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Latest News

Toyota Research Developing New Telepresence Robot for 2020 Olympics

Jul 24, 2019
Toyota Research Developing New Telepresence Robot for 2020 Olympics
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With the Olympics taking place next year in Japan, Toyota is (among other things) stepping up its robotics game to help give “mobility for all.” We know that Toyota’s HSR will be doing work there, along with a few other mobile systems, but the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) has just announced a new telepresence robot called the T-TR1, displaying an absolutely significant screen manufactured to give you a near-lifesize virtual presence.
 
TRI isn’t available to share much more detail on this system yet (we asked, of course), but we can infer some things from the video and the rest of the info that’s out there. For example, that ball on top is a 360-degree camera (that looks a lot like an Insta360 Pro), giving the remote user just as good of an awareness of their surroundings as they would if they were there in person. There are a number of 3D-sensing systems, including at least two depth cameras plus a lidar at the base. It’s not at all clear whether the robot is autonomous or semi-autonomous (using the sensors for automated obstacle avoidance, say), and since the woman on the other end of the robot does not seem to be maintaining it at all for the demo, it’s hard to make an educated guess about the level of autonomy, or even how it’s supposed to be managed.
 
We really like that enormous screen—despite the fact that telepresence now commands pants. It adds to the embodiment that makes independent telepresence robots useful. It’s also nice that the robot can move fast enough to keep up a person walking quickly. Hopefully, it’s safe for it to move at that speed in an environment more realistic than a carpeted, half-empty conference room, although it’ll probably have to leverage all of those sensors to do so. The other challenge for the T-TR1 will be bandwidth—even assuming that all of the sensor data processing and stuff is done on-robot, 360 cameras are huge bandwidth hogs, plus there’s the main (presumably high quality) feed from the main camera, and then the video of the user coming the other way. It’s a lot of data in a very latency-sensitive application, and it’ll presumably be operating in places where connectivity is going to be a challenge due to crowds. This has always been a problem for telepresence robots—no matter how astonishing your robot is, the experience will often for better or worse be identified by Internet connections that you may have no control over.
 
We should highlight that Toyota has only launched the bare minimum of information about the T-TR1, although we’re told that we can expect more as the 2020 Olympics approach: opening ceremonies are one year from today.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

Japan's 100-yen Chains Shrug Off Amazon As Shoppers Pour In

Jul 23, 2019
Japan's 100-yen Chains Shrug Off Amazon As Shoppers Pour In
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Japan's 100-yen shops are upgrading store openings as they continue to gain ground among thrifty consumers, with supermarkets and drugstores seeking them out as tenants to draw customers, shifting the dynamic in the nation's retail landscape. The top four players, which offer a lot of goods from clothing and food to toiletries and stationery that sell for 100 yen (93 cents), are on track to surpass their convenience store rivals in terms of net store openings this fiscal year.
 
Daiso Sangyo, the leading 100-yen shop operator in terms of sales, intends to open 170 locations during the existing fiscal year. Runner-up Seria will open 150 outlets, while Can Do and Watts will add 80 and 115 stores respectively. The 515 shops, joined with planned store closings, will result in a net 310 openings, which would exceed the 276 net openings for the three largest convenience store chains. The previous fiscal year had a record 537 new 100-yen shops open, but the net sum amounted to 294.
 
The four 100-yen shop chains, which operate 7,128 outlets in total, still pale in scale when compared with the country's top three convenience stores, Seven-Eleven Japan, FamilyMart and Lawson, which oversee 51,965 stores combined. But the convenience stores are cutting back on openings in the face of labor shortages.
 
Partnerships with supermarkets are sustaining the 100-yen shops' expansion. Inageya, a midtier supermarket chain, drew Daiso to set up shop on the second floor of a supermarket that opened last month in Kawasaki, a city in the greater Tokyo area. 'By having a 100-yen shop sell daily necessities, we were able to expand the shopping area for deli and fresh food,' said an Inageya spokesperson. This is a classic example of a supermarket giving up on selling everyday goods and turning to a 100-yen shop to fill that need for customers on its premises.
 
Some other retailers have joined the bandwagon. Drugstore chain Tsuruha Drug installed 100-yen stores in about 20 of its 2,000 outlets while Shimachu, a furniture and hardware seller, started adding the shops in 2017 and now has 18 in its stores. The 100-yen shops have lured a different type of customer, a Shimachu spokesperson said. 'People from the younger generation are coming to our stores,' the spokesperson said.
 
