The monthly magazine for the robotics and automation industry Issue 16 August 2018
REMAKING CELEBRITIES AS ROBOTS
Sensor Readings
Farming lands in the robotic age
Abdul Montaqim Editor
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n the latest issue of Sensor Readings magazine, we feature the latest and most advanced technologies for what’s being called “precision agriculture”. Farming is said to have started around 15,000 years ago and provided the foundation on which human civilizations were built. As recently as 50 to 100 years ago, most modern nation-states were agrarian, generating the majority of their gross domestic product from the agricultural sector. And even now that most advanced economies generate the largest portion of their GDP from sectors other than agriculture, farming is still a vital part of the economy. In this issue of the magazine, we list 30 companies which are taking the lead in developing robotics and automation technologies that will significantly change the way farming is done. Apart from autonomous vehicles, such as tractors and strawberry pickers, there are the internet of things networks which can monitor fields to see if any of it is being attacked by weeds or pests. This way, treatment with pesticides can be minimized and production increased. It’s literally 24-hour monitoring of farms. And because the systems can incorporate testing that would otherwise take time and cost money, and incorporate a range of software and other hardware, this entirely new way of farming is being called “precision agriculture”. It’s an interesting topic which we will cover more often in the magazine. Also in this issue, we include a light-hearted article about how humanoid companion robots could increasingly be made in the form of popular celebrities. Recent news reports suggest that some humanoid robot companies – that is, sex doll makers – are using 3D scanning and additive manufacturing systems to produce forms that are almost exact copies of real humans. Similar techniques are shown to be used to make the robots in science-fiction works such as the widely seen Westworld. It’s probably only a matter of time that some of these robots are only sold as being a copy of a famous star. Other articles this month include an overview of the Malaysian economy, the transformation of the car into a computer on wheels, and a look at the automation technologies behind the ongoing e-commerce boom. l
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Editorial
Contents
Malaysia: Government drives growth of automation
Cars Computers that make cars in their own image
Farming The future of automated agriculture
Art & Culture The celebrities most likely to be reincarnated as robots and androids Country insight: Malaysia set for logistics technology revolution. Supercomputers: Summit names world’s fastest supercomputer. Ecommerce: Delivering opportunities in e-logistics Marketplace
Sensor Readings magazine
Editorial & Production
Managing Editor Anna Schmidt Editor Abdul Montaqim
Art Editor Mark Allinson
Email annaschmidt@roboticsandautomationnews.com
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Monsoon Media, London, United Kingdom Subscriptions: £10 per year (digital only) Single issue: £1 (digital version)
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Malaysia set for logistics technolgy revolution Features
Country insight
Country insight: Malaysia’s ports make up a logistics hub serving the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Now, as the country explores the potential of robotics and automation, it is backing Logisware’s third annual event.
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alaysia is a southeast Asian country with a population of about 32 million, and a diverse ethnic mix which includes 50 per cent Malays, 23 per cent Chinese and 12 per cent “indigenous”, along with 7 per cent Indians and 9 per cent “others”, according to the most recent study. Its location and geography – with thousands of miles of coastline and almost 30 ports – make Malaysia an ideal logistics hub for the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. The largest port in the country is said to be Port Klang, which used to be called Pelabuhan Swettenham. Like any major port, it has road and rail connections to the rest of the country and beyond – to Singapore and Thailand among other places. Located less than 40 kilometres southwest of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, Port Klang has been seeing an increase in trade every year for the past decade. In 2016, Port Klang moved more than 235 million tonnes of freight, according to Malaysian government statistics, more than double the 110 million tonnes it moved in 2005. There are certainly challenges ahead for Port Klang as well as for all the ports in Malaysia. Dynamic Singapore is nearby and so is the sprawling archipelago of Indonesia, editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
and both are well placed to provide port services, and Singapore Port, in particular, is taking a significant amount of business away from Port Klang. However, Datuk Tan Chong Seng, chairman of the Port Klang Free Zone, is positive. Tan told Malaysia’s The Star newspaper that PKFZ has successfully positioned itself as “a much-sought-after regional investment location”. Tan said the Malaysia-China Port Alliance, an agreement reached as part of China’s ambitious Belt & Road project, will help accelerate Port Klang’s growth. Tan added: “We expect revenue to touch
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Country insight
RM78.23 million [$2 million] in 2017 which is almost a 100 per cent increase from 2012.” But competitive challenges are increasing, and this is partly the reason behind the government increasingly encouraging and supporting trade shows which are not only trying to consolidate the country’s strengths but are also designed to develop new markets in advanced industries, such as robotics and automation.
Show backing Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport and its Investment Development Authority have put their weight behind events such as Logisware, a logistics trade show organised by a private company called One International Exhibition. Logisware’s third annual event is scheduled for later this year, from September 5th to 7th, and the venue is Setia City Convention Centre, in Selangor, Malaysia. This year’s event could be more important than the past two because of the increasing amount of robotics and automation technology being introduced to the logistics sector. Logisware hosted almost 100 exhibitors last year, and they showcased a range of systems and solutions, including: editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
Features
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Logisware hosted almost 100 exhibitors last year showcasing a range of systems and solutions
l storage; l picking; l warehousing; l industrial vehicles; l trucks and specially equipped vehicles; l carriers; l pallets and containers; l packaging; l information technology; l engineering and consulting; and l parts for logistics equipment. These are all standard technologies and aspects of today’s logistics industry, but it’s likely that the emphasis this year will be more on automation technology because that is the way the world is going at the moment. Port operators worldwide are said to be investing more in such things as: l modern material handling systems, which often involve industrial robotic arms; l automated warehouse management, which often includes autonomous vehicles of various sizes for different tasks; and l information technology and internet-of-things data systems for monitoring entire operations from beginning to end. Some of these new technologies can and will be expensive of course at first, but in time and as their return on investment becomes more attractive, they will become essential purchases. And that’s mainly the technology designed for use within a facility like a warehouse and in its immediate area, such as a port. Longer-term, it’s inevitable that we will see driverless trucks carrying shipping containers and even ships of many sizes navigating themselves through the world’s oceans and seas with no humans needed – just a computer program. And Malaysia looks to have noticed and is busy developing ideas about how to integrate robotics and automation technologies into its logistics and other sectors if another trade event is anything to go by. Robotex is a new event planned by the same company which has been organising Logisware for the past three years. The first of what is planned as an annual Robotex show is to run alongside Logisware at the same time and place. One International says the Robotex event is “a professional robotic platform designed for the market players and industry stakeholders to explore the emerging robotic technology that is setting foot in various industries”. It adds that Robotex aims to gather leading companies in Malaysia and visitors all under one roof to share and exchange ideas about the fast-growing technology trends that can make businesses thrive by delivering insights, understanding and highlight “exceptional business opportunities that lie ahead”. l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Features
Malaysia
Government drives growth of Malaysian automation Government incentives and the adoption of new technologies are driving the growth of the Malaysian automation and control systems market, according to a new report.
