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SENSOR READINGS

The weekly news magazine for robotics and automation industry

Prortotype issue 1 Month 2015

3D Robotics to challenge DJI US company plans to challenge the dominance of DJI

China’s robot revolution The world’s most populous nation now buys the most robots

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From strength to strength Japan unveils the ‘world’s strongest robot’

Germany makes progress Robotics sector grows 11 per cent in first quarter of 2015 Sensor market Fingerprint sensors are likely to be much more prevalent in the future

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Contents 3D Robotics to take on DJI US company 3D Robotics says it plans to challenge the dominance of DJI 12

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Gone in sixty seconds Pepper the emotional robot proves popular with public 7 China’s robot revolution The world’s most populous nation now buys the most number of robots 10

Robotic bricklayer can build a house in two days 4 Collaborative robotics to grow to $1 billion 8 Rethink Robotics raises $40m in funding 9 The robocar race is on as Google car takesa drive 10 Robovac market to grow to $2 billion 11 Collaborative robotics to grow to $1 billion 12 Marketplace 14

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Giant robots to fight Makers of giant robot in the US have challenged their counterparts in Japan to a mechanised duel.

MegaBots, a US company, said it has built a giant robot to fight Kuratas, another giant robot built by Japanese company Suidobashi Heavy Industries. In a good-natured challenge, rocket launchers would be filled with paintball and the whole spectacle will be designed for entertainment, on television and online. In an interview with qz.com, MegaBots founder Gui Cavalcani said: “I definitely need to see this in a sport. “We’re children trapped in engineers’ bodies. We wanted video games to come to life.”

UK mail invests £20m Royal Mail is investing £20 million in automation at its parcels sorting centres across Britain.

The company it has chosen to implement the system is Datalogic, which says the contract includes design engineering, automated unloading of parcels, transport conveyors and induction equipment, dimension, weigh, and scan systems. Valentina Volta, CEO of Datalogic Industrial Automation, said: “Datalogic, and others, have been involved by Royal Mail with the challenge to automate the processing of barcoded parcels in a limited space within their existing mail centres.”

Gone in sixty seconds It took just one minute for Japanese telecom giant SoftBank Corporation to sell 1,000 of its newly launched humanoid Pepper robots when it went on sale on June 20. SoftBank is working with Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) to build the humanoid Pepper, which has a price tag of 198,000 Japanese yen ($1,600).

The companies say they plan to manufacture and release 1,000 units a month, most likely at the same price. Customers can buy Pepper, which has 200 related apps available, on SoftBank’s website.

Ageing workers spurs growth Workers in Japan are getting older, which is leading employers to turn increasingly to a robot workforce, according to the government. Kyuuichiro Sano, a director of a trade ministry division, said: “Shortage of labour is a structural problem Japan faces in the long run, given the ageing society.” Underlining this view, a recent Bank of Japan survey showed large companies were planning to boost capital expenditure, which would mean directly putting money into robotics and automation systems.

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Two humanoid robots were ‘married’ in Japan, at a ceremony conducted by Pepper the robot

Pepper leads the way by marrying couple They make not be as useful around the house as some people might expect or want them to be, but humanoid robots are massively popular regardless. The first batch of 1,000 Pepper robots sold out in one minute, according to its makers, SoftBank and Foxconn.

Pepper’s developer, Aldebaran, claims it designed the robot to be able to able to detect emotions. Pepper is said to be able to understand facial expressions and other clues to a person’s mood.

“

Pepper is happy when he is praised, and gets scared when the lights go down.”

Aldebaran

“With this emotion function, Pepper’s emotions are influenced by people’s facial expressions and words, as well as his surroundings, which in turn affects Pepper’s words and actions,” said SoftBank Robotics in a press release.

“For example, Pepper is at ease when he is around people he knows, happy when he is praised, and gets scared when the lights go down. Depending on the emotion at the time, Pepper raises his voice or sighs, for example. Pepper’s emotions can be seen on the heart display, which shows different colors and movements.

“Furthermore, a number of robot apps have been developed to make life fun with an emotional robot. The ‘Pepper’s Diary’, for example, links Pepper’s emotions with daily family events that are recorded with pictures and photos.”

3DRobotics chief predicts big year Chris Andreson, chief executive of 3D Robotics, calculates that more than 500,000 consumer drones were sold last year, and 70 per cent of them to his company’s main competitor, DJI Technology.

Anderson has high hopes for 3D Robotics’ new launch, the Solo, quadruple-rotored consumer drone which is on sale at Best Buy for around $1,000. The company is confident of gaining market share from DJI because, he claims, Solo is the world’s first smart drone.

“Solo is a breakthrough in intelligent

flight,” said Anderson. “It’s not just smarter so that it can do more; it’s smarter so that you have to do less. We’ve turned the Hollywood toolkit into software, and allowed everyone to experience epic video, both behind and in front of the camera.”

Solo is claimed to be the first to support full control of GoPro cameras, through which it can deliver live streaming HD video straight to mobile devices or through the controller’s HDMI port.

The controller itself can accommodate iOS and Android devices, such as tablets,

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Rethink raises $40m Rethink Robotics has raised $40m to expand its operations worldwide, and launch its latest robot, Sawyer, which is said to precise tasks that robots have not previously been able to do, especially in machine tending and circuit board testing. Rodney Brooks, who runs Rethink, said: “So far manufacturing robots have only been sold in the US … but the Sawyer will be a worldwide robot and it will have certification for anywhere in the world. Europe has potential but so does Asia – China in particular, Japan and Korea. He said the original Sawyer robot was good at packing and repacking but this is a machine which can do light assembly.

Lab automation set for increase Industry analysts are predicting a significant increase in the size of the lab automation market.