Standard daily traffic at 100-yen shops hovers over 800 people, topping the 700 people at drugstores. Same-store traffic at leading convenience store chains have been below previous-year numbers for three consecutive years since 2016. Meanwhile, Seria has bested annual traffic for four years running.
 
The brick-and-mortar 100-yen shops are also not likely to lose customers to online shopping. 'I see more fashionable products,' said a woman in her 50s at one of the shops in Tokyo. 'I also have fun choosing among them because they're affordable.'
 
Amazon Japan does not present much competition to 100-yen stores whose per-customer spending averages around 600 yen because the e-commerce giant charges a delivery fee for checkout values below certain thresholds. This is precisely why physical retailers fending off competition from online sellers are wooing them to become tenants and attract customers.
 
A stalled purchasing power among consumers will also be a tailwind for those stores. Real wages in May decreased 1% from a year ago, the labor ministry reported Tuesday, marking the fifth month of decreases. Additionally, consumers are expected to become thriftier in the face of the planned consumption tax hike in October. Nevertheless its business model does come with a major caveat. Narrow gross margins require an ever-wider network of outlets to grow revenue and profit.
 
This has revealed the shops to the effect of a national worker shortage and a jump in labor costs more than other retailers. Despite turning in 7.1% growth in sales for fiscal 2018, Seria's operating profit rose only 1.9%, and the profit margin retreated 0.6 points to 9.8%. Can Do's operating profit sank for the second straight year in fiscal 2018. To cut down labor costs, Seria introduced self-checkouts at select stores in October, and will look at increasing the technology to 50 Tokyo locations this fiscal year. Daiso is installing QR readers at checkouts to reduce the time spent counting cash.
 
The companies offer low prices by importing goods manufactured at low cost in China or Southeast Asia. The current top four players are the survivors that weathered the yen's sharp decline against the dollar in the late 1990s, which sent procurement costs soaring. If the current trade war triggers major swings in the currency market, it could again upend the business model.
 

Google Maps Update Brings Two New Important Features for Commuters

Jul 23, 2019
Google Maps Update Brings Two New Important Features for Commuters
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Google introduced two new features for Maps, which will immensely help those using public transportation to travel every day. The new features, live traffic delays for buses and crowdedness predictions, will help Google Maps users to plan better for their transit ride.
 
Since transit times are not always right due to real-time traffic conditions, Google has resolved to launch live traffic delays for buses, a new tool that will feed Maps users with real-time info right from local transit agencies.
 
It will enable Google Maps users in select cities to see if their bus will be late, exactly how long the delay will be, as well as more accurate travel times based on live traffic conditions along their route. The new feature will be visible on the map too, as you’ll be able to see specifically where the delays are on the map so you know what to expect before you get your bus.
 
The second new features introduced today is transit crowdedness estimations, which will allow Maps users to see how crowded their bus, train or subway is very likely to be based on past rides. That way you’ll be able to take a more informed choice when taking a bus or waiting for the next one to arrive.
 
Starting today, both new features will be available in Google Maps in roughly 200 cities around the globe on both Android and iOS.
 

Apple's 5G Move To Spark Asian Investment 'Boom'

Jul 23, 2019
Apple's 5G Move To Spark Asian Investment 'Boom'
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Asian phone and telecom equipment makers foresee escalating investment in next-generation communications technology soon after Apple reached a deal with chipmaker Qualcomm that paves the way for launching a 5G iPhone as soon as next year.
 
Apple's fiercest challenger, China's Huawei Technologies, and leading chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. both welcomed news that the U.S. tech giant settled a long-running patent royalty dispute with Qualcomm. The agreement includes a six-year license agreement on essential chip technology, the lack of which kept Apple back in the race to introduce 5G smartphones.
 
Huawei, which also supplies 5G network equipment, said the arrival of such an iPhone could stimulate consumer demand and, consequently, investment in infrastructure. Though Asia already stands at the forefront of global investment in 5G, before the U.S., some carriers look to have held back on investment amid concerns over the high costs of rolling out the technology. 'We really look forward to Apple joining the race,' said Ken Hu, Huawei's rotating chairman. Apple's entry would push others in the industry to move more quickly, he said. 'As more and more players roll out 5G smartphones, investments to build the 5G network will boom as well -- and they make more sense now.'
 
TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, echoed Hu's comments. 'The settlement is a booster for future 5G smartphone deployment,' said Lora Ho, chief financial officer and senior vice president. 'It helps to eradicate uncertainties that linger in the industry [related to 5G].'
 
A person close to Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest smartphone maker, said the company also expects to benefit when Apple debuts a 5G iPhone. 'For Samsung, it is no bad thing that Apple launches [5G] phones,' the person said, because the South Korean company also can supply parts to the American rival. Fifth-generation wireless technology is forecasted to enable faster data transfers, helping unlock innovations such as self-driving cars, remote surgery, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. Though politicians have pushed carriers to invest, some are vigilant about the scale of spending required, as these innovations remain in the distance and 4G can do much more.
 
As an example, Japanese telecom SoftBank Corp. has committed less capital to rolling out its 5G network than peers NTT Docomo and KDDI, in a sign of caution over the nascent technology. In China, also, telecommunications companies are mindful. The three state-owned carriers earmarked only around 10% of their 2019 capital expenditure for 5G, according to estimates and official announcements, amid concerns over returns.
 
So far, 5G networks are supplied only in brief parts of South Korea and the U.S. Japan plans to begin such service by 2020, ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games. But the arrival of a 5G iPhone could accelerate adoption of the technology. 'Apple's entrance to 5G smartphones will definitely encourage Asian countries to set up their 5G network quickly,' said So Hyun-chul, an analyst at Shinhan Investment. Japan, for instance, will want to ensure that a 5G iPhone will work there, the analyst said.
 
Eddie Han, an analyst at Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute, said 5G smartphone deliveries are anticipated to reach only 3 million to 4 million units this year, then rise to 35 million in 2020. But next year's figure could jump to 75 million or even 100 million units if Apple joined the market, he said.
 
Han expressed confidence, saying '5G iPhones will surely be available next year. That would absolutely drive the market demand considerably and drive mobile operators to get the 5G network ready as soon as possible ... it's a great booster to the industry.'
 
Apple's entry will spotlight the value of 5G investment, Huawei's Hu said. Many have been investing 'blindly as it has been a buzzword since the second half of last year,' he said.  'We finally see the industry as a whole is investing in 5G based on a market value perspective,' he said. 'This kind of investment is very reliable and solid.'
 

Apple In Talks To Buy Intel's Mobile Chip Unit

Jul 23, 2019
Apple In Talks To Buy Intel's Mobile Chip Unit
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Apple is in advanced discussions to buy Intel's smartphone modem chip business for at least $1 billion, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
 
Intel stated in April that it would withdraw from 5G phone modems, and Apple supposedly wants to absorb the company's talent and intellectual property to develop such chips on its own.
 
Apple has long been buying Intel's chips for iPhones since 2016, looking to limit its dependence on fellow U.S. supplier Qualcomm, with which it had a conflict over royalties. But Intel struggled to find other major customers, as it principally focuses on chips for computers and data centers.
 
'For Apple this would be a clear 'doubling down' on 5G, which remains at the centerpiece of the company's smartphone future, with these chip assets giving Apple further control over its supply chain and core chip design,' said Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities. Intel's determination to leave the money-losing business came hours after Apple and Qualcomm settled the royalty dispute. Qualcomm assented to supply Apple with 5G modem chips for iPhones to be sold in 2020. At the moment, Apple will seek to catch up with Chinese and South Korean rivals' 5G phones by sourcing from Qualcomm.
 
However, buying the operations from Intel would allow Apple to keep its options open and fashion its own chips in the future. The WSJ's report on Monday said the Apple-Intel talks could reach a decision over the coming week. Intel denied Nikkei's request for comments, while Apple did not directly respond.
 

Russell Finex - Screening plastic pellets with vibratory round separators

Jul 23, 2019
Russell Finex - Screening plastic pellets with vibratory round separators
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Lucite International Group Ltd., typically known as Lucite, is part of the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and is a world leader in the design, progress and manufacture of acrylic-based products. At its Newton Aycliffe, UK, production site, Lucite makes a number of specialty polymers and resins, particularly fashioned and developed for the unique needs of its customers.
 
Lucite had recently installed a new drying plant in one of its polymer bead production lines and sought an upgrade to its sieving procedure. The old hardware, a traditional spring-mounted separator unit, could no longer fulfil the production capacity required on the upgraded line. Therefore, a high-performance solution was essential to meet the required throughput rates, as well as guarantee the sizing accuracy and consistency of the polymer beads.
 
