China’s robot revolution may affect developing countries, says World Bank
Sep 25, 2017
- China is rapidly replacing factory workers with machines and will likely have the highest number of industrial robots in the world by next year, according to a new World Bank report. The fast pace of automation in China is not only threatening local low-skilled workers, but could affect opportunities for export-led development in other countries, too. Poorer countries risk losing their main advantage in attracting manufacturing business – cheap labour – if companies find it cheaper to build automated factories closer to consumers in countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and – China.
http://gbtimes.com/chinas-robot-revolution-to-affect-other-countries-too-world-bank-says
A Chinese Robot Has Performed the World’s First Automated Dental Implant
Sep 22, 2017
- In China, a robot dentist installed two dental implants for a woman last Saturday, in what could be the world’s first fully automated dental implant surgery, reports the South China Morning Post. Human doctors supervised the whole procedure but did not actively intervene. The surgery, which took place in the city of Xi’an, was first reported by the state-run Science and Technology Daily.
http://time.com/4952886/china-world-first-dental-surgery-robot-implant/
China Turns to Robots for Stability and Flexibility in Surgery
15.09.2017
- Surgical robots have performed more than 40,000 operations in China by February 2017 since the first one of its kind was introduced to China in 2006, according to Da Vinci Surgical Robot International Training Center, Shanghai-based Changhai Hospital, Xinhuanet.com reported on Sept. 11.
https://sputniknews.com/science/201709151057407024-china-robots-perform-surgery-opertations/
China’s blueprint to crush the US robotics industry
6 Sept 2017
- In today’s China a different picture is taking shape, courtesy of a blueprint known as the Made in China 2025 plan. Announced in 2015, the initiative is China’s massive government-backed push to be a world leader in a number of high-tech industries, such as medical devices, aerospace equipment and robotics — the key piece of the country’s desire to automate sectors of its economy: automotive manufacturing, food production, electronics and more. But to do that, China needs more robots. In addition to the Made in China 2025 plan, the government has also released the Robotics Industry Development Plan, a five-year plan to rapidly expand the country’s industrial robotics sector. By 2020, China wants to be able to manufacture at least 100,000 industrial robots annually. The country is racing full steam ahead to a robot-powered future in a push to not only remake its own economy but also to transform into the world’s robot capital — overtaking Japan, Germany and the United States in the process.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/chinas-blueprint-to-crush-the-us-robotics-industry.html
China’s robotic prowess continues to grow
2017-07-14
- Chinese robot makers outperformed foreign brands by recording faster growth in industrial robot output last year, according to industry players. “A total of 88,992 industrial robots were sold in China in 2016, representing a 26.6 percent year-on-year growth, among which, domestic suppliers installed 29,144 units, up 30.9 percent from that of 2015,” said Qu Daokui, president of the China Robot Industry Alliance and CEO of Shenyang-based Siasun Robot and Automation Co. Qu added that Chinese suppliers have also expanded their market share in China to 33 percent, compared to 32 percent in 2015.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-07/14/content_30120442.htm
China goes on shopping spree for industrial robots
June 17, 2017
- Chinese factories are eagerly enlisting robots to address worker shortages and automation needs, prompting Japanese manufacturers to scramble to boost output. Encouraged by government subsidies, businesses in the area are all buying robots, he said. Xinlu used to produce sponges for China, but the company now does business with customers abroad such as in the U.S., racking up $30 million in sales in 2016. Robots have enhanced product quality, and orders are growing around 20% a year.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/China-goes-on-shopping-spree-for-industrial-robots
How Robots Are Helping Chinese Students Solve Real-World Problems
Jun 7, 2017
- At a time when Chinese companies are seeking to push the boundaries and innovate, STEM education is creating a buzz in the world’s most populous nation. Some schools want to change an education system focused on grilling examinations to one that is about problem solving and project based. By 2020, Chinese schools will spend more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) on STEM-related courses, according to consultancy JMDedu. And this is being driven by eager parents like 31-year-old Elise Guo, who thinks that learning about drones and robots is a more practical step towards getting a decent job in China’s ultra-competitive job market, where a record 7.95 million college graduates will compete for work opportunities this year alone, according to a survey from Chinese job site Zhaopin.com.