MarketsandMarkets says the market will go from $3.5 billion in 2014 to $5 billion in 2020. Another researcher, Kalorama, claims the market was already worth $5 billion in 2014, based on the total reported sales of lab automation systems to clinical labs. The growth areas for automation are: handling liquids, specimen inspection, packing, same processing, lab data recording, and compound screening.

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The bricklaying robot which marks the beginning of a new era in the construction industry

Robotic bricklayer can build a house in two days The world’s first bricklaying robot, named Hadrian, has been unveiled in Australia.

The machine uses a 28 metre articulated robotic arm to lay bricks, and works by first eating a 4D image of the house, then calculates where each brick needs to be located, and develops a sequence to lay those bricks, all from a single location.

The man who invented the machine, Mark Pivac of Fastback Robotics, says Hadrian can lay 1,000 bricks an hour. ““People have been laying bricks for about 6,000 years and ever since the

“

We’re at a technological nexus where a few different technologies.”

Mark Pivac of Fastback Robotics

industrial revolution, they have tried to automate the bricklaying process,” Pivac told PerthNow. “We’re at a technological nexus where a few different technologies have got to the level where it’s now possible to do it, and that’s what we’ve done.”

While Hadrian is claimed to be the first of its kind, there are other similar machines that have been used in construction for some time.

Construction Robotics has two robotic SemiAutomated Masonry (SAM) systems available on a limited release basis. SAM works just like a human mason, says the company, and can lay bricks and mortar. “SAM will actually put mortar on the brick instead of on the wall,” says Zak Podkaminer, operations manager for Construction Robotics.

“We tested it out in 2013 on a prototype system that worked alongside a mason. Then we went back to the drawing board and made SAM smaller.”

More cakes through automation Well-known maker of cakes Mr Kipling has doubled production as a result of using robotics and automation systems. The company says it spent more than £20 million on its production line, which now has 47 robots and large-scale automation technology.

As a result of the investment in the level of automation, the company says Mr Kipling cake slices are not touched by human hands throughout the production process. They go from oven to shop without any direct human contact.

Mr Kipling’s parent company, Premier Foods,

says it decided to invest the money in robotics and automation at its Barnsley bakery, in the UK. Up to 1,500 people are employed there.

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), more than 5,000 robots were sold to the food industry worldwide. The food industry is one of the largest, specified markets for robots.

UK food producers have been attempting to cope with competition in the global marketplace against larger companies. One of the reasons, say analysts, is the under-utilisation of robots, compared to other countries.

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China’s robot population grows China has become the world’s largest buyer of robots, overtaking from the US. Sales of robots in China grew 54 per cent last year, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). The IFR is forecasting that the China market will grow again in 2015. The industry association’s chairman, Arturo Baroncelli, said China is “the most dynamic robot market in the world”. According to the IFR, approximately 225,000 robots were sold worldwide in 2014, an increase of 27 per cent from 2013.

All major markets saw growth, with Asia growing the fastest, largely because of China, which bought 56,000 robots in 2014.

Foxconn to use more robots Hon Hai Precision Industry, known more widely as Foxconn, says it plans to replace 30 per cent of its workforce with robots by 2020, with 1 million robots.

The company currently employs 1.2 million people.The company has been developing its own robots since 2007, and recently partnered with SoftBank to launch a humanoid robot called Pepper. Foxconn has built 10,000 industrial robots, called Foxbots, which can perform 20 types of manufacturing tasks, including: pressing, printing, polishing, packaging, and testing.

3D Robotics to challenge DJI US company 3D Robotics says it plans to challenge the dominance of DJI Technology in the global market for consumer drones, with popular products such as the Phantom, a quadrotor aircraft. DJI is said to have about 70 per cent of the $2 billion consumer drones market, according to research company frost and Sullivan. The market is expected to be worth $4.5 billion by 2020. 3D CEO Chris Anderson says the company’s new consumer drone product, Solo, is the “best consumer ’copter ever made”. Solo is being sold through Best Buy for a starting price of $1,000.

Arup launches track tech Arup Laboratories has launched a new track technology which it says “eclipses” the previous conveyor system. Now, specimenfilled pucks can potentially move at a top speed of two meters per second along the track, which has no moving parts and depends on linear, mini-motors embedded inside the track, said the company.

ARUP’s unique needs include accommodating highly complex, sensitive tests and managing more than 50,000 incoming specimens daily—each connected to a patient.

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This here is a caption for this engineering picture shown for purely style purposes only

Collaborative robotics to grow to $1 billion The global collaborative robotics market will grow ten-fold from $100 million today to $1 billion in 2020, claims ABI Research in a study called Collaborative Robotics: State of the Market / State of the Art. ABI says the growth will be fuelled by three key markets: electronics manufacturers and electronics manufacturing services companies; small-to-medium manufacturers; and manufacturers seeking robotic solutions optimized to

“

The sector is very dynamic and is expanding rapidly.”

Dan Kara, practice director, robotics at ABI Research

support agile production methodologies.

Dan Kara, practice director, robotics at ABI Research, said: “Collaborative robotic systems, such as ABB’s YuMi and Gomtec / Roberta platforms, Rethink Robotics’ Baxter and Sawyer, Universal Robots (Teradyne) UR family of robots, KUKA’s LBR iiwa and Kawada Industries’ Nextage, were developed in response to a number of pressing social drivers and businesses imperatives, and aided by ongoing technological innovation and dropping prices for powerful enabling technology.

“The sector is very dynamic and is expanding rapidly with new product offerings being released into the market from both established companies and smaller, emerging firms. Larger firms are actively acquiring smaller companies with proven technology.”