After assessment with Russell Finex, it was planned a 48' Finex Separator™ fitted with a Russell Vibrasonic® Deblinding System would be the ideal solution for rating the polymer beads. These revolutionary circular ultrasonic separators is designed to deliver high-capacity, accurate grading of up to five fractions of powders and granules in one operation, and comfortably met Lucite's required production capacity.
 
At Lucite's Newton Aycliffe site, the company also runs additional Russell Finex separation equipment, including several self-cleaning liquid filters to confirm the quality and consistency of liquid adhesive resins on a separate production line.
 
Worldwide leaders in fine mesh separation technology, Russell Finex has been building and manufacturing vibratory screeners, separators, ultrasonic mesh de-blinding systems and self-cleaning in-line filters for a wide variety of industries. Contact the company for more information about how it can cater to your specific needs.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

AMADA MIYACHI AMERICA Announces Free Advanced Manufacturing Technology Symposium

Jul 23, 2019
AMADA MIYACHI AMERICA Announces Free Advanced Manufacturing Technology Symposium
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MONROVIA, CA - Amada Miyachi America Inc., a leading manufacturer of resistance welding, laser welding, marking, cutting, and micro-machining machines and systems, announces it will hold a free Advanced Manufacturing Technology Symposium from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on July 30, 2019 at Amada Miyachi America headquarters, 1820 S. Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA.
 
Geared towards design engineers, manufacturing engineers and engineering managers with some laser and resistance technology experiences, the symposium will also be worthwhile to others who want to learn about advanced level manufacturing technologies. The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Symposium consists of presentations and technical center demonstrations from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by optional one-on-one application discussions. Participants are encouraged to bring along application samples.
 
The Symposium agenda features:
•              Introduction to industrial lasers in manufacturing: available lasers and processes
 
q             Laser engraving and marking - direct part marking for metal and plastic component traceability
 
q             Laser micro-welding - part design and process discussion for metals
 
q             Laser stent and tube cutting - overview of capability - stents, flex tubes and shaver blades
 
•              Emerging technology: laser micromachining - introduction and capabilities
 
•              Emerging manufacturing trends: process monitoring and Internet of Things (IoT) - introduction and discussion
 
Presenters include Mark Boyle, PhD, Product Manager; Brennan DeCesar, Manager, Advanced Technology; and Matthew Green, Manager, Standard Products R&D.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

Spring-Loaded Drone Collapses Mid-Flight to Zip Through Windows

Jul 23, 2019
Spring-Loaded Drone Collapses Mid-Flight to Zip Through Windows
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Late last year, we published about a foldable drone from Davide Scaramuzza’s lab at the University of Zurich that could change its shape in mid-air to fit through narrow gaps. That drone included servos to reach a type of different configurations, which made it very flexible but also added a handicap in complexity and weight. At ICRA in Montreal earlier this year, professionals from UC Berkeley showed a new design for a foldable drone, able to shrink itself by 50 percent in less than half a second thanks to spring-loaded arms controlled by the power of the drone’s own propellers.
 
The trick here is that the springs are exerting continuous tension on the passively hinged arms of the quadrotor. It’s enough tension to snap the arms inwards when the motors are off, but when the motors are on, the force that they exert is tougher than the tension exerted by the springs, snapping the arms out again and keeping them there. The actual transition point (where the force exerted by the motors overcomes the tension on the springs, or vice versa) has been properly calibrated to make sure that the quadrotor stays a quadrotor most of the time, and only folds up when you want it to.
 
The researchers got the quadrotor’s trajectory all set up to do the approach, fold, unfold, and recovery, and then aligned the actual window up with that trajectory afterwards. So there’s really no autonomy here, and the quadrotor itself has no idea that the window even exists.
 
It’s viable to look at a folding drone like this and wonder why you don’t just make a mainstream drone small enough to fit through the gaps that you care about, and then call it a day. The reason to make a drone larger rather than smaller is chiefly that it can carry more payload and stay in the air longer, and also because having motors that are farther away from each other makes the drone much more steady and better able to fight disturbances like wind.
 
The great reward of this design is that it adds a reasonably small amount of complexity while still enabling dynamic folding that notably reduces the size of the quadrotor, and in its unfolded state, it’s just as easy to control as a quadrotor that can’t fold. The researchers also say that they could potentially get the quadrotor to fold up into an even more compact configuration—the constraint at the moment is that if it gets any smaller, the blades start to cross, but because each propeller counter-rotates relative to its two neighbors, if you keep them spinning at the same rate “the speed of the blades relative to each other would be small and any collisions between blades would be minor.” That sounds quite tricky, and we’d love to see it in action.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

Increasing the Productivity of Metal AM

Jul 22, 2019
Increasing the Productivity of Metal AM
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(July 19th 2019, London, United Kingdom) One of Betatype's greatest talents is the collaborations that it grows — both within the additive manufacturing (AM) industry and across industrial sectors. Embracing opportunities for collaboration extends projects and brings a higher standard of result in ways that single entities can, and do, struggle to achieve in isolation. Betatype's recent partnership with nTopology is one such project that epitomises this philosophy. The two companies teamed up to develop and make a functionally optimized rocket nozzle part.
 
nTopology designed the base mechanical structure of the part, using its nTop Platform software to change the 3D model of the nozzle part into an implicit model. The team then used nTopology's advanced topology optimization and simulation tools to enhance the design of the part. Working together with Betaype and using the capabilities of its distinctive Engine and Process Control technology, they were able to further boost the design for metal additive manufacturing; specifically the laser powder bed fusion (PBF) strategy. This application of Betatype's software technology enabled a significant increase in productivity for the complicated metal rocket nozzle part. For this specific project, Betatype achieved a noteworthy decrease in build time on the AM system from 25 hours down to 18 hours, or 28%. Commenting on the results, Betatype Founder and CEO, Sarat Babu stated: 'Betatype's partnership with nTopology is an excellent demo of how we can work with gifted manufacturers to make additive manufacturing perform. The application clearly shows the benefits of combining the functional design and optimization skills of our partner with process optimization through our technology to achieve productivity levels that would not otherwise be possible with a traditional metal LPBF platform.'
 
Brad Rothenberg, Founder and CEO nTopology moreover stated: 'For serial production in additive manufacturing to work, it must make business sense. Through the partnership between nTopology and Betatype, and our shared idea in solving engineering trouble by joining design, simulation, and manufacturing processes direct, we are able to present a strong business case for additive manufacturing. We help our customers to design and manufacture complex parts with speed, efficiency and reliability. We could not be happier with the results of this rocket nozzle case study and are looking ahead to working on more joint projects.' The rocket nozzle part was built in titanium on a Renishaw RenAM250 system by Betatype. It was a test part created to highlight how different solutions can be integrated through partnerships. The capabilities of nTop Platform demonstrated how functionality can be improved through the application of intelligent design, while ensuring the part is fit for purpose. However, the input from the partnership with Betatype illustrates how the design can only take you so far, and complexity and functionality does not have to come at the expense of productivity. Productivity is a crucial driver for the uptake of AM, and it is here that partnering with Betatype can bring significant returns through the application of its unique technology portfolio for metal AM.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) could pose challenges for aftermarket players

Jul 22, 2019
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) could pose challenges for aftermarket players
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Among the blockbuster plane orders and headline-grabbing acquisitions was a distinct collaboration between giant aircraft manufacturing rivals Boeing and Airbus. The deal will see Boeing supply Airbus A320 parts to British Airways, the UK flag carrier owned by combined International Airlines Group (IAG).Offering a competing OEM’s parts might seem benign to many, but the move by Boeing to take on this contract for its main challenger could prove significant in years to come. The pair’s presence in the aftermarket as the OEMs refocus their core areas of operation may affect mergers and acquisitions in the wider sector.
 
Ground work
 
The advantages for strong leadership in the aerospace and defense aftermarket are plentiful. One of the drivers of the improved number of discounts in the space are OEMs’ improving interest in the aftermarket. Boeing separated out its aircraft services business, Boeing Global Services (BGS), in 2017 as BGS was promptly generating considerable revenue. It was also a result of Boeing’s strategic move to complement focus on the aftermarket. Last year, out of the aircraft maker’s record $101bn in sales, a total of $17bn came from BGS (partly thanks to acquisitions such as parts supplier KLX Inc). The company’s chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, believes it could hit $50bn a year by roughly 2027. Airbus also has bold goals in this regard. In 2017, it earned €2.8bn from aftersales services, approximately 6% of the €50bn turnover from its commercial aircraft division. With this strong progress, it is targeting to around treble its 2017 services earnings to €9bn within the next decade. Other established aftermarket operators will likely need to bolster