ecns [expanded by feedex.net]
ecns
RoboCup shows industry dreaming of more than electric sheep
http://www.ecns.cn/2015/07-22/174116.shtml
Jul 22nd 2015, 08:06
A student from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) controls "Kuka Worker" during the Robocup 2014 competition in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, July 20, 2015. Four teams of the USTC participated in the four-day competition that kicked off here on July 19. (Photo: Xinhua/Zhang Duan)
The ongoing 19th RoboCup in central China's Anhui Province is rebooting interest in robotics in China.
The five-day world tournament, which will run until Thursday in the provincial capital Hefei, has brought together 2,000 participants from 47 countries and regions to not only compete, but also test and showcase developments in robotics.
Goocoo Robot Industry Share Holding Co. Ltd., headquartered in Hefei, brought along the new iteration of its pioneering model "Kejia", a service robot designed by the University of Science and Technology of China. Kejia won the 2014 Service RoboCup, and after a year of fine-tuning and updating, she is ready to compete again this year.
"Our company was involved in the real estate sector, but we took a leap of faith and changed to robot production at the end of last year. We are confident in the potential of the emerging intelligent robotics market," said Chen Gang, deputy general manager of Goocoo Robot.
Chen added that the company had not yet begun large-scale production of service robots.
"Service robots are just too expensive for use by the public at the moment. Our products are mostly bought by restaurants or event firms," he said.
Goocoo Robot has a restaurant in Hefei where 20 robots serve customers, and other establishments are slowly following suit.
Earlier this month, Foshan City in south China's Guangdong said it would open a robot market in September, the first of its kind in China. The market, which will exhibit and sell robots, will also have robot sales staff.
Chen said human assistance robots need to become more affordable in the future, and then families and hospitals will be more inclined to buy them.
China's robotics market is mainly industrial robots. Last year, some 57,000 industrial robots were sold in China, up 54 percent annually. This accounts for 25 percent of the global robot market.
Rising labor costs and the central government's new industrial development strategy have resulted in more interest in industrial robots.
The Made in China 2025 plan, announced by China's cabinet, in May, outlines strategies for switching from low-end manufacturing to value-added production, with numerical control tools, robotics, aerospace equipment and new energy vehicles all identified as areas to be developed.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, China's industries will have purchased 400,000 robots by 2017.
Han Bin, sales manager of Efort, a Hefei-based industrial robot producer, said that the number of robot producers in Hefei has increased from five to 30 in the past 12 months alone.
Zhang Qingjun, mayor of Hefei, said that the municipal government would push for the development of the robot industry through government procurement, and by providing favorable financing policies to robot producers.
The RoboCup's popularity and the number of investors drawn to the event, shows that in China businesses are dreaming of more than just electric sheep, said analysts.
RoboCup competition brings fresh 'challenges in each field'
Bowing 'Shinzo Abe' robot causes commotion
Farewell rote, welcome robot
China to host World Robot Conference in November
Robot pushes productivity gains at manufacturing hub by 17 pct
Robot wars heat up as foreign companies enter
Navy starts exercise in S. China Sea
China strongly dissatisfied with Japan's new defense white paper
Proof of Japan's infamous Unit 526 unearthed in bookstore
High-tech products face more probes
'Stock market' themed dishes make a splash in Beijing
El Nino leaves NE China thirsty
China nets another 19,000 officials in frugality campaign in H1
Curator charged for substituting and selling 143 art works
China's largest solar power tower plant starts construction
WMO: Globally averaged temperature reaches highest on record in H1
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at https://blogtrottr.com
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe here:
https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/qhG/Zc7fXt
No comments:
Post a Comment