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Robots to learn from seahorses The humble seahorse is the subject of renewed global attention because it’s believed it could have something to teach robots about movement. Scientists at the Oregon State University, in the US, studied the makeup of the seahorse tail and formulated a theory that its mechanism could provide flexibility and smoother movements to rigid robots. The scientists used 3D-printed prototypes to study the mechanics of the seahorse’s tail, which is made up of square prisms. They came to the conclusion that squareshaped devices work better than those in cylindrical shape.

Japan has most robots Japan has the most number of industrial robots in the world, with 60 per cent of the global total, according to a new report by Research in China (RiC). In terms of sales, the company claims that Japan, the US, Germany, South Korea and China bought a combined total of 70 per cent of the world’s robots. China was the world’s largest buyer in 2013, with 36,560 units, or 20 per cent of the global total. RiC had predicted China to buy 45,000 units in 2014, a figure which differs somewhat from other researchers, which put the number at more than 50,000.

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This here is a caption for this engineering picture shown for purely style purposes only

Arup’s new lab track to process more samples One of the most important labs in the US, Arup, has installed new track technology in its facility at the University of Utah.

The organisation is now “one of the most automated laboratories in the United States”, according to Dr Charles Hawker, who recently retired after 23 years working at Arup.

The MagneMover LITE automation track system, supplied by MagneMotion, will help Arup process the 50,000 samples it receives every day from patients.

“

We are confident the advanced engineering solutions will be valuable tools for engineers.”

Chris Muldowney, Tekmatic president

MagneMotion first demonstrated its product, which it developed with Tekmatic, earlier this year. At the time, Tekmatic’s president, Chris Muldowney, said: “We are confident that the advanced engineering solutions provided by both Tekmatic and MagneMotion will be valuable tools for engineers and scientists as they pursue new discoveries and increased productivity in laboratory automation.”

The lab automation market was worth $3.5 billion in 2014, according to a report by Markets&Markets, which forecasts it will grow to more than $5 billion by 2020.

Key players in lab automation include Abbott Diagnostics, Biotek Instruments, Agilent Technologies, Perkinelmer, Roche Holding, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Siemens Healthcare, Beckman Coulter, Hamilton Robotics, Labware, and TECAN.

Drones transform logistics market The business of moving goods around the world, often called logistics, is set to be transformed as a result of robots, such as unmanned aerial and road vehicles.

Massive changes are already taking place.

This is according to a study by Frost & Sullivan, which says the motivating factors include increasing urbanisation, more demand consumers and the growth of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT).

The IoT is a network that is growing and

connects tiny devices which have extremely small sensors which can transmit data through narrowband rather than broadband.

These IoT devices, when attached to a parcel, for example, will enable the logistics company responsible for that parcel to track it in realtime all around the world.

Not only that, IoT combined with robotics will see unmanned drones become more widespread in the use of delivering goods to the end-customer.

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Features

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Sensor Readings

Above: Mercedes has launched the F015 Luxury in Motion concept car, claiming it has the technology to produce autonomous vehicles. Left: the Delphi driverless car.

Far left: the Google driverless car

The robocar race is on Scotland and Wales ready to compete to win final decision to host world’s first spaceport outside the United States

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hey’re popularly referred to as “driverless cars”, or “self-driving cars”, and sometimes “autonomous cars”. But they can also be referred to as “robotic cars”, or “robot cars”. Whatever you call them, one thing is becoming obvious: road-going vehicles are undoubtedly the busiest intersection for the meeting of Man and artificially intelligent machine.

More than 1 billion cars were on the planet by the start of this decade, according to WardsAuto, an authoritative US-based publisher of automotive data.

According to Navigant Research, that figure surpassed 1.2 billion last year. And with the vast majority if world’s 7 billion people not yet owning cars, the number can only grow. The only barrier that stood in the automotive industry’s way towards growing its market was consideration for the environment.

Cars and other road-going vehicles pollute the environment because they burn petrol and emit the fumes through their exhaust pipes. Governments and pressure groups have been regulating and even discouraging the use of cars for decades.

However, many of the environmental concerns have now been removed, or at least addressed, with the arrival of a

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whole range of new, cleaner technologies. Among the more “alternative” ideas for fuelling cars are compressed air, vegetable oil, water, and wood pellets. While at least one or two of those may sound far-fetched, there is also electrical power, and hydrogen fuels.

The last two have shown real promise, and some of the larger manufacturers have introduced models using those technologies, or some sort of hybrid thereof.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars include: l the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell promises “zero emissions” of pollutants; l BMW’s newly revealed i8-like prototype hydrogen fuel cell car, which it says will be launched in 2020; and l the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car is claimed to go 312 miles between fill-ups.

“

Space planes will be launched from this spaceport, and they will carry humans and equipment into space.”

Professor Dave Barnes, Aberystwyth University

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Features Compared to hydrogen fuel cell cars, electric cars are more established, with almost all the leading manufacturers having such models in their ranges, or at least ongoing development in the technology. Among the manufacturers who already have electric cars on the road are: l Nissan, which has a small family car, called Leaf, and a mid-sized van that run on electricity; l Mitsubishi has been promoting its SUV, the Outlander PHEV, as more of a hybrid; l Honda, whose Prius sounds pre-historic all of a sudden; l BMW, which went to town on designing the i8; and l Tesla, of course, the company that, arguably, made electric cars desirable.

Many of the above vehicles combine electric power with fuel, in hybrid form. This negates the limited range of electric vehicles and reassures the buyer that it’s a conventional car – more or less.

Similarly, in principle, many auto makers have been introducing artificial intelligence into conventional cars to make them semi- or part-autonomous.

The AI that parks the car without the need for the driver is the part that has been most noticeable, but there’s increasing amount of autonomy being worked into the inner workings as well.

Carmakers have been incorporating radar, lidar, GPS, computer vision and a whole host of sensors and AI features into new cars for many years, and they are making the transition to an autonomous future almost seamless.

For complete autonomy, it could be argued that Google led the way. Its robot car has already gone for its debut drive in California, during which it nearly collided with another autonomous car made by Delphi, but that’s another story.

Why a internet search company would want to enter the automotive business is open to question, but from relatively humble beginnings – with TV news showing what looked like old-style mobile phone-type devices strapped with tape to cars from the 1970s – Google has developed an attractive small car that looks viable both commercially and socially.

Coupled with a cab-hailing app like Uber, which is part-owned by Google, the electric driverless car is set to become an ubiquitous feature of everyday life on roads all over the world.

And no bad thing either, say researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, an institution which claims to address “the world’s most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe”.

In a study conducted by Lawrence Berkeley, the researchers found that the robotic vehicles and systems being built by Google and Uber could cut greenhouse gases – thought to be bad for the environment – by as much as 94 per cent.

The reason for such a dramatic reduction is that the Google car, or Uber taxi, is relatively small, or the “right size”, as Lawrence Berkeley puts it.

“Most trips in the U.S. are taken singly, meaning one- or two-seat cars would satisfy most trips,” the report’s author Jeffery Greenblatt said in announcing the findings.

Greenblatt added that autonomous taxis “are anticipated to be deployed according to each trip’s occupancy need (‘right-sizing’) because it is cost-effective for owners (capital and operating costs are lower) and passengers (who pay only for needed seats and storage)”.

The result, he said, was that by 2030, autonomous taxis would cut by 87 to 94 per cent. Plus, the passenger could take a nap while saving the world. l

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All these sports writers could potentially be replaced by robots

AP employs a robot for sports writing

T

he subtleties and intricacies of human language are beyond even the most powerful computers today, even though the iPhone’s voice AI, Siri, has reportedly developed a sense of humour, telling its users that they’re not making sense when asked to divide zero by zero.

But according to the Associated Press (AP), there are enough human qualities in the devotees of siliconism that enables them to write sports reports, especially because sports articles tend follow a set formula, as does a lot of journalistic writing.

Even that level of formulaic writing has been beyond articlewriting robots in the past, but not this one, according to AP. The news agency announced recently that it would employ a sports writer with a background in computing.

Literally. Its names is Wordsmith and

AP has been working with data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to produce automated reports about college sports. Division I baseball is the first to be given the machine treatment, then Division I women’s basketball, Division II and III football, and Division II and III men’s basketball will follow over the next couple of years.

AP says it has already been using its virtual robot, developed by Automated Insights, to generate more than 3,000 stories on US corporate earnings over the past quarter.

Barry Bedlan, AP’s deputy director of sports products, said: “This new partnership will allow AP to cover more college sports of interest to our members and their audiences. This will mean thousands of more stories on the AP wire, which will remain unmatched in the industry.”

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be proactive about plugging a gap in the market. They are likely to permit a far wider range of options for new products, pack formats or size options.

There are precedents for this sort of shift in thinking.

Only a few years ago, the use of servo drives in food, pharmaceuticals and packaging equipment was thought of, in some quarters, as an over-specified and indulgent luxury. Today, they are an essential component in any high-speed line aiming to combine compact design with precision and repeatability.

Omron automation platform Within the Omron automation platform, robots share the same communications system as other servo drives and connect to the same controller. Line managers and operators who are comfortable with servos are likely to feel the same way about integrated Delta robots. Set-up and operation are straightforward. For example, Omron’s Sysmac NJ Delta controller will run up to eight robots, synchronising up to 64 axes of motion. A single controller makes for simpler operation, co-ordinating motion for the entire machine and reducing space requirements.

The synchronisation of multiple machines or lines can be fully programmed thanks to a powerful command set developed especially for pick and place applications that use delta robots. With Omron’s product range, programming is to IEC 61131-3 standards and is carried out within the Sysmac Studio software package, the same package used to program all other Sysmac components.

The software includes a comprehensive robotics library to make it simple to set up sophisticated robot motion profiles. Integration with other Sysmac components is via on-board EtherCAT, with an EtherNet/IP port also included for communications with higher level systems.

Integrating robotics into systems Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lao

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obotics should be thought of as just one of many ingredients in the ever-richer recipe behind automation. For managers in parts of consumer goods manufacturing, where robotics have not made significant inroads, the idea of ‘a robot’ is likely to conjure up images of a huge standalone system.

Of course, this type of robot has its place in a ‘heavy lifting’ role such as palletising. Yet increasingly, robot systems are being integrated into other operations and processes, sitting among multiple functions on a single operating platform. So, while the popular image of a robot may be a six-axis giant working in the automotive industry, there are many opportunities for them to play a role dovetailed into complex lines helping to automate food, pharmaceuticals, electronics and packaging lines.

Delta-style This is especially true of the Delta-style robot which is now an established part of the Omron range, and which offers pick-and-place speeds of up to 150 cycles per minute.

These robots have been developed to fit seamlessly into Omron’s Sysmac control platform, alongside servo drives and motion control, PLCs, safety, vision, temperature control and more, all linked by the same software.

Despite their lean looks and compact shape, these Delta robots can handle the vast majority of products within the aforementioned industry sectors and are able to handle

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payloads of up to 3kgs. Maybe it is time companies saw robotic systems as just one more component in the mix of automation solutions – albeit a highly flexible one.

That flexibility can be a huge benefit for end users and machine builders who embrace robots as an integral part of their automation platform, especially when they are used to replacing less flexible, or perhaps more complex, electromechanical systems. In many cases, they can form a vital part of the link between two processes or machines.

More benefits Thinking differently about robotics can have other benefits.

For instance, a few in the food industry have seen this sort of investment as being difficult to justify on the basis of returns, given the unpredictability of many retailer relationships.

The other side of this story is that, for those able to invest, robotic components allow manufacturers not only to respond flexibly to changing retailer demands, but to

“

This article is just for demonstration purposes, as this is a dummy issue of the magazine, Sensor Readings.”

Professor Intellectual, Science University

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Numerous applications As mentioned at the outset, there are of course applications where a heavier-duty robot makes sense.

Omron offers a range of over 70 models of SCARA robot, capable of lifting up to 50kg.

Meanwhile, it is not only end users and potential users who are rethinking the contribution made by robotics.

In the past, parts of the food industry have at times felt there was a poor fit between robots (often automation in general) and its own requirements, particularly before the packaging stage. A huge amount of work is currently going into both washdown versions of pick-and-place systems and end actuators, grippers and other tooling which take account of the variable size and shape of food components.

In many of these applications, the ability to combine robotics with integrated vision is already proving invaluable in high-accuracy pick-and-place, for instance, where randomly-spaced product presents itself on an infeed conveyor. Gripper technologies mean that even potentially fragile products can be safely manipulated this way.

Robot technology is as varied and fast-developing as the other elements contributing to improved, more streamlined automation: a multi-bit tool in a wider, ever-growing toolbox.

If there remains a stubborn feeling that robots are in fact qualitatively different from all the other automation options on offer, there might be a reason for this. Just as the programmability of robots offers more options, it also offers more benefits.

So yes, robots are different. There can be few other single components which offer reliability, consistent product quality, greater flexibility, reduced wastage, improved efficiency and safety, as well as the potential cost benefits of a redeployed workforce.

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The Dyson 360 Eye was being sold for $1,000 a time

Robovac market to grow to $2 billion

B

y far the most popular domestic robot has been the vacuum cleaner, with a number of leading companies selling millions of units since they first emerged in significant numbers at the beginning of the decade.

Swedish manufacturer Electrolux was the first to demonstrate the forerunner of today’s devices, but even by the time British company Dyson built its DC06 in 2001, manufacturing costs were too high for them to be profitable.

A year later, US company iRobot became the first to produce them in large quantities, producing 15,000 its Roomba floor cleaner, which was an instant hit and the company now claims to have sold more than 10 million variations so far worldwide. And with prices ranging from about $300 to $900, that’s a lot of money.

Dyson joined the race in 2014, with its

360 Eye, and found that 70,000 people signed up to buy them at $1,000 a pop.

Other companies have launched similar devices.

Vileda, Neato and Cleanbot launched robovacs with relatively small price tags of around $150. And Robomaxx sells its Robo Maxx RV1MAC for $70.

A report at the Market Research Store, published in 2012, said the market for cleaning robots and robotic vacuums was growing fast.

The company said the household vacuum cleaner, pool, and gutter robot cleaner markets were at $676.4 million in 2011, and predicted they would reach $1.8 billion by 2018.

A separate report

by Reports n Reports said the cleaning robot market was worth $981 million in 2013, and forecast it to grow to $2.6 billion by 2020. The company looked at a whole range of companies that had entered the market.

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12

Features

Sensor Readings

Sensor Readings

Features

Beumer supplies system to top e-tailer in China

O

Beumer’s cross-belt sorter system

ne of China’s largest online retailers, JD.com, has just installed a Beumer automated package or material handing and sorting system at its logistics centre in Shanghai.

Beumer, a German company specialising in logistics automation, said JD.com’s new sortation system comprises seven conveyor lines, which are suspended from the ceiling to free as much floor space as possible in the 100,000 sq metre warehouse.

“Cartons and plastic bags arrive at warehouse levels 1 and 2, from where they are automatically

Shortage of workers in Japan and even China is one of the factors propelling growth

he global market for industrial robotics systems will be worth $45 billion by the end of this decade, according to a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR).

The research company says the industry will grow at a rate of more than 6 per cent a year due to factors such as the widespread adoption of robotics in small and medium enterprises and rising labour costs.

TMR adds that the high level of investment in research and development, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, is one of the other factors for the growth.

Japan, which is believed to have the largest number of robots in the world, this week reported that its industrial machinery orders were at a seven-year high. The government has been encouraging the use of robotics and artificial intelligence systems to boost growth.

Mid-size companies are being offered subsidies from a

“

Shortage of labour is a structural problem Japan faces in the long run, given the ageing society”

Kyuuichiro Sano, director, Japan trade ministry

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Logistics automation set to be worth $30 billion

T

inducted to the 254 metre long Crisplant LS-4000CB cross-belt sorter, with destination sorting to 131 chutes,” explained Beumer.

The complete material handling system has a sortation capacity of 13,521 items per hour.

JD.com claims to account for more that 56 per cent of the country’s direct business-to-consumer e-commerce market in the first quarter of 2015.

The company fulfilled a total of more than 689 million orders in 2014 from its warehouses to satisfy demand from its over 105 million active customers.

Industrial robotics market set to reach $45 billion by 2020 T

specially allocated fund of 2.2 billion yen ($18 million) to help them integrate robotics and automation systems into their operations.

Japan’s lack of workers due to its ageing population is another factor motivating government.

“Shortage of labour is a structural problem Japan faces in the long run, given the ageing society,” said Kyuuichiro Sano, director of a trade ministry division in charge of state-of-the-art technology, including robotics, artificial intelligence, IoT and other automation technology.