How DIY became a driving force of China’s robot revolution
1 May 2017
- Growing up in a farming village in central China, Jasen Wang’s childhood was far removed from the worlds of Lego, RoboSapiens and other toys designed to introduce young minds to the world of robotics. It was not until the age of 20 that Wang first put his hands on a robot, as part of a college competition. That epiphany sparked an obsession with robotics that put Wang on the road to creating Makeblock, a five-year-old start up near Hong Kong that now sells millions of dollars worth of do-it-yourself robotics kits and related products.
Inside China’s Plans for World Robot Domination
April 24, 2017
- Scenes from China’s quest to dominate the robotic future: At startup E-Deodar, a human-looking droid serves coffee to employees who are building $15,000 industrial bots that are about a third cheaper than foreign brands and are being used to automate assembly lines across the Pearl River Delta manufacturing hub. Some 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) to the north, inside a lab at Beijing-based e-commerce giant JD.com Inc., a spider-like robot plunges down from its frame, seizes a book on a conveyor belt with its suctioned claws and hurls it into a crate. The machine can sort 3,600 objects an hour, four times as many as a person — just one piece of the robotic technology the company’s developing to automate warehouses.
Squishy robotic manta ray flaps its wings to spy in the ocean
5 April 2017
- It’s a drone of the deep. A soft-bodied robot that swims like a manta ray has been engineered to spy on underwater creatures without disturbing them. The mostly transparent robot has no motor or other rigid machinery and is much faster than other soft robotic fish. The goal is to use the robot to explore underwater areas, says Tiefeng Li at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. It could be used to investigate a submerged ship or plane wreck, or survey coral reefs. “The soft body will make it easy for the robot to sneak through reefs without damaging them,” he says.
Massive investment planned in ‘Made-in-China’ industrial robots
27 February, 2017
- China has seen rapid growth in its research and development spending due to strong demand of reducing labour costsand increasing productivity, which should help further the country’s automation sector, according to analysts. A working paper from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed just how fast China’s innovation input, measured by R&D (research and development) expenditure, increased by an average 22 per cent annually from 1998 to 2013, reaching US$190 billion in 2013.
Cops of the Future: First Security Robots to Patrol China’s Rail Station
19.02.2017
- The patrol robot, on duty at Zhengzhou East Railway Station since February 17, can scan passengers’ faces and respond to questions. Painted in black and white, the robotic patrolman moves around on wheels. Using a number of sensors it monitors air quality, temperature, guards the station during the night and can even set off the fire emergency alarm.
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201702191050836252-china-robots-patrols/
China’s medical robots take on foreign rivals
2017-02-1
- Surgeon Tian Wei came across one of the most challenging orthopedic surgeries in his 30-year career in 2015. A 43-year-old patient had complained of progressive numbness in the limbs on his right side for 14 months, caused by a deformity in his upper cervical vertebrae. The patient was in dire need of surgery to implant a screw to help support his neck bone, but the operation was risky. Any minor mistake could lead to paralysis or a life-threatening hemorrhage. Many hospitals were unwilling to treat him.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-02/13/content_28176252.htm
Meet China’s newest police recruit: Robotic traffic officer is stationed at crossroads to catch jaywalkers
26 January 2017
- A Chinese city started using a robotic traffic policeman to catch jaywalkers yesterday. The droid, stationed at a crossroad in the city of Xiangyang, central China’s Hubei Province, has been programmed to stop and tell off pedestrians who run the red lights. Local authority hoped that the robotic traffic officer could help correct Chinese people’s bad habits while crossing roads.
