Robotics & Automation News

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Siemens extends HMI range for industrial applications

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Siemens has extended its system family of all-round protected HMI (Human Machine Interface) devices for machine-related, cabinet-free visualisation and automation.

High-performance Simatic Thin Client PRO operator terminals with 15, 19 and 22 inch screen sizes and all-round IP65 degree of protection are new to the range.

Like all devices in the PRO series, the new Thin Clients can be extended by mountable components (extension units) – such as mounting adapter, keyboard tray and keyboard.

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Daifuku North America tops materials handling systems supplier list

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Daifuku North America Holding Company – the leading provider of material handling solutions – has, together with its parent company and affiliated entities, been recognised as the Number One Worldwide Systems Supplier in Modern Materials Handling’s annual “Top 20 Systems Suppliers” list.

“We are honored and gratefully acknowledge our dedicated employees who continually strive to provide the innovative products and level of service that keep us at the top of the material handling industry year after year,” said Aki Nishimura, President of Daifuku North America Holding Company.

According to Stuart Oliphant in Daifuku’s corporate communications department in Japan, business was good across the globe. He says growth in revenue is partially linked to an increase in orders for materials handling systems from the flat panel display and semiconductor sectors in East Asia.

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BMW Group and Baidu join forces on autonomous driving in China

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Baidu, Inc. and the BMW Group today announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which the BMW Group will join Apollo, the open autonomous driving platform by Baidu, as a board member.

The partnership was made official during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Germany on July 10th to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The MoU marks the beginning of a new partnership on autonomous driving between the BMW Group and Baidu. The two companies seek to work together to bring safe, convenient and intelligent mobility experiences for consumers in China.

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BASF’s coatings used on Nio smart electric cars in China

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With its coatings solutions, BASF has helped to create an unforgettable look and unparalleled performance for the ES8 – the high performance electric Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) from Nio, a multinational electric vehicle company headquartered in China.

The seven-seater electric SUV uses BASF’s coatings solutions for the surface pre-treatment and all coatings layers. The ES8 includes BASF’s waterborne coatings technologies, as well as Oxsilan from BASF’s Chemetall brand, an advanced thin-film technology for metal protection and waterborne coatings.

“Visually, the coating creates the first impression of a vehicle – it is the essence of a vehicle’s intrinsic style. But at the same time, the coating must protect and enhance the vehicle’s performance,” said Nils Lessmann, Vice President and General Manager of BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd.

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Hitachi shows off advanced mobility technology at Japan auto show

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Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. showed its autonomous driving and electrification-related products at The Automotive Engineering Exposition 2018 in Nagoya Japan in mid-July.

Among its autonomous driving products was “360o sensing technology” whichdetects surroundings by combining peripheral recognition sensors such as cameras and radars, and “safety control technology” which uses data from the sensing technology.

Additionally, “Auto Valet Parking” was displayed, showing a use case of autonomous driving where a car can automatically park and pull out of a parking space near a set destination without a driver by following directions from the control centre.

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GE and Microsoft extend partnership to accelerate industrial IoT adoption

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GE and Microsoft Corp. have announced an expanded partnership, bringing together operational technology and information technology to eliminate hurdles industrial companies face in advancing digital transformation projects.

As part of the union, GE Digital plans to standardise its Predix solutions on Microsoft Azure and will deeply integrate the Predix portfolio with Azure’s native cloud capabilities, including Azure IoT and Azure Data and Analytics.

The parties will also co-sell and go to market together, offering end customers premier Industrial IoT (IIoT) solutions across verticals.

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Siemens report urges cities to plan now for arrival of autonomous vehicles

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The advent of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) has the potential to cause major and disruptive changes to cities worldwide, according to a report launched by Siemens.

The report, Cities in the Driving Seat stresses the need for cities to plan early and tackle the issue in a wider context of mobility transformations.

Launched recently at the World Cities Summit in Singapore, the study explores the interdependencies between urban development, public transportation policies, power supply, pollution and the increasing share of CAV in city traffic.

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In future, our houses will have built-in solar cells

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This autumn, the four-year EU project, PVadapt, will start developing new solar cell systems that are less expensive to create, assemble and use, and Norwegian researchers are involved.

Today, cities account for 70 percent of the world’s energy consumption, which means they are responsible for 40-50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. European Technology and Innovation Platform estimates that 80 per cent of the Earth’s population will live in urban areas by 2050.

This means that the energy consumption will double, or at worst, triple. Therefore, it is essential to develop sustainable solutions with renewable energy. An example of this is the use of solar cells that are integrated in construction.

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Canon partners Aveva on imaging technologies for smart factories

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Canon Inc.  is starting a partnership with Aveva Group plc on smart factories through Canon imaging technologies to achieve “factory visualisation.”

The technology partnership will combine Aveva capabilities, including industrial automation and information management software, with Canon’s imaging technology.

Aveva’s InTouch SCADA1 system will be integrated with Canon products such as network cameras, industrial cameras and software for production centres to create new value based on video and image processing technologies employed on factory floors.

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How autonomous vehicles navigate Samsung semiconductor production lines

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Self-driving cars sit at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the automobile industry, presenting an exciting new opportunity for transport.

While the commercialisation of autonomous driving awaits technological refinement and regulation, Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor production lines are using systems that share similarities with self-driving technologies.

These systems feature the use of Overhead Hoist Transport (OHT) devices that are responsible for carrying materials automatically around the manufacturing facility.

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