“They could be the answer,” he said.

Industrial robot manufacturer Fanuc is one of the companies that is hoping to capitalise on the growth in Japan. The company is investing 130 billion yen ($1 billion) in a new facilities to build computerised numerical control system (CNC) equipment, as well as machine tools and robots.

Fanuc, a global company headquartered in Japan, is claimed to be the world’s largest manufacturer of CNC systems, with a 50 per cent share of the market.

The company’s president, Yoshiharu Inaba told The Nikkei in a February interview that its investment in Japan will include production and research facilities, will employ more than 100 people, and open in October 2016.

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13

Logistics is set to boom as online retail grows ever more popular

he global market in industrial logistics will be worth $30 billion by 2020, according to WinterGreen Research.

The company says industrial logistics robotics projects are ongoing worldwide with an emphasis on end to end process automation.

It adds that while many industrial robots logistics robots perform repeat actions efficiently, the logistics industry is increasingly introducing more intelligent robots loaded with sensors are able to automate process using processors and cameras to control action.

Use of micropro-

cessors provides a measure of intelligent control over the activity of the robot based on input from the sensors and the cameras, adds WinterGreen.

Online retailer Amazon is famous for automating its warehousing and distribution operation, developing robotics and automation processes of many different types. So much so that the company is now able to offer same-day delivery on at least 14 metro areas across the US. Cliff Holste, Supply Chain Digest’s material handling editor, says the the rapid growth of online retailers in the consumer goods marketplace

Fingerprint sensor market forecast to reach $15 billion T

Growth in smartphone technology behind the demand for sensors

he market for fingerprint sensors are forecast to reach $15 million by 2020, according to MarketsandMarkets. The research company says the sector was worth $5.5 billion in 2014, and will grow at rate of 17 per cent between 2015 and 2020.

MarketsandMarkets says the main drivers of growth are security concerns for electronic equipment such as desktop computers, laptops, and smartphones. It also forecasts that the number of shipments of fingerprint sensors will be approximately 10 billion.

Some of the main patent holders in the sector include Seiko Epson, AuthenTec, Sony and STMicroelectronics.

Apple holds patent for the fingerprint sensor on its iPhone, but the sensors for the cameras in the phone are made by Sony.

Sony said it will raise $4 billion to expand its image sensor business, which it now sees as a priority. Sensor

“

The company has said it will cut another 1,100 employees from its mobile communications unit

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technology has been one of Sony’s most profitable divisions, while its television and smartphone sales have been making losses.

The company has said it will cut another 1,100 employees from its mobile communications unit. This is as well as the 1,000 job losses the company had previously announced.

Sony says its intention is to reduce the staff number to 5,000 for the mobile division.

Sony has said it is determined to stay in the smartphone and television businesses, but intense competition is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

It may face less competition in developing sensors because it is said to require much greater investment, which is why Sony is raising funds through issuing new shares. Moreover, many of the existing pioneer patents for sensors are no longer in force, and many more are due to expire by 2020.

Meanwhile, Apple has filed a patent for a “concealed electrical circuit” which will allow its iPhone, and perhaps its Watch, to contain more sensors.

These sensors could be used to enable new features such as biometric monitoring, wireless charging and facial recognition.

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Marketplace

Off side We talk to the people behind RoboDK, the new offline progamming tool

Directory Listing

Marketplace

Robotics Society of Japan rsj.or.jp The Robotics Society of Japan promotes progress in academic fields and provides specialists with a venue for announcing their research and exchanging technical information.

euRobotics AISBL eu-robotics.net

British Automation & Robot Association bara.org.uk

Actuation

The aim of the BARA is to promote the use of, and assist in the development of Industrial Robots and Automation in British industry. In 2009 BARA joined forces with the PPMA (Processing & Packaging Machinery Association) to become a special interest focus group and has gathered more International Federation of Robotics ifr.org The purpose of IFR shall be to promote and strengthen the robotics industry worldwide, to protect its business interests, to cause public awareness about robotics technologies and to deal with other matters of relevance to its members.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Society ieee-ras.org

euRobotics AISBL is a Brussels based international non-profit association for all stakeholders in European robotics. euRobotics builds upon the success of the European Robotics Technology Platform and the academic network of EURON, and will continue the cooperation abetween members of these two community driven organisations.

Our Mission is to foster the development and facilitate the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge in Robotics and Automation that benefits members, the profession and humanity. Our Vision is to be the most recognized and respected global organization in Robotics and Automation.

Robotic Industries Association robotics.org

China Robot Industry Alliance cria.mei.net.cn

The Robotic Industries Association (RIA) drives innovation, growth, and safety in manufacturing and service industries through education, promotion, and advancement of robotics, related automation technologies, and companies delivering integrated solutions.

CRIA is a non-profit organization composed of enterprises, manufacturers, universities, research institutes, regional or local robotic associations, related organizations as well as organizations in the fields of R&D, manufacturing, application and services of the robot industry.

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PHD PHD is a leading manufacturer of industrial automation actuators, designed to help companies across all industries optimize their manufacturing processes. phdinc.com

Wittenstein

From machine tools or woodworking and packaging machines through robotics and handling equipment to food processing, pharmaceutical and medical technology or intralogistics, Wittenstein actuators keep you one step ahead of the competition. wittenstein-us.com

Ham-Let More than half a century of excellence servicing the high purity and process industries with designing, developing, producing and marketing of fluid system components. ham-let.com

ATC The Actuator Technology Company operates independently and is located close to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

We are acclaimed and appreciated for offering vital design support during FEED and detailed design stage (EPC). atc-actuators.com

The Valve and Actuator Co We realise there is an urgent need to provide experienced technical support with competitive pricing.