Robotic surgery transformed
23 January, 2017
- Describing the team’s breakthrough, Prof. Yung remarked, “We are delighted to note that this PolyU engineering innovation will help turn a new page in minimally invasive surgery, thus enhancing the well-being of patients.” Yet the team is also well aware that the development process is not over yet, with very important feedback being received from surgeons and used to further optimise the system. Animal trials have validated the system’s functionality and benefit in gall bladder removal in a live pig, with the latest operation taking less than an hour.
China’s Midea receives U.S. green light for Kuka takeover
Dec 30, 2016
- China’s Midea (000333.SZ) said it will complete its takeover of German robotics maker Kuka (KU2G.DE) in the first half of January after the United States authorities gave the deal a green light.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kuka-m-a-mideamidea-group-idUSKBN14J0SP
The rise of China’s medical robotics sector
December 22, 2016
- According to a report by GCiS in 2016, the Chinese medical robots market is valued at RMB 791million, up 34.4% from 2015. By 2021, the medical robot sector is projected to grow to at least RMB 2.2billion. From surgical to rehabilitation and homecare, robots look set to transform parts of the nation’s healthcare industry. Robots will reshape secondary care, tertiary care, even primary, home and community care. Already, surgical robots are assisting the nation’s surgeons in some high-end hospitals, and accomplishing more precise, less invasive procedures. And the sales of rehabilitation robots have boomed as hospitals improve their rehabilitation units (in keeping with government policy). But the medical robots industry in China is still emerging, with many domestic players still in the product development and clinical testing stage.
http://robohub.org/the-rise-of-chinas-medical-robotics-sector/
Warfare of the Future: Chinese Combat Biomorphic Robots Caught on Video
18.12.2016
- Chinese military biomorphic robots resembling animals were spotted in a video which found its way to the Internet, Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. Taking part in the contest were 73 teams from special research institutes and industrial enterprises, including the Engineering Academy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Armored Forces, National Defense University, the China North Industries Corporation NORINTO and Beijing University of Technology.
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201612181048710826-china-army-robots-video/
Behold A Robot Hand With A Soft Touch
December 11, 2016
- Such a soft robot hand is a step forward for the growing field of soft robotics — the kind of technology that’s already used in warehouses to handle food or other products. But it also holds promise for better prosthetics, robots to interact directly with people or with fragile objects, or robots to squeeze into tight spaces. Now, it just has to be something that can conduct light, says Huichan Zhao, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Cornell who is the lead author of the research article about the new soft robot hand, published this month in the journal Science Robotics.
BERNSTEIN: China’s insane spending on robotics is fundamentally changing capitalism
Dec. 5, 2016
- Analysts Michael W. Parker and Alberto Moel argue that Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, the foundational textbooks of economics, is becoming redundant because of two trends: the rise of robotics and China’s modernising economy. Bernstein’s central argument is that manufacturing jobs are effectively disappearing globally, replaced by robots. China is leading the way but the trend is global and it means promises made by politicians like Donald Trump to bring overseas industries back to America are unlikely to benefit working people generally.
Smart ‘robot fish’ invented to explore underwater world
2016-12-02
- A team at Lanzhou Petrochemical Polytechnic has invented a smart “robot fish” that can explore underwater realms, Chinanews.com reported on Wednesday. The robotic fish utilizes many advanced technologies, including mechanical electronics, sensors and artificial intelligence. It can be used for pipeline detection, hydrology, water quality monitoring, underwater rescue and more. The robot has won a number of prizes for its sophisticated craftsmanship and advanced technology.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2016-12/02/content_27545780.htm
China banking on robots to address labor costs
November 20, 2016
- With factory output having plateaued and their home economy slowing, Chinese companies are keen to replace wage-earners with robots and save on rising labor costs. One sportswear maker and exporter in Shandong Province agreed to a 5% wage hike this year. A 33-year-old executive said the company had no choice but to raise pay to retain the employees it has trained.