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he Malaysian automation and control systems market, one of the biggest for suppliers, is stable and growing, says a study by Frost & Sullivan, which projects the market to be worth more than $409 million in the next four years. Government incentives to aid manufacturing and infrastructure spend, as well as an established end-user base of sophisticated automation systems, are driving growth in the region. Nonetheless, barriers to market entry are high. To editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
succeed in a fiercely competitive ecosystem, automation vendors must embrace new technologies, such as Internet of Things, collaborate with developers of machine-to-machine technologies, and improve production capabilities. Krishnan Ramanathan, Frost & Sullivan’s industrial automation and process control industry analyst, says: “Traditional end users, such as the oil and gas, power, and chemicals and petrochemicals industries, will continue to be important revenue contributors for automation systems suppliers. “However, as Industrial Internet of things (IIoT) gains significance, such companies will have to collaborate with multiple suppliers and service providers in the value chain to reap the full benefits of the latest technology.” Frost & Sullivan’s report, Opportunities in Malaysia for www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Malaysia
Automation and Control System Manufacturers, finds that the total automation and control market in Malaysia will be worth $409 million by 2021. The study provides an analysis of current and expected market developments, drivers, restraints, and revenue forecasts across segments. Strategic imperatives for success and growth in Malaysia's automation and control systems market include: l Embracing change in both the short and long terms through new business models that offer scope for implementation of IIoT technologies; l Vendors cutting costs at all levels to optimize client benefits due to popularity of main automation
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Features
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Government incentives to aid manufacturing and infrastructure spend, as well as an established end-user base of sophisticated automation systems, are driving growth in the region
contractor and main instrumentation vendor concepts; l Expanding cloud-enabled services through partnerships and relationships with service providers to leverage technological benefits; l Investing in requisite upgrades now to be able to adopt and integrate new technologies when they are available; l Offering development and training services; and l Focusing on niche solutions. Krishnan says: “With the proliferation of IIoT and other digital technologies, the chances of a cyberattack on an industrial network increases. In most instances, the levels of readiness and skills to thwart cyberattacks are low. “Collaborating or partnering with cybersecurity firms will be vital to future success.” Frost & Sullivan’s study covers automation market segments such as: l programmable logic controllers (PLC); l distributed control systems (DCS); l supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA); l human machine interface (HMI); and l safety systems. The market share and competitive analysis of major suppliers, such as Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Yokogawa, Emerson, Honeywell and Omron, are also discussed. l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Summit named world’s fastest supercomputer Features
Supercomputers
Supercomputers: The US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is once again officially home to the fastest supercomputer in the world, according to the Top500 List, a semiannual ranking of the world’s fastest computing systems.
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Summit consists of 4,608 compute servers, each containing two 22-core IBM Power9 processors and six Nvidia Tesla V100 graphics processing unit accelerators.
he US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is once again officially home to the fastest supercomputer in the world, according to the Top500 List, a semiannual ranking of the world’s fastest computing systems. The recently launched Summit supercomputer was announced as number one at the ISC High Performance conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The designation recognizes the IBM-built system as the science community’s most powerful computational tool for solving problems in energy, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and other domains. Summit is the third ORNL system to be ranked number one by Top500, following in the footsteps of the Jaguar and Titan supercomputers. Jaguar ranked as the world’s fastest system in November 2009 and June 2010, while Titan held the title in November 2012. ORNL director Thomas Zacharia said: “With Summit, researchers will be able to simulate and explore complex phenomena and obtain results in disciplines ranging from quantum materials and chemistry, advanced fission and fusion energy, to bioenergy and foundational biosciences, faster and in greater detail. “In addition to traditional modeling and simulation, Summit will also serve as an artificial intelligence and deep learning behemoth, capable of analyzing massive amounts of data and automating critical steps of the discovery process.”
The ORNL Summit supercomputer The IBM Summit system reached a speed of 122.3 petaflops on the High-Performance Linpack benchmark test – the software used to evaluate and rank supercomputers on the Top500 list. At its theoretical peak, Summit is capable of 200 petaflops, or 200,000 trillion calculations per second – about eight times more performance than its predecessor Titan. Senator Lamar Alexander said: “Scientists around the world have been working to develop supercomputers for years – but scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
just built the fastest one: Summit. “According to the Top500 list, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory today houses the most powerful and smartest supercomputer in the world, which is further proof that the area’s scientific brainpower, energy research and technological capabilities are some of the best in the world. I’m proud of this area and what we have been able to accomplish.” Summit consists of 4,608 compute servers, each containing two 22-core IBM Power9 processors and six Nvidia Tesla V100 graphics processing unit accelerators. Summit is interconnected with a dual-rail Mellanox EDR InfiniBand network, which provides overall 200 gigabits per second throughput to each compute server, and runs a standard Linux operating system from Red Hat in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The system also possesses more than 10 petabytes of memory paired with high-bandwidth pathways for efficient data movement. The combination of cutting-edge hardware and robust data subsystems marks an evolution of the hybrid CPU– GPU architecture successfully pioneered by Titan and a substantial step toward the goal of delivering the first US exascale supercomputer – a system capable of a billion billion double precision floating point operations per second. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann said: “Leadership in supercomputing is a national priority, and Oak Ridge will continue to lead the way toward the next milestone: exascale computing. “The contributions of Oak Ridge to American innovation and scientific achievement are incalculable, and I congratulate the ORNL team for, yet again, making East Tennessee home to the world’s fastest supercomputer.” l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
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Features
Farming
Alien farming technology
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Farming technology: A glimpse into the future of automated agriculture arming, as a human activity, is thought to be the basis for civilisations and societies dating back 15,000 years, possibly even further back if you believe the ancient alien astronaut theory. In fact, ancient alien astronauts from the Anunnaki race are thought to have introduced Earthlings to farming in the first place, and gifted humans the plough. But that’s a whole other story. Whatever its age, farming is still a globally widespread activity today. Indeed, until around 50 years ago, the vast majority of countries around the world were agrarian, meaning their economies and societies were reliant on the income generated by the agricultural sector – not just the food produced by it. Even today, the largest economy in the world – the US – is also the world’s largest exporter of food. The World Atlas website drew up a list of the top 25 countries which exported the most amount of food, as denoted by the revenues earned in 2014. Below, we have republished the top 10: 1 United States: $150 billion 2 Netherlands: $93 billion editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
3 Germany: $87 billion 4 Brazil: $79 billion 5 France: $74 billion 6 China: $63 billion 7 Spain: $51 billion 8 Canada $49 billion 9 Belgium: $44 billion 10Italy: $44 billion These numbers would appear to be small compared to the figures in, for example, the machinery exports sector. But agricultural goods tend to fetch much lower prices than modern manufactured or hi-tech goods. The agricultural commodities which are the biggest exports are: l Corn l Fish l Palm oil l Rice l Soybeans l Wheat The disparity in monetary value between agricultural produce and other types of goods is one of the reasons www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Farming
Features
why so many farmers struggle to make a profit, and often need to be subsidised by their governments. It’s difficult to say whether the new generation of robotics and automation technologies – collectively called “agritech” or “precision farming technology” – will help smaller farming businesses since the costs of investing in new technology can be too high for most. But certainly, there are new technologies that promise to make farming more efficient, more productive and less reliant on pesticides, which has always been a controversial subject.
Flying scarecrows Drones are an interesting technology being used in a variety of sectors, but agriculture, along with largescale construction and mining, would seem to be the perfect environment for what could be seen as flying scarecrows. A drone could be programmed to watch over a field and scare away birds and other critters that may prevent the crops from developing naturally, or developing at all. According to a report by Bekryl Market Research, the forestry and agriculture drones market is set to grow by almost 40 per cent this year to reach $460 million. Bekryl adds that the largest suppliers of these drones are: l DJI l 3D Robotics l AeroVironment l Trimble Navigation l DroneDeploy DJI has even launched what it describes as its “first agricultural drone”, meaning it is dust-proof, waterresistant and can be loaded with “10 kilograms of liquid for crop-spraying and can cover between seven and 10 acres per hour”. There are, of course, many other drone companies, such as Kespry, Parrot and GoPro – the maker of the camera systems used by many other drones. And the entire drone ecosystem has become very diverse, with software and platforms and events galore. A good place to look into the sector seems to be the UAV Coach website. I’ve got my IoT on you A more constant monitoring system has been demonstrated by a variety of researchers, who used relatively low-cost computing components and sensors, networking them together to build such things as phenotyping systems. The CropQuant system, which we reported on a while back is said to analyse the crop’s DNA for early
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identification of typical genetic traits – such as drought, heat tolerance, disease resistance and nutrition; reducing potential costs. One of the inventors of CropQuant, Dr Ji Zhou, says: “CropQuant will provide an affordable solution to prevent crop losses, contributing to food security, as well as industrial and academic purposes.” CropQuant is one of many systems being marketed in the fast-growing but still nascent field of precision agriculture. Another much-larger-scale precision agriculture system is being developed by two German industrial giants – Bosch and Bayer. Bosch is a manufacturer of a huge range of engineered products, and has recently showcased a farm robot called Bonirob, which forms part of what is clearly the company’s strong interest in the farming sector, as evidenced by the establishment of its DeepField Robotics business unit. Bayer is known as a biotech or drugs company which was recently given the green light to buy Monsanto, the controversial agritech business closely associated with genetically modified foods. The “merger” – which looks more like a takeover of Monsanto by Bayer – is reported to be costing Bayer more than $66 billion, and is “terrifying” farmers, according to an apparently hysterical report on BusinessInsider.com. Bosch and Bayer say their precision agriculture system could help improve harvests by 50 per cent, which, coincidentally, is the amount that will be needed to feed the global population by 2050, according to the United Nations. One of the key features of the Bosch-Bayer farming system is that, according to them, it can monitor whole fields and only spray pesticides on specific areas, as and when needed, rather than cover the whole region with them, as used to be the case in the past.
Bitte harvest Such a huge range of new technologies are being developed in this sector that it’s quite difficult to keep up. On this website, in the past year, we have seen at least half a dozen new autonomous vehicles developed for applications in farming. From the driverless tractor, showcased by CNH, to the combine harvester for strawberry farming, demonstrated by Harvest Croo, as well as the many other, smaller startups launching their own solutions… farmers are being spoilt for choice. We should make a list of all the solutions available so far, and we will, but one that comes to mind was the recent story about a solar-powered farming vehicle developed by EcoRobotix, which has raised $11 million for its innovation. l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Reaping the benefits of farm automation Features
Farming Title
Briefing: A focus on 30 companies at the cutting edge of automation and robotics technologies in the agriculture sector
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n our recent article, “humorously” entitled “Alien farming technology…”, we mentioned that it might be a good idea to list some of the robotics and automation technologies emerging in the agricultural sector. Which brings us here, and the slight problem of how to order the list. After minimal discussion, we decided to go random. So this list is not presented in any particular order. Hence the lack of numbers. However, we do think all the technologies and companies mentioned below are offering something that will bring significant changes to the agricultural sector. The combine harvester was a revolutionary machine, and is still arguably the most sophisticated piece of equipment at a typical large farm. But increasingly it is being joined by machines that can think and make decisions for themselves – within given parameters of course. Not only is a new generation of intelligent machines or robots ready to work on farms, there is a variety of sensor-based monitoring systems ready to flourish within the ecosystem of the internet of things which will, inevitably, assimilate farms. Additionally, there are drones to consider. And – probably most surprisingly – the prospect of farms moving to urban areas, and taking the shape of what are called “indoor farms” or “vertical farms”. In some areas, these indoor or vertical farms could be used to grow marijuana, but mostly, what’s being discussed is fruit and vegetables. So, without any dope-fuelled procrastination, let’s get to the list, which editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
includes links to related articles we may have published previously. AR Systems This company claims to have developed a fully automated indoor farming system that can be managed from anywhere in the world. Judging from the picture, farms can be the size of a typical shipping container. CNH Industrial CNH Industrial is a huge name in the agricultural sector, and its autonomous tractor concept is appropriately epic. Futuristic and impressive, the driverless vehicles is probably beyond the means of most small farms.
Harvest Croo This startup has developed a strawberrypicking autonomous vehicle. If it can engage in strawberry-picking effectively enough, it could solve all the arguments in the US about immigration, since many legal migrants cross the border to work in the agriculture sector.
EcoRobotix A relatively lightweight vehicle, this solarpowered weeding robot can be used for weeding and reduce the reliance on
pesticides, according to startup EcoRobotix, which raised $11 million to grow its business. DeepField Robotics Established as a business unit by industrial giant Bosch, DeepField Robotics would seem to have a bright future, by the admission of the people in charge – there are just so many solutions that could be developed for the sector. Bosch With its tremendous resources, Bosch is not only establishing business units like DeepField Robotics, it’s also developing farm robots like Bonirob within the company. Additionally, it’s partnering with other companies – an example is given below.
Bayer A biotech company which is in the process of acquiring Monsanto – a company associated with genetically modified farm foods. Bayer is working with Bosch to develop sophisticated, IoT-based farming systems that may reduce the reliance on pesticides.
Plenty Indoor farming systems developer Plenty has received huge amounts of attention and
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Title Farming investment and may become the first company to set up a chain of urban indoor or vertical farms which can compete with the likes of Whole Foods Market and other greengrocers. Harvest Automation This company developed a mobile vehicle designed around the needs of agricultural companies, but then it sold the technology to NextShift, which has broadened its application to industries beyond agriculture.
Drones A variety of drone companies have been customising their vehicles for agriculture, including the largest drone maker, DJI, which is what the link is to. But while there is potential for their application, drones still have limitations such as flight time.
ABB and Heliospectra Innovations in lighting are probably going to be critical to the success of indoor farming of many types, and multimillion-dollar businesses like Helispectra are partnering with industrial giants like ABB oto make their greenhouse operations more efficient.
Autonomous Solutions Inc ASI develops crucial technologies such as that which drives CNH’s autonomous tractor. It also adopts other technologies, such as mesh networking, which may influence other companies in the industry to do the same.
Husky Clearpath Robotics provides this unmanned guided vehicle that, in this instance, has been customised to deliver “precision irrigation” which, as the term suggests, can save significant amounts of water for farms and large-scale gardens.
Bühler and Microsoft Although this moves us a bit further downstream, closer to the consumer, food processing is also seeing significant amounts of innovation, including this one where Microsoft and Bühler are working to reduce the amount of food that is wasted. Fraunhofer Cucumbers are among the most popular salad vegetables, and picking them presents challenges because they are soft. But if
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Features anyone can solve the issues, it’s the boffins at the Fraunhofer Institute.
invested a very large amount of money in Blue River’s lettuce farming robot technology.
Volvo Volvo demonstrated a self-steering truck for sugarcane harvesting in Brazil. The automaker seems keen on such technology since it has developed similar self-driving technology for the mining industry as well.
Indigo This is another company we have yet to feature on the website, but that’s just two so far. Interestingly, this company’s systems hold out the promise of “pesticide-free farming”, which is obviously something everyone can support.
Gamaya Sugarcane is one of the most valuable crops globally, and cultivation probably cover millions of acres. This company provides cloud-based software to monitor and manage large sugarcane fields.
Smart Ag Another sign that computers are entering the agriculture sector in a big way, Smart Ag offers cloud connectivity and monitoring services for driverless tractors and can, as far as we understand, fully automate regular tractors. ZF Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen is a big name in the traditional automotive world. A few months ago, the company demonstrated its concept for a driverless tractor and other related technologies.
ABB The robotic arm being used on the Singaporean farm in question is not being perched on eggs and used to hatch them, as the headline might suggest. It’s more a story about material handling, which is where robots are increasingly getting involved.
Universal Logic Primarily a software company, Universal Logic has developed a robotic solution which is proving popular with strawberry growers, with Agricultural Robotics ordering 100 of its “Neocortex” systems.
Terrasentia Many new innovations and great business ideas are emerging from universities, and this one is from the University of Illinois. It’s a relatively small mobile robot and its makers have set up a company for it called EarthSense. John Deere Arguably the most well-known name in agricultural machinery, John Deere has
Spread Spread was probably the first company to demonstrate a viable urban farming business model. It was so long ago that we can’t find the story we did about it, so this is just a link to the company’s website.
Marijuana The demon weed was always going to become a big business once it was decriminalised and legalised, and so it has happened that quite advanced farming technologies – particularly in greenhouse management – have been developed in the sector.
Abundant Robotics Picking apples may sound like an idyllic way to pass the time, but as a full-time job in the heat of the summer, not so much. Hence this company’s apple-picking robot could become a must-have for orchard owners.
Sensors and chips Tiny computers such as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino are being used to create highly sophisticated hardware-and-software systems that are within the purchasing power of many farms. The link leads to just one example.
Connectivity As well as powerful chips and sensors available at low-cost, networking and connectivity technology – such as LoRa technology – is also available at much more affordable prices. All of which is leading to farms becoming IoT fields. Fanuc Another example of a “downstream” robotic system, this story proved quite popular as it tells of Fanuc robotic arms being used to process and pack lettuce for a Spanish company, enabling it to reduce its reliance on finding scarce human labour. www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Computers that make cars in their own image Features
Cars
Computers on wheels: An insight into how computers are playing an integral role in the design of the latest generation of cars
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Volkswagen claims it is already using the D-Wave quantum computer to design more efficient, more powerful batteries for electric vehicles.
hen Robotics and Automation News interviewed Professor Ralf Herrtwich, the boss of autonomous driving technology at Daimler Mercedes-Benz, one of the many interesting insights he gave us was about the nature of car making these days. Herrtwich said that, while building cars is still mainly a mechanical process, developing them is overwhelmingly about software. “Both at OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and suppliers,” said Herrtwich, “software engineering and coding constitute a huge and ever-growing portion of the work.” This suggests that the big automakers are far more capable when it comes to computing technology than many people might think. When companies like Google and, more recently, Apple talk about developing driverless car technology, some might think it means the end of the traditional automakers’ dominance of the market. They may have thought that if cars are becoming computers on wheels, as many people think they are, then it seems natural to think the Silicon Valley tech companies have an enormous advantage. That may well be true in some areas, but building physical machines that move is still far more complex than building software that lives inside computer systems. The two sectors are, of course, converging – with materials science finding itself at the centre – but it is by no means a foregone conclusion that one side will dominate the other. What seems to be happening is partnerships are being
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formed between the big companies and the smaller startups are being acquired. So, Google has licensed its driverless car tech to Fiat Chrysler, while Apple has provided its in-car entertainment and communications interface to a host of others. Below, we highlight some of the more interesting developments in this space where the technologies in automotive, telecommunications and computing are converging to create a completely new kind of driving experience. While some people would never even consider allowing themselves to be driven by an autonomous car, many others are getting used to being in cars that already have a large amount of self-driving technology, which is currently packaged under the label of “advanced driver assistance systems”, or ADAS. ADAS can mean anything from cruise control to selfparking, all of which needs computing. So, as Herrtwich observed, while the engineering designers continue to build more sleek looking car bodies, the coding not only continues but becomes ever more important. Quantum geekery When automaking giant Volkswagen Audi bought a quantum computing system from D-Wave last year, it was probably thought of as an experiment or just a way to keep tabs on what might eventually become an important technology in the future. Many experts argue that quantum computers are decades away from being commercialised for the mass market, but Volkswagen claims it is already using the Dwww.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Cars
Wave quantum computer to design more efficient, more powerful batteries for electric vehicles. D-Wave computers cost a minimum of $15 million, so Volkswagen probably feels it must show that it is at least doing something with its investment. In this instance, the story Volkswagen is pushing is that it has become the first company or group to have “succeeded in simulating industrially relevant molecules using a quantum computer”. The aim of the project is to develop a “tailor-made” battery for high-performance electric vehicles. But quantum computing – on which VW is partnering with Google to further develop – is just one part of a broader move towards using more computing in general. Carmakers like Volkswagen Audi have always relied on supercomputers to help design and simulate prototypes, and this reliance will only increase, although it may eventually be
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Features
Part of the quantum computer VW bought from D-Wave
supercomputers built using quantum processors. But it’s not only about specific areas of the automaking process, companies like Volkswagen Audi – as well as industrial companies of all types – are increasingly making their entire process digital, from shop floor to administrative office. Martin Hofmann, chief information officer of Volkswagen Group, says: “We are focusing on the modernization of IT systems throughout the Group. “The objective is to intensify the digitalization of work processes – to make them simpler, more secure and more efficient and to support new business models. “This is why we are combining our core task with the introduction of specific key technologies for Volkswagen. These include the internet of things and artificial intelligence, as well as quantum computing.” But going back to the drawing board, one of the most time-consuming activities in any research and development centre must be the testing of many different variations of an idea. The people who eventually gave the world the light bulb probably tried hundreds of different materials before eventually deciding on one that would be able to glow without melting for a long enough period of time that made it commercially viable. Similarly, all the new materials and processes that are emerging now need to be tested one by one to see which ones can help solve the issues facing engineers. And some people say quantum computers can help accelerate that process. Florian Neukart, principle scientist at Volkswagen’s www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Features
Picture courtesy of Digital Engineering News
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Based on the company’s 3DS platform, Simulia is said to provide “realistic simulation applications that enable users to explore realworld behavior of product, nature and life
Cars
Code Lab in San Francisco, says: “We are working hard to develop the potential of quantum computers for Volkswagen. “The simulation of electrochemical materials is an important project in this context. In this field, we are performing genuine pioneering work. “We are convinced that commercially available quantum computers will open up previously unimaginable opportunities. We intend to acquire the specialist knowledge we need for this purpose now.”
My other car’s a digital one Digitalisation is a huge trend. It’s huge because, well, the world is huge, and has a huge number of components and elements. And if you’re going to get into the physics of everything – all the minute details right down to the molecular level – you’re going to need a bigger computer and more powerful software. All the main software companies in this space – Dassault Systèmes, Autodesk, Ansys and others – offer simulation capabilities, but it’s probably worth highlighting a few here since they are relatively new and being improved all the time. Ansys recently launched a new version of its software which it claims offers the “first comprehensive solution” for simulation-based digital twins. (See story.) “Digital twins”, as you probably could have guessed, refers to digital versions of real-world things, whether those things are molecules of a material or components or complete systems. Ansys may be best-placed to grow its market share in the engineering design space this year if the use of simulation software continues to grow because it probably the company most strongly associated with engineering simulation. Some observers say 2018 will see particularly strong growth in engineering simulation
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software growth. Dassault Systèmes is a provider of software that is widely used in the automotive sector and many others. Among the many applications it offers is something called Simulia, which, as the name suggests, is the company’s simulation offering. Based on the company’s 3DS platform, Simulia is said to provide “realistic simulation applications that enable users to explore real-world behavior of product, nature and life”. The company also offers SolidWorks Simulation. One of the key industries Dassault Systèmes is targeting – as well as automotive and aerospace – is the medical sector, where drug testing and development would seem to offer many opportunities. Autodesk is still strongly associated with architecture because of what used to be its flagship product, Autocad. But as the engineering and manufacturing sector discovers the company’s many new applications – some of which were added recently through acquisitions – Autodesk’s image may change. Autodesk has a number of specific simulation applications which it offers as part of its suite. Autodesk’s simulation software range includes Nastran, which was developed by Nasa and is used for finite element analysis, and Helius, which is used for the design of composite materials. Out of memory In order to run such powerful software processing such large amounts of data, you’re going to need big computers. The one on your desk might be enough – depending on what you want to use it for. But we’ll take a look at the options another time – whether it be cloud computing, supercomputers or, if you’ve got $15 million to spare, a D-Wave quantum computing system. l
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Living with the STARS Features
Art & Culture
Celebrity robots: Sensor Readings takes a tongue-in-check look at the celebrities most to likely to be remade as robots and androids
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here’s probably an awful lot of lonely people out there who yearn for companionship, for intimacy, comfort, or for whatever reason. And at least some of those people may be more than happy to buy a walking, talking, physical likeness of whoever is the most desirable celebrity of the day perhaps. If consumers could buy robots or androids in the likeness of celebrities, which celebrity likeness would be the best-selling? We have no idea, but maybe a list included an article on the InStyle fashion magazine website could be used as a guide. It’s probably not for nothing many celebrities copyright their image, and this is a list of celebrities who have dolls fashioned in their image, and most likely earn good money from doing so. l Ashley Graham l Audrey Hepburn l Katy Perry l Jennifer Lopez l Ava Duvernay l Heidi Klum l Nicki Minaj l Jennifer Lawrence l Zendaya editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
Beyoncé paying homage to the female robot in the classic 1927 film Metropolis
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Features
l Elizabeth Taylor l Misty Copeland
Here’s another similar list – of celebrities who have Barbie dolls made in their image – from Marie Claire magazine: l Beyoncé l Cher l Cyndi Lauper l Diana Ross l Elvis and Priscilla Presley l Emily Rossum l Ava Duvernay l Farrah Fawcett l Grace Kelly l Audrey Hepburn l J.K. Rowling l Joan Jett l Prince William and Kate Middleton l Katy Perry l Heidi Klum l Jennifer Lopez l Marilyn Monroe l Nicki Minaj l Misty Copeland l Shakira l Elizabeth Taylor l Twiggy l Zendaya l Gigi Hadid How many of these celebrities end up – or are already editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
being used – as templates for real androids built in labs we don’t know, but they’d probably sell well. We should probably write a feature about how a human could be built like in Weird Science – starring Kelly LeBrock as the android – although that film didn’t give much detail at all. But rather than a celebrity lookalike, maybe some people would prefer to buy a robot or android which looks like someone who is not famous; or just be happy to make a choice from the models on offer at the android store – if and when one is established, if it hasn’t been already.
Merchandising robots Maybe films such as Ex Machina could merchandise the female humanoid robot – played by Alicia Vikander – in the film; or perhaps one of the other android models in the critically acclaimed movie. The TV show Humans could similarly merchandise the likeness of its many and varied robot characters, played by actors such as Gemma Chan, Emily Barrington and Jack Derges. And let’s not forget the picture-perfect androids in The Stepford Wives, starring Nicole Kidman in the 2004 version and Katharine Ross in the 1975 original, both films having been based on the book of the same name, written by Ira Levin. We could also mention the Bladerunner movies, both the 1982 one and the recent one of which feature androids as central characters. And how about Data from Star Trek? He’d be useful to have around. www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Features
The list of humanoids and androids in science fiction is almost endless, and such characters date back to at least the early part of the 20th century, probably even further back than that. The pictures used to illustrate this articles include one which shows singer Beyoncé paying homage to the female robot in the classic 1927 film Metropolis. Another one shows a robot made in the image of film actress Angelina Jolie, who – interestingly – does not seem to have a doll made of her. So why is it taking so long to actually build these humanoids or androids which are indistinguishable from actual, real humans?
We don’t know. There is almost certainly a market for it, and who knows, there probably are actual, custom-made androids that are sold for vast sums of money – because the absence of mass production means there are no economies of scale. Such high prices may put realistic, human-like androids beyond the reach of anyone who can’t afford a top-of-therange Ferrari, but with advances in materials science, actuation components, and artificial intelligence, it won’t be long before a truly disturbingly realistic humanoid or android – approaching the quality of those seen in sci-fi – is affordable for the mainstream consumer. Certainly Siri, Cortana, Alexa and other AI voice assistants are helping the big tech companies – such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and others – to build the necessary natural language processing skills which would be required. So the android could potentially not only look exactly the way you want it to – perhaps like that celebrity – but could also have the traits of their personality as well. Maybe the hardware side is more technically challenging than the software side because moving around in three-dimensional space is not as easy editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
Art & Culture
Above: The female robot in the classic 1927 film Metropolis. Below: A robot made in the image of film actress Angelina Jolie.
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as you might think if you’ve been doing it all your life without thinking about it. But these don’t seem unsolvable problems. Perhaps a decade. Two at the most. Probably. But how many people would buy them? Humanoids that actually look human are scary. There’s no two ways about it – they are terrifying. And the more human-like they are, the more terrifying they seem. But that’s just one opinion, although it’s probably shared by many. Others, however, may not find them as disruptive to their psyche and might be welcoming to the machines which will inevitably, without a doubt, take over the world and kill us all, probably. The technical term for a robot that looks like a human is android, although most people probably think of Android as the operating system for mobile computing devices, originally backed by Google. Hopefully, Boston Dynamics – another Google company – will not create an android because the humanoids they currently build only avoid frightening people to death by looking like a pile of random bits of metal that could be gathered from any scrapyard. Maybe Boston Dynamics should be banned from making androids. Their robots move in such a creepily realistic way that their development should probably stop there. Some roboticists have built humanoids that look human – can’t quite call them androids because of their relatively limited functionality, other than appearance.
Android builder Perhaps the most famous humanoid or android builder is Professor Ishiguro, of Osaka University, in Japan, but there are probably many others. The Japanese people, in general, seem to be more comfortable with robots than perhaps people of other countries – not all of them, but enough of them to prompt retail companies to install human-looking robots in place of actual humans in their department stores, for example. But beyond retail stores and public places, how far into our homes and lives will these humanoid robots or androids get? It might depend entirely on price since there seems no legal, moral or ethical framework which prohibits such a development. There is an ongoing discussion about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence systems in military applications, but what to make of an android which manipulates your emotions and breaks your heart? That would definitely be human-like, all too human-like. l
It won’t be long before a truly disturbingly realistic humanoid or android – approaching the quality of those seen in sci-fi – is affordable for the mainstream consumer. www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
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Delivering opportunities in the e-logistics market Features
Deliver
Deliver: The growth of e-commerce is increasingly providing new opportunities for companies in the robotics and automation sector. Abdul Montaqim reports
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The mobile robotic platform supplied by startup company Geek Plus can move boxes and entire shelf units around a warehouse or a similar facility all day.
eliver” is a series of industry events in Europe aimed at “e-logistics”, an obvious play on the term “e-commerce”. E-commerce can, obviously, refer to either online retail or wholesale, or any sales and purchasing activity that occurs in an electronic environment, on electronic devices. And, in the aggregate, e-commerce is such a big activity now that it is driving growth in many related business sectors such as supply chain and logistics. Hence, e-logistics. Deliver has been organising these e-logistics events for the past three years in many locations around Europe, and I attended the most recent one in Twickenham, on the outskirts of London, England. The chosen venue was Twickenham Stadium, which is a famous sports venue, generally used for rugby, which is supposed to have evolved from football, but is so unlike football that it’s difficult to see any resemblance. In rugby, you use your hands to pick up and carry the ball, something that would get you sent off the pitch in European football, or “soccer” as it is called in the US. But at least this relatively popular sport, with its distinct rules, has its own name – rugby – in the UK. In the US, “football” generally means another game where the ball is handled rather than played with the feet, and so it is in Australia. And while understanding new technologies well enough to write about them can be laborious sometimes, it is as nothing compared to the bewildering goings-on in Australian rules football or America football, or even rugby – the only thing I’m sure of is that the ultimate objective is to carry the ball to your opponent’s end zone or kick it through the upright sticks. But even if that general rule flummoxes you, you can enjoy the traditional dancing (pictured above right) whenever a nation with a Maori team play. Also, someone observed that these games are good practice for picking up boxes and taking them from A to B and putting them down again, although very few people – if anyone – would think of them like that. The Deliver event was attended by several hundred executives from the e-commerce and e-logistics sectors.
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“E-logistics” could be said to refer to the part of the logistics and supply chain sector that is directly affected by e-commerce. While all business operations accelerate over time, the step-change that has been brought about by the massive growth of e-commerce is quite dramatic. Online shopping has been around for a decade but it’s only in the last couple of years that it has begun to translate into big investments to change the way warehouses are operated and supply chain are managed. Supply chain generally refers to the point in the operation where suppliers and their goods are processed through a facility such as a warehouse. In the past couple of years, executives responsible for the efficient management of their company’s supply chain have noted that the momentum of e-commerce business has grown strong enough to make companies rethink the way they manage warehouses, supply chains and logistics. Now, not only is e-commerce big enough and imposing enough to prompt a re-evaluation of supply chain operations, new technologies are available which promise to make operations within warehouses much more efficient. Technical challenges. These technologies are, obviously, products of the robotics and automation sector. But the business of moving boxes is not as straightforward as one might think – the whole area of supply chain, which includes material handling, is filled with technical challenges. And not only are roboticists and automation experts attempting to develop systems that can be applied somewhere in the supply chain, the executives responsible are still trying to figure out how to apply in their own operations the technologies that are already profitably applied in many others.
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Deliver
Take, for example, the mobile robotic platform supplied by startup company Geek Plus. It can move boxes and entire shelf units around a warehouse or a similar facility all day. This is obviously potentially useful, but how is it specifically useful to a specific business? “That’s the important question we work with customers to answer,” Lit Fung, head of international business at Geek Plus, told me at the event. “Also, we make calculations about how many weeks or months it will take to see a return on investment.” Fung gave a speech and was part of a panel discussion entitled “Warehouse Robotization and Fulfillment Automation”. Fellow panellists were Yaro Tenzer, co-founder of RightHand Robotics, and Frederik Brantner, CEO of Magazino. The hall was packed with hundreds of people, with some having to stand, indicating the high level of interest in the new technology gradually taking over from humans in the warehouse. Many well-known names in e-commerce – such as grocery store chain Carrefour, clothes retail chain Next, and office supplies company Lyreco – were among those clamouring to find out more about how robotics and automation can help them in their operations. Stéphane Platel, who is in charge of warehouse operations for Carrefour’s OOShop business unit, told me he was evaluating robotic solutions for a very specific part of the order-picking process. editorial@roboticsandautomationnews.com
Features
“After we develop and apply the automation system at our facility, I think it may be implemented in other Carrefour warehouses around the world,” Platel told me.
Not as easy as it looks Automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile platforms like the ones offered by Geek Plus have already been proven to have dramatic effects on operations. The Geek Plus robot is similar to the one used by Amazon, which has built a multibillion-dollar logistics business on the back of it. But in other areas, such as item or material handling, getting a robotic arm to pick out a variety of different objects from a wide range of totes or baskets and place them in bags to prepare an order for home delivery is not as easy as it sounds. This is the part of the job in a warehouse that is generally done by a human. Generally, in a warehouse, humans may be located at certain points along the conveyor system and pick out items from the totes that move along the conveyor. They then place those items in bags. A human can look at a box full of goods – no matter how many different products it contains – and pick out exactly the item required, and then put that item in a bag. All very straightforward for a human, but not an easy task for a robot. However, Vanderlande, a company which supplies warehouse automation systems such as conveyors, is developing a robotic system which is
Deliver has been organising e-logistics events for the past three years in many locations around Europe, including recently at the Twickenham rugby ground on the outskirts of London, England.
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The CMC system stores and retrieves using a horizontal robotic component – from the side – rather than a vertical one, as AutoStore’s does
All pictures used in this article were taken at the Deliver event in London and supplied by the organisers.
Deliver
looking to do what that human can do in that job. Some may complain about yet another job being lost to a robot, but really, who wants to stand in one place all day picking and placing items as they move along? It’s one of those so-called 3D – “dull, dirty and dangerous” – jobs that robotics and automation technology is supposed to save us from. An executive from Vanderlande told me that the company is working with a number of startups, including Smart Robotics, on developing a robotic arm and endeffectors that can pick and place items within a warehouse context. Although she gave very few details, she did say the system has already been built and is being tested now. Some of the software and other components for the system are being developed in-house, but mostly Vanderlande is acting as the integrator for the solution. Without knowing the details, it’s easy to say this sounds like the system being offered by RightHand Robotics and a number of other companies. But the complexity involved in that one small space is such that it will be some time before a robot can effectively take over that job from the human. But these are very early days for robotic pick-and-place technology.
A cuboid beehive Like Vanderlande, AutoStore provides warehouse automation solutions. But AutoStore’s system is rather different – probably unique. The system supplied by AutoStore has been experiencing “significant commercial success in the past couple of years”, according to AutoStore’s business development manager, James Smith, who told me that this success comes after almost a decade of development and refinement. To look at, the AutoStore system is quite dramatic – a cuboid beehive with mobile robots buzzing around at the top. It’s a good solution for warehouses that want to optimise the productive use of their space. The AutoStore system is what is known as an “automated storage and retrieval system”, or ASRS. It’s good at moving boxes around, but as for dealing with the
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items inside those boxes and perhaps separating them into individual customer orders, that’s the pickers’ and packers’ job. A company called CMC also provides a similar ASRS. But the CMC system stores and retrieves using a horizontal robotic component – from the side – rather than a vertical one, as AutoStore’s does. Steve Garbett, UK sales manager for CMC, said his company’s system was “scalable to any size required” – similar to AutoStore. CMC also offers a solution to another problem in logistics. It’s one that some readers may be familiar with. It’s the one which results in you receiving a massive cardboard box containing that tiny item you ordered online. More than 90 per cent of the space in the box is unused, perhaps filled with styrofoam peanuts or something else to occupy the void. This is obviously a waste of space and money. There are at least two companies currently offering solutions which may eventually significantly reduce or even eliminate this waste. One is CMC and the other is NeoPost. Both these companies provide a machine which can take a flat piece of cardboard and make a box out of it to the exact dimensions required by a given product. This has obvious implications for many areas of the supply chain and logistics process. If all boxes are 90 per cent empty, that means there are 10 trucks on the road when there only need be one. “Waste of space,” Audrey Williart, marketing manager for NeoPost, told me.
Driven by fashion retail And while autonomous trucks are probably decades away, DHL was in attendance at the Deliver event and the company is known to be looking at all sorts of options for roboticising its operation, including driverless trucks. For example, in Germany, DHL delivery people have been testing an autonomous parcel-carrying vehicle which follows them around. And within warehouses, DHL has been testing numerous robotics and automation systems – from autonomous vehicles to robotic arms. The fundamental driver of all this innovation is the need for speed and efficiency. The DHL executive I spoke to is based in Spain. When I asked what types of jobs bring in the most revenue in the Iberian region, he answered, “E-commerce, involving apparel retail.” This means that one can imagine that each delivery would be relatively small compared to a wholesale order within the business-to-business sector, for example. This, in turn, means that the amount of money made on each delivery is relatively small. This, in turn, means that using robotics and automation to eliminate every inefficiency and make everything faster and more productive is pretty much an imperative for all concerned because not only is logistics often a low-profitmargin business, so too is e-commerce. l www.roboticsandautomationnews.com
Logistics 4.0 meets Industrie 4.0 Hannover Germany cemat-hannovermesse.com #HM18 #CeMAT
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Marketplace: companies Associati A i tiions: Robotics and Automatiion
British Automation & Robot Association bara.org.uk 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.
International Federation of Robotics ifr.org
Robotics Society of o Japan sj.or.jp The Robotics Socieety of Japan promotes progress in academic ields and providess specialists with ith a venue ffor an nnouncing i heir research and d exchanging echnical informattion.
The purpose of IFR shall be to promote and strengthen the robotics b ti industry i d t worldwide, ld id to t protect its business interests, to cause public awareness about robotics technologies and to deal with other matters of relevance to its members.
euRobotics AISBL is a Brussels based internationaal non-profit association for all stakeholders n European robotics. euRobotics builds upon the su uccess of the European Roboticss Technology Platform and the academic a network of EURON N, and will continue the coopeeration 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 Industriess Association obotics.org
China Robot Industry Alliance cria.mei.net.cn
The Robotic Industries Association RIA) drives innovaation, growth, and safety in manu ufacturing and service industtries through g education, promottion, and advancement of roobotics, related automation technoologies, and companies deliverring integrated solutions.
CRIA is a non-profit organization composed of enterprises, manufacturers, universities, research institutes,, regional g 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 manufacturerr of industrial automation actuators, rs, designed to help companies across all industries optimize their manufacturing processes. s. phdinc.com
Witte enstein
ATC
From m machine tools or woodworking oodworking and packaaging machines through robotics and handling equip ipmentt tto ffood d processing, pharm maceutical and medical techn nology or intralogistics, Wittenstein actuators keep you one step ahead of the competition. witten nstein-us.com
The Actuator Technology Company operatess independently and is located close to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. rt. W are acclaimed We l i d and d appreciated i t d for offering vital design support during FEED and detailed design stage (EPC). atc-actuators.com
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society ieee-ras.org
euRobotics AISBL L eu robotics net eu-robotics.net
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Acttuation t ti
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Ham--Let More than half a century of excellence servicing the high purityy and process industries with designing, developing, producing and marketing of fluid system comp ponents. ham-let.com -let.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 nk Robotics Our patented p SEA technology uses springs to advance the robot’s motioon control solution from one of rigid positioning to one of force contrrol. rethin nkrobotics.com
Parker Parker actuators come in a wide de range of construction types, ranging g g from compact p light g duty aluminum air actuators, motorized electric actuators, to heavy duty hydraulic designs. parker.com
dit i l@roboticsandautomationnews.com b ti d t ti
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Marketplace: companies Computing C ti & Software
Arduino Arduino is an open-source computer hardware and software com mpany, project and user commun nity that designs and manufacturess kits for building digital devices and d interactive objects that can sense and control the physical world d. arduino.cc
IIntegr t ration ti & Proce ess
Cogn nex No matter m what the machine vision n application, Cognex offers a complete mplete family of vision products—from ucts—from standalone vision systeems to 3D vision software— that p provide unparalleled accuracy and repeatability. cognex.com
RoboDK
Raspberry Pi
Rockwell Automation
Offline programming has never been easier thanks to RoboDK. You don’t need to l learn b d brand-specific ifi lan l guages anymore. RoboDK handlles the robot controller syntax aand outputs the right program for your robot. robodk.com
The Raspberry Pi is a series of credit caardsized single-board d computers develooped in the UK b the by th Raspberry R b Pi Foundation F d ti with the intention of promoting the teaching of baasic computer science in schoolss. raspberrypi.org
Preferred in ntegration starts with using plug--and-play technology, which mean ns robots connect through Eth hernet/IP with software and d service i e interfaces i t f that simplify dessign, operation and maintenancce efforts to improve machine and nd overall line OEE. rockwellautomation.com tomation.com
Adept Adep pt has cultivated and main ntained key partnerships with indusstry-leading integrators, OEMss, and machine builders acrosss the globe and throughout numeerous application segments. adept.com
Evana Auto omation
KUKA.WorkVisual Dassault Systemes Robotics Programmer p provides a 3D environment wheree robot programmers can create, program, simulate and validate v an entire robot workcell. 3ds.com
Programming. Coonfiguration. Loading. Testing. Diagnosis. Modifying. Archiving. KUKA. WorkVisual group ps all the steps of a project together in a homogenous offline development, online diagnosis and a maintenance environment environment. kuka-robotics.com m
