produces new fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicles

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Company claims to be the first company to use mass-production methods for autonomous and electric vehicles

General Motors says it has completed production of 130 Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicles equipped with its next generation of self-driving technology at its Orion Assembly Plant located in Orion Township, Michigan.

The vehicles will join the more than 50 current-generation self-driving Bolt EVs already deployed in testing fleets in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Arizona; and metro Detroit.

GM CEO Mary Barra says: “This production milestone brings us one step closer to making our vision of personal mobility a reality.

“Expansion of our real-world test fleet will help ensure that our self-driving vehicles meet the same strict standards for safety and quality that we build into all of our vehicles.”  [Read more…] about General Motors produces new fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicles