Japanese giant Hitachi entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a robotics business operated by American firm JR Automation Technologies. The acquisition price for JR Automation is US$ 1.42 billion, Hitachi said.
JR Automation builds production lines and logistics systems using industrial robots. As a...
Revenues generated by technology in the global supply chain will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 11 per cent over the next five years, reaching $440 billion by 2023. Among emerging technologies, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will have the most...
The European Commission (EC) has stepped up its strategy to foster AI in the region, with a four-step plan and a target of €20 billion of private and public investments by the end of 2020, and €20 billion per year afterwards.
The EC will contribute...
Focus 5G use cases include AR/VR and robotics
An international consortium of interests from the European Union and Taiwan are working to explore end-to-end 5G use cases and recently completed a trial in Taiwan that examined network services that rely on both cloud compute and...
Almost three quarters (73 per cent) of the total sales of industrial robots go to just five markets. Their identity (see below) is hardly surprising; they are the world’s leading nations for manufacturing.
What is notable from the new World Robotics Report, however, is the...
Annual sales of industrial robots to factories has increased by 114 per cent over the last five years, according to a new report. Sales are expected grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent over the next five years, to around...
Samsung said it aims to employ about 1,000 specialists globally in the AI field
Samsung announced plans to open a new artificial intelligence research centre in New York City, with the aim of strengthening the company’s AI capabilities.
The South Korean firm said the new AI...
Germany has made its move in the international AI arms race with state support for tech start-ups, a ‘JEDI’ innovation network with France, and backing for its ‘Cyber Valley’ set-up from industrial giants including BMW, Daimler, Porsche, and Bosch.
The German government is to create...
Seoul-based electronics giants LG Electronics is to showcase a “human-centric” wearable robot next week at IFA 2018 in Berlin. The wearable robot will connect into a “smart working network”, said LG, to deliver information and tools required for manufacturing, logistics and distribution.
LG took a...
China, France, the U.K. and the European Union all have articulated AI strategies
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the future. It will be essential in advancements toward autonomous driving, the way we use wireless devices, digital transformation of key industries like manufacturing, and many other use...
The move to a ‘lights-out’ factory has already begun, but the developing transition requires an overhaul of industrial facilities, equipment, systems and people if it is to go the distance. Transformation of the manufacturing industry, or ‘vertical’ in service-provider parlance, must also make way...
Autonomous machines will use AI to transform manufacturing, logistics, agriculture and other verticals
At the ongoing Computex event in Taipei, Taiwan, Nvidia announced a new artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to power autonomous machines and industrial robotics. The chipmaker specifically called out manufacturing, logistics, agriculture,...
At the recent 5G North America and Big Communications Event in Austin, Texas, the fanfare about 5G was not surprising. However, what continues to surpass expectations is the level of eagerness for it among enterprises, the breadth of potential use cases, and the accelerated...
Among the showier turns at Hannover Messe in Germany last week, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) lifted the hood on its innovations, providing a glimpse of the application of Industry 4.0 artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
Germany spent almost €89 billion on research and development...
The year kicked off, as usual, with the big CES show in Las Vegas. Some of the hot trends on display this year were AI, IoT, and Robotics. And while overall, the progress shown at CES is quite impressive, it seems like most of...
The two firms aim to deploy connected robots next year using 5G networks
Japanese telecom operator SoftBank and Huawei Wireless X Labs recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the connected robotics field.
Under the terms of the agreement, SoftBank plans to offer automated...
Solar equipment manufacturer SunPower took a five-step process to turn a Latin American facility into a smart factory
In a paper published by MESA International, a nonprofit association for manufacturing enterprises, SunPower Manufacturing Project Manager Nikhil Padhi provides an experience-based guide to how the company...
The vision is for smart manufacturing applications to be supported by a dedicated 5G network slice
5G is about a lot more than simply higher mobile data rates. The ultra high capacity and ultra low latency of 5G could support a wide range of valuable...
Key smart factory technologies include sensors, machine vision, connectivity
Based on a recent report from market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the market value of smart factory solutions in North America is set to grow to $96.77 annual value in 2020, which is a more than...
Scyfer has developed AI solutions for verticals including manufacturing, healthcare and finance
U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Technologies announced the acquisition of Dutch firm Scyfer, an affiliate of the University of Amsterdam focused on machine learning techniques. Scyfer has built artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for companies worldwide...
SDN and mobile edge computing 'go hand-in-hand'
In addition to increased capacity and lowered latency--as compared to what's offered by LTE and its variants--5G use cases, particularly latency-sensitive applications like self-driving vehicles and augmented and virtual reality, will require dense, distributed network infrastructure. Data center-based...
LG said these new technologies will be applied to the firm’s existing technology portfolio
Korean company LG Electronics announced the establishment of two new research centers that will focus on developing technologies for key internet of things technologies artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, according to...
Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank is active in a wide range of research, development and testing related to 5G network technologies. And, having recently acquired robotics firm Boston Dynamics, could be well-positioned to leverage 5G for use cases involving advanced robotics.
SoftBank operates a mobile service...
Manufacturers expect 21% of their plants will be smart factories by the end of 2022
Manufacturers expect that their investments in smart factories will drive a 27% increase in manufacturing efficiency over the next five years, which would add $500 billion in annual added value...
