Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

Mai Tao

Warehouse automation: Plenty of room for robots

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The US has almost 10 billion square feet of warehousing space, according to research consultancy CBRE, which says 1 billion sq ft of that space was built in the past 10 years. 

Among the geographical areas with the highest number of warehouses are:

  1. Los Angeles :: 10,161 warehouses
  2. Chicago :: 7,042
  3. Northern New Jersey :: 5,208
  4. Boston :: 4,222
  5. Orange County :: 4,162
  6. Central New Jersey :: 3,926
  7. Oakland :: 3,580
  8. Detroit :: 3,542
  9. Denver :: 2,744
  10. St Louis :: 2,636

The vast majority of warehouses – even the new ones – are not automated to a significant extent, and if it is, it’s most likely with what might be considered traditional technology, meaning conveyors and human-driven forklift trucks.  [Read more…] about Warehouse automation: Plenty of room for robots

50,000 warehouses to use 4 million robots by 2025, says report

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More than 4 million commercial robots will be installed in over 50,000 warehouses by 2025, according to a report by ABI Research.

The 50,000 figure represents a massive expansion of the market from the current situation in which an estimated 4,000 warehouses were found to be using robots in 2018.

ABI says the rapid rate of adoption will be driven by the need for flexible, efficient, and automated e-commerce fulfillment as same-day delivery becomes the norm.  [Read more…] about 50,000 warehouses to use 4 million robots by 2025, says report

NTT DoCoMo and STP to test drone-based inspection service in Indonesia

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Drones will enable telecom towers to be inspected faster and more safely than ever before, claim companies

NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese telecom giant, and PT Solusi Tunas Pratama, a company that leases out telecommunication towers in Indonesia, have agreed to test a service, named docomo sky for Tower Inspection.

The inspection service uses drones to photograph base stations and telecom towers and transmit the information to a command center in real time.

The partners hope to expand the scope of the test to include other locations and facilities prior to launching a full-scale commercial service in the first half of this year.  [Read more…] about NTT DoCoMo and STP to test drone-based inspection service in Indonesia

Faraday Future to manufacture electric cars in partnership with computer games company

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Faraday Future is partnering with a computer games company called The9 to produce electric cars for the Chinese market.

The California-based Faraday Future says it has signed a joint venture agreement with The9 to form a joint venture to manufacture, market, distribute, and sell “luxury intelligent electric vehicles” in China.

This also marks a key first step for FF to officially launch its dual-home-market and dual-brand strategy in both China and the US.  [Read more…] about Faraday Future to manufacture electric cars in partnership with computer games company

Geek Plus Robotics to partner with leading Chinese automaker and supply its driverless forklift

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Geek Plus Robotics is to partner with automaker FAW, and supply its new autonomous forklift to the company.

FAW is one of the “Big Four” automakers in China, along with SAIC Motor, Dongfeng, and Chang’an.

Geek Plus says it has been contracted to “empower FAW Group’s intelligent innovation reformation by offering a full-process automatic in-plant logistics solution”.  [Read more…] about Geek Plus Robotics to partner with leading Chinese automaker and supply its driverless forklift

Mitsubishi Electric to launch new servo and motion control unit

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Mitsubishi Electric Corporation plans to launch a new series of servo systems – the General Purpose AC Servo MELServo J5 series (65 models) and the iQ-R Series Motion Control Unit (7 models) – starting from May 7.

These will be the world’s-first1 servo system products on the market to support the CC-Link IE TSN2 next-generation industrial open network.

Offering industry-leading performance (servo amplifier frequency response and so on) and compatibility with CC-Link IE TSN, these new products will contribute to enhanced machine performance and accelerate the advancement of smart factory solutions.  [Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric to launch new servo and motion control unit

North American semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales for February down 23 percent

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North American semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales have decreased slightly, according to the industry association SEMI.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.86 billion in billings worldwide in February 2019.

The figures are in the February Equipment Market Data Subscription Billings Report published by SEMI.  [Read more…] about North American semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales for February down 23 percent

Omron to demonstrate flexible manufacturing solutions at Automate Show

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Automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas will demonstrate a diverse solution portfolio encompassing traceability, flexible manufacturing, human-machine collaboration and more at the upcoming Automate Show in Chicago this April.

The company says it will showcase “applications for the factory of today and that of the future”.

The biennial Automate Show gives attendees the opportunity to see many of the world’s cutting-edge manufacturing technologies in action.  [Read more…] about Omron to demonstrate flexible manufacturing solutions at Automate Show

Nvidia to acquire Mellanox for $7 billion

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Nvidia and Mellanox have reached a definitive agreement under which Nvidia will acquire Mellanox.

Nvidia will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Mellanox for $125 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $6.9 billion.

The acquisition will unite two of the world’s leading companies in high-performance computing.  [Read more…] about Nvidia to acquire Mellanox for $7 billion

Hitachi and DFKI develop sensor suit to improve workplace safety

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Hitachi and DFKI have jointly developed a “sensor suit” which uses artificial intelligence to quantify the physical load and stress on manual workers.

Hitachi and DFKI – short for the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence – say the AI-based suit can provide “effective feedback on the movement of each body part”.

This AI technology performs real-time recognition and quantification of a physical load exerted on a worker’s body during work by using the motion data of each body part obtained through sensors in wearable devices.  [Read more…] about Hitachi and DFKI develop sensor suit to improve workplace safety