Robotics & Automation News

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Healey-Driscoll Administration grants $1.1 million to Western New England University to support advanced robotic welding technologies

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The Healey-Driscoll Administration has announced a $1.1 million investment to fund a three-year project at Western New England University (WNE) that fosters the establishment of a research and training cluster in advanced robotic welding technologies.

The award will support a collaborative project between WNE’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (CAMS) that will work with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and local industry partners to grow the advanced welding cluster and deliver new highly skilled workers to employers in the region.

The cutting-edge welding technologies have several applications in high-growth industries, including offshore wind, electric vehicles, aerospace, and manufacturing for national defense capabilities, such as submarines. [Read more…] about Healey-Driscoll Administration grants $1.1 million to Western New England University to support advanced robotic welding technologies

Epson Robots signs Olympus Controls as distributor

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Epson Robots has signed Olympus Controls, an engineering services provider specializing in the integration of motion control, machine vision, and robotic technologies, as an official distributor of Epson Robots automation products.

As factory automation projects become increasingly complex, strong collaboration between distributors and robot vendors is essential.

Olympus Controls’ decades of engineering expertise and deep industry knowledge, combined with Epson Robots’ reputation for easy-to-use, proven, innovative technology, will help manufacturers reach today’s challenging factory automation objectives. [Read more…] about Epson Robots signs Olympus Controls as distributor

How China’s ‘copycat’ tech companies are now the ones to beat

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made in china label

By Edward Tse, CEO of Gao Feng 

For a long time, Chinese companies have been known for copying market-proven products, brands and business models from the West and adapting them for the local market with only minor modifications. Such a phenomenon is known as shanzhai, a Chinese term that was originally used to describe a bandit stronghold outside government control. In today’s slang, it refers to businesses based on fake or pirated products.

Shanzhai has been prevalent in China in recent decades and this has earned China the reputation of being a “copycat nation”. Western media report that China’s preferential policies and regulations to restrict market access, such as the the “Great Firewall” in the internet industry, and the lack of intellectual property protection, give Chinese companies an unfair home advantage to create copies.

While shanzhai is common across a range of products and services, it is particularly prevalent in the internet sector. Chinese internet companies are often compared to their Western counterparts based on the similarity of their business models. For example, Baidu is known as the “Google of China”, Alibaba as the “eBay of China”, and Xiaomi as the “Apple of China”, just to name a few.  [Read more…] about How China’s ‘copycat’ tech companies are now the ones to beat