We carry an extensive stock of electric and pneumatic actuators and general valves. valveandactuatorcompany.co.uk

Rethink Robotics Our patented SEA technology uses springs to advance the robot’s motion control solution from one of rigid positioning to one of force control. rethinkrobotics.com

Parker Parker actuators come in a wide range of construction types, ranging from compact light duty aluminum air actuators, motorized electric actuators, to heavy duty hydraulic designs. parker.com

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Sensor Readings

Marketplace

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Marketplace

17

Marketplace: technology Computing & Software

Arduino Arduino is an open-source computer hardware and software company, project and user community that designs and manufactures kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control the physical world. arduino.cc

Integration & Process

Cognex

Microcontrollers & Microchips

No matter what the machine vision application, Cognex offers a complete family of vision products—from standalone vision systems to 3D vision software— that provide unparalleled accuracy and repeatability. cognex.com

Sensors Ranesas

Alphasense

Renesas Electronics Corporation, the world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, is a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions including microcontrollers, SoC solutions and a broad range of analog and power devices. renesas.com

Alphasense has established a reputation as a reliable source for a wide range of gas sensor technologies. We supply high-quality Oxygen,CO2, toxic and flammable Gas sensors to many of the world’s leading industrial OEMs. alphasense.com

RoboDK

Raspberry Pi

Rockwell Automation

STMicroelectronics

4D Technology

Sensiron

Offline programming has never been easier thanks to RoboDK. You don’t need to learn brand-specific languages anymore. RoboDK handles the robot controller syntax and outputs the right program for your robot. robodk.com

The Raspberry Pi is a series of credit cardsized single-board computers developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of promoting the teaching of basic computer science in schools. raspberrypi.org

Preferred integration starts with using plug-and-play technology, which means robots connect through Ethernet/IP with software and service interfaces that simplify design, operation and maintenance efforts to improve machine and overall line OEE. rockwellautomation.com

A world leader in providing the semiconductor solutions that make a positive contribution to people’s lives, both today and in the future. st.com

4D Technology designs and manufactures laser interferometers, surface roughness profilers and interferometry accessories.

4dtechnology.com

Sensirion is a leading sensor manufacturer, providing relative humidity sensors and flow sensor solutions with unique performance. sensirion.com

Evana Automation

Infineon

Sano

Hansford Sensors

Evana specializes in designing and implementing robotics automation solutions that fit your specific manufacturing needs. Let our robotics engineering and robotics manufacturing experts develop a custom robotics automation solution that meets your requirements. evanaautomation.com

We provide semiconductor and system solutions, focusing on three central needs of our modern society: Energy Efficiency, Mobility and Security. infineon.com

Sano is a biometric sensor and software company with a patented, breakthrough sensor that will help people understand what’s happening inside their bodies through continuously monitoring important markers in their bodies’ chemistry. sano.co

At Hansford Sensors, we design, develop and manufacture a wide range of high performance industrial accelerometers, vibration transmitters (loop powered sensors) and ancillary equipment. hansfordsensors.com

KUKA.WorkVisual Dassault Systemes Robotics Programmer provides a 3D environment where robot programmers can create, program, simulate and validate an entire robot workcell.

3ds.com

Programming. Configuration.

Loading. Testing. Diagnosis.

Modifying. Archiving. KUKA. WorkVisual groups all the steps of a project together in a homogenous offline development, online diagnosis and maintenance environment. kuka-robotics.com

Freescale Adept Adept has cultivated and maintained key partnerships with industry-leading integrators, OEMs, and machine builders across the globe and throughout numerous application segments. adept.com

NewBotic Corporation

Atmel

NewBotic is a robotic systems integrator, best known for its specialized engineering services that designs advanced transformative manufacturing and warehousing processes for a wide variety of industries. newbotic.com

Atmel Corporation is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency components. atmel.com Silicon Labs

FANUC Authorized Integrators Aldebaran by Softbank ABB RobotStudio Aldebaran enables both novices and experts to use its robots with ease. To do this, an SDK has been developed to support creation in the best way possible: 3D simulator, simple and intuitive programming software, C++ libraries, Python, .Net. aldebaran.com

RobotStudio provides the tools to increase the profitability of your robot system by letting you perform tasks such as training, programming, and optimization without disturbing production. abb.com

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An Authorized FANUC Integrator is ready to analyze your system requirements and provide a robotic solution that will improve quality, throughput, and productivity to give you the return on investment you are looking for. fanucamerica.com

Freescale Semiconductor enables secure, embedded processing solutions for the Internet of Tomorrow. Freescale’s solutions drive a more innovative and connected world, simplifying our lives and making us safer. freescale.com

Genesis Systems Genesis Systems Group designs, builds and implements robotic arc welding systems, assembly automation systems and robotic tooling, material handling solutions, non-destructive inspection cells and robotic waterjet cutting systems like nobody else. genesis-systems.com

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Silicon Labs is a team of hardware and software innovators dedicated to solving our customer’s toughest embedded design challenges. silabs.com

Texas Instruments

EMX

TI’s microcontroller platform offers innovative devices with integrated on-chip architectures, unique intellectual property, system expertise in key markets, and a comprehensive ecosystem of software, tools and support. ti.com

EMX is one of the world’s leading innovators of specialty sensors in the factory and process automation markets. Our sensors are used in automotive, packaging, labeling, metal stamping, paper and wood processing, plastics, electronics and pharmaceutical manufacturing. emxinc.com

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Synaptics Synaptics is a world leader in capacitive touch sensing technology. This patented technology is at the heart of our industry-standard TouchPad products and other solutions. synaptics.com

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Marketplace

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Marketplace

19

Marketplace: companies Kawada

Kawasaki

SynTouch

3D Robotics 3DR helps people see their world from above. As North America’s largest personal drone company, 3DR is a pioneer in making advanced, easy-to-use drone technology.