Evana specializes in designing and implementin ng robotics automation solutions thaat fit your specific manufacturing ing needs. Let our robotics eng gineering and robotics manufacturing ing experts develop a custom robotics otics automation solution that meets yyour requirements. evanaautom mation.com
NewB Botic Corporation NewB Botic is a robotic systems integ grator, best known for its sp pecialized engineering services that designs advanced transsformative manufacturing and wareehousing processes for a wide variety of industries. industries newb botic.com
FANUC Autthorized Integrators
Aldebaran by Softbank ABB RobotStudio Aldebaran enables both novices and experts to use its roobots 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 p prrofitabilityy of your robot system m by letting you perform tasks succh as training, programming, and optimization without disturbing g production. abb.com
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An Authorized zed FANUC Integrator is ready to analyze your system requirements nts and provide a robotic solution olution that will improve quality, ality, throughput, and productivityy to g p give yyou the return on investment ent you are looking for. fanucamerica.com ica.com
Gene esis Systems Geneesis Systems Group designs, builds and implements p robotic arc welding w systems, assembly autom mation systems and robotic toolin ng, material handling solutions, non-d destructive inspection cells and robottic waterjet cutting systems like n nobody else. genesis-systems.com
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Marketplace: companies Kawa ada
Kawasaki
SynTouch
For over 40 years,, Kawasaki has been improvin ng technology to meet the high demand of assembly applicattions. Kawasaki’s innovative hardwaare and software can help you solvee your complex assembly challenges. kawasaki.com
SynTouch LLC developed and makes the only sensor technology in the world d that endows robots with the ability to replicate - and sometimes exceed - the human sense of touch. uch. syntouchllcc.com
3D Robotics 3DR helps people see th heir world from above. As North Am merica’s largest personal drone company, c 3DR is a pioneer in making advanced, easy-to-use drone d technology. 3dr.com
Hond da Robotics
DENSO Robotics Yaskawa Yaskawa Motoman offerrs a wide range off industrial i d t i l robot b ttic ti arm models for high-speed p precision assembly and small parrt handling including high-performaance sixaxis robots; flexible seveen-axis manipulators; dual-arm m robots with 15 axes; and more. motoman.com
Universal Robots Universal Robots is a ressult of many years of intensive research in robotics. The product portfolio includes the collaborativve UR3, UR5 and UR10 robot arm ms named after their payloads in kiilos. universal-robots universal robots.com com
Vecna Vecna’s robotic logisticss solutions are a familyy of autonomoous mobile robots, built to operate within human-centric environments. vecna.com
Cutting edge technology, class leading prod ducts and groundbreaking systems ystems are only part of what you can expect when you choose h DENSO Robotics. R b ti densorobotics.com m
”Servving society throu ugh technology,” b has been Kawada’s mission since its inception in 1922. Our mission has been accomplished through techn nological innovations in a vast rangee of operations, including projeects involving transportation, energ gy, and information, all basic necessities of society. globaal.kawada.jp
Hond da has further advanced intellligence technologies enabling its ad dvanced humanoid robot ASIM MO to act autonomously and perfo form uninterrupted i t t d service i tto officee guests. hond da.com
SCHUNK SCHUNK iss one of the largest manufacturer f t rer for f automation t ti components, s, toolholders and workholding equipment. schunk.com m
Epson
iRobo ot
With over 45,000 robots installed in factories throug ghout the world, many of the top manufacturing companies rely on n Epson Robots every day to reducce production costs, improve prooduct quality, increase yields an nd help increase their bottom line. epson.com
iRobot’s ot’s home robots are revollutionizing the way people clean n – inside and out. More than 10 million home robots have been sold worldwide. www w.irobot.com
Robotiq Our goal is to enable all manufacturers rers to take full advantage of robotics. We work with robot manufacturers, system integrators and end-users to automate applications pplications that require fexibility fexibility. robotiq.com m
TEUN
Future Robot
TEUN is a compreehensive concept, based on n a smart unmanned machine, the PIQR. The concept has been developed to offerr a solution for the frequently q y com mplex p laborintensive and expeensive way of unloading contain ners. teun.com
We, Future F Robot, aim to create an exxemplary service robot markket. We deal with Coupon Advertising Robot, Mobile Infotaainment Service, Robot Event Serviice,, and manyy more.
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Honeybee Robotics Since 1983, Honeybee has completed p over 300 p projects j for NASA, the U US Department of Defense, accademia, industry and artists. honeybeeroobotics.com
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Sensor Readings
Marketplace
Marketplace: companies Brain Corpo oration Energid
Stäub bli Stäub bli is a mechatronics solutions provider with three dediccated divisions: textile, connectors ectors and robotics, serving customers omers who want to increase their productivity in many indusstrial sectors. staub bli.com
Energid Technolog gies develops dvanced softwaree and robotic ystems for the aeerospace, griculture, manufacturing, ransportation, deffense, and medical industriess. energid.com
Brain Corpooration develops software, haardware, and cloud services forr consumer robotics. Our goal is to t make intelligent and useful m machines a part of everyday lifee with the world’s first training-bassed operating system for robots – BrainOS. braincorporration.com
Ekso Bionics
Bosch Robo otics
DMG Mori Ellison
Ekso Bionics helpss urvivors of strokee, pinal cord injury aand other forms of low wer extremity weakness k to t walk lk again. i ntl.eksobionics.coom
We are workking on Personal Robotics and the enabling technologies. Our interdisciplinary team conducts research on topics such h as mobile bil manipulation, i l ti navigation, p perception and semantic an nalysis of 3D data. bosch.us
DMG Mori Ellison Technologies is a provider vider of advanced machining solutions to North American metal-cutting manufacturers and th i global their l b l affiliates. ffiliates. ellisoontechnologies.com
ASI
DAIHEN
Autonomouss Solutions is a world leeader in vendor independentt vehicle automation systems. Frrom our HQ in Utah, we serve clients in the mining, agriculture, automotive, governmentt, and manufacturing industries w with remote control, teleoperatioon, and fully automated solutions solutions. asirobots.coom
The D DAIHEN Group makes it our m mission to provide products and services indispensable to primaary industries around the world d, including first and foremost the poower industry or so-called “lifeline” of society. daiheen.co.jp
Dyson Dyson recently invvested in a oint robotics lab with w Imperial College London too investigate ision systems and d engineer a generation of houssehold robots. dyson co uk dyson.co.uk
Clearpath Roboticcs
Axium m
We build the world d’s best unmanned vehiclees for research nd development. Our products will save time, money and headaches on your next project. learpathrobotics. p .com
Axium m designs, manufactures and in nstalls a complete range of autom mated solutions for robotic material handling (palletizing, depallletizing, case packing, and perip p pheral equipments) q p and transformation of plastic products. axium msolutions.com
Aethon Aethon is beest known for its TUG autonomouss mobile deliveryy robot which transports medications, meals and materials m through hospitals. aethon.com
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Aurotek Aurotek delivers high valueadded services and solutions, and helping customers achievee greater value through its introduction of advanced and quality components, acquirement ment of new technology concepts. robot.com.tw
Apex Automation and Robotics Apex Automation A A t ti and d Robotics R b ti s is an Australian company specialising in the design and manufacture of custom-built automation machines and robotic otic systems. apexautomation.com.au
Adept Adept systems provide unmatched ched performance and economic value throughout the production on lifecycle, enabling customers too achieve precision, quality and productivity in their assembly, handling and packaging processes. sses. adept.com
Reis Experts know REIS as creative pacemaker for process-oriented d system y solutions. Since 1957 our ur way has been going dynamicallyy up. The fundamentals: Inventive genius, nius, competence, innovative power, and reliability. reisrobotics.de
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NEXT ISSUE
The monthly magazine for the robotics and automation industry Issue 17 September 2018
CONSCIOUS COMPUTERS