http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/China-banking-on-robots-to-address-labor-costs
Developing Countries, China and Advanced Countries are in a robot and automation race to lower manufacturing costs
November 13, 2016
- A UN report outlines how the increasing use of industrial automation is impacting jobs in developing countries, and what strategies may help in overcoming the problem. Advanced countries, China and developing countries all have to add more automation and robots and the supporting infrastructure and education in order to enable lower manufacturing costs
http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/11/developing-countries-china-and-advanced.html
Robots at center of China’s strategy to leapfrog rivals
October 24, 2016
- The Canbot can say its name, respond to voice commands, and “dance” as it plays Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Other robots China is displaying at the World Robot Conference can play badminton, sand cell phone cases and sort computer chips. China is showcasing its burgeoning robot industry at the five-day exhibition in Beijing, part of a national effort to promote use of more advanced technologies in Chinese factories and create high-end products that redefine the meaning of “Made in China.”
http://phys.org/news/2016-10-robots-center-china-strategy-leapfrog.html
More Robots to Be Produced in Tianjin by 2020
Oct 15, 2016
- The robotics industry in Tianjin is expected to produce a total of 60,000 robots annually, which is worth about 12 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) by 2020, according to a forecast by the Tianjin Municipal Commission of Industry and Information Technology. Robots made in Tianjin have attracted much attention that last month, an underwater robot made by a local company that cleans the bottom of ships, won a prize at an innovation contest and became popular, China Daily reported.
http://en.yibada.com/articles/167440/20161015/more-robots-produced-tianjin-2020.htm
China’s first robot exoskeleton unveiled in Chengdu
2016-09-27
- The first robot exoskeleton in China, AIDER, has officially been released lately in Chengdu of southwest China’s Sichuan province, The Paper reported. The robot exoskeleton has been developed by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China based in Chengdu, and can be worn by its users, aiming to help disabled people walk independently.
AnBot the Chinese Robot Patrols Airport Armed with a Taser
Sep 25, 2016
- This tin can cop, however, is armed with a taser that zaps suspects with at least 50,000 volts of electricity, and that’s no laughing matter.
http://en.yibada.com/articles/162688/20160925/anbot-chinese-robot-patrols-airport-armed-taser.htm
Industrial internet: ABB signs deal with Huawei to develop robotics and automation solutions
September 25, 2016
- Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has signed a memorandum of understanding with ABB to robotics and automation technologies, including solutions for the power generation sector. Under the deal, agreed at the Huawei Connect event earlier this month, the two parties will integrate Huawei LTE-based OneAir products and technologies into ABB robots and industrial automation solutions.
China Moves Forward Toward Robotics Industry, Forms Merger with German Company
Sep 17, 2016
- An announcement was released recently by the Midea Group stating the merger of the Chinese company and Kuka, a German-owned company and one of the prominent players in the robotics industry. Midea is a consumer appliance giant in China. Midea Group acquired more than 90 percent of Kuka’s shares with a multi-billion euro offer, according to the announcement. The merger was highly criticized in Germany as critics said that the company sold out to the Chinese company and losing German-made technology.
This Robotic Tank Wants To Kill Mosquitoes With A Laser
September 14, 2016
- Rotor wrote up the Laser Movable Mosquito Killer Robot for Quill or Capture, a blog covering odds-and-ends that fall on the periphery of Shephard Media’s usual defense coverage. This bug-killing robot is made by LeiShen, a Chinese company that makes laser navigation tools for home robots. Rotor reports:
Brunell: China betting on advanced robots
September 6, 2016
- China has a new industrial strategy which is capturing attention worldwide. It is striving to become an innovation economy using advanced automation, connected robots and artificial intelligence. According to the International Federation of Robotics, the Chinese are creating an “industrial internet” which gathers information and uses it across manufacturing networks, including suppliers and customers.
http://www.columbian.com/news/2016/sep/06/brunell-china-betting-on-advanced-robots/
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