3dr.com

For over 40 years, Kawasaki has been improving technology to meet the high demand of assembly applications. Kawasaki’s innovative hardware and software can help you solve your complex assembly challenges. kawasaki.com

SynTouch LLC developed and makes the only sensor technology in the world that endows robots with the ability to replicate - and sometimes exceed - the human sense of touch. syntouchllc.com

DENSO Robotics Yaskawa Yaskawa Motoman offers a wide range of industrial robotic arm models for high-speed precision assembly and small part handling including high-performance sixaxis robots; flexible seven-axis manipulators; dual-arm robots with 15 axes; and more. motoman.com

Universal Robots Universal Robots is a result of many years of intensive research in robotics. The product portfolio includes the collaborative UR3, UR5 and UR10 robot arms named after their payloads in kilos. universal-robots.com

Vecna Vecna’s robotic logistics solutions are a family of autonomous mobile robots, built to operate within human-centric environments. vecna.com

Cutting edge technology, class leading products and groundbreaking systems are only part of what you can expect when you choose DENSO Robotics. densorobotics.com

Schunk SCHUNK is one of the largest manufacturer for automation components, toolholders and workholding equipment. schunk.com

”Serving society through technology,” has been Kawada’s mission since its inception in 1922. Our mission has been accomplished through technological innovations in a vast range of operations, including projects involving transportation, energy, and information, all basic necessities of society. global.kawada.jp

Brain Corporation Energid

Stäubli Stäubli is a mechatronics solutions provider with three dedicated divisions: textile, connectors and robotics, serving customers who want to increase their productivity in many industrial sectors. staubli.com

Energid Technologies develops advanced software and robotic systems for the aerospace, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, defense, and medical industries. energid.com

Brain Corporation develops software, hardware, and cloud services for consumer robotics.

Our goal is to make intelligent and useful machines a part of everyday life with the world’s first training-based operating system for robots – BrainOS. braincorporation.com

Honda Robotics

Ekso Bionics

Bosch Robotics

DMG Mori Ellison

Honda has further advanced intelligence technologies enabling its advanced humanoid robot ASIMO to act autonomously and perform uninterrupted service to office guests. honda.com

Ekso Bionics helps survivors of stroke, spinal cord injury and other forms of lower extremity weakness to walk again. intl.eksobionics.com

We are working on Personal Robotics and the enabling technologies. Our interdisciplinary team conducts research on topics such as mobile manipulation, navigation, perception and semantic analysis of 3D data. bosch.us

DMG Mori Ellison Technologies is a provider of advanced machining solutions to North American metal-cutting manufacturers and their global affiliates. ellisontechnologies.com

Epson

iRobot

ASI

DAIHEN

With over 45,000 robots installed in factories throughout the world, many of the top manufacturing companies rely on Epson Robots every day to reduce production costs, improve product quality, increase yields and help increase their bottom line. epson.com

iRobot’s home robots are revolutionizing the way people clean – inside and out. More than 10 million home robots have been sold worldwide. www.irobot.com

Autonomous Solutions is a world leader in vendor independent vehicle automation systems. From our HQ in Utah, we serve clients in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, teleoperation, and fully automated solutions. asirobots.com

The DAIHEN Group makes it our mission to provide products and services indispensable to primary industries around the world, including first and foremost the power industry or so-called “lifeline” of society. daihen.co.jp

Robotiq Our goal is to enable all manufacturers to take full advantage of robotics. We work with robot manufacturers, system integrators and end-users to automate applications that require fexibility. robotiq.com

Dyson Dyson recently invested in a joint robotics lab with Imperial College London to investigate vision systems and engineer a generation of household robots. dyson.co.uk

TEUN

Future Robot

Clearpath Robotics

Axium

TEUN is a comprehensive concept, based on a smart unmanned machine, the PIQR. The concept has been developed to offer a solution for the frequently complex laborintensive and expensive way of unloading containers. teun.com

We, Future Robot, aim to create an exemplary service robot market. We deal with Coupon Advertising Robot, Mobile Infotainment Service, Robot Event Service, and many more.

We build the world’s best unmanned vehicles for research and development. Our products will save time, money and headaches on your next project. clearpathrobotics.com

Axium designs, manufactures and installs a complete range of automated solutions for robotic material handling (palletizing, depalletizing, case packing, and peripheral equipments) and transformation of plastic products. axiumsolutions.com

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Honeybee Robotics Since 1983, Honeybee has completed over 300 projects for NASA, the US Department of Defense, academia, industry and artists. honeybeerobotics.com

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Aethon Aethon is best known for its TUG autonomous mobile delivery robot which transports medications, meals and materials through hospitals. aethon.com

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Aurotek Aurotek delivers high valueadded services and solutions, and helping customers achieve greater value through its introduction of advanced and quality components, acquirement of new technology concepts. robot.com.tw

Apex Automation and Robotics Apex Automation and Robotics is an Australian company specialising in the design and manufacture of custom-built automation machines and robotic systems.

Adept Adept systems provide unmatched performance and economic value throughout the production lifecycle, enabling customers to achieve precision, quality and productivity in their assembly, handling and packaging processes. adept.com

Reis Experts know REIS as creative pacemaker for process-oriented system solutions. Since 1957 our way has been going dynamically up.

The fundamentals: Inventive genius, competence, innovative power, and reliability. reisrobotics.de

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China’s robot revolution The world’s most populous nation now buys the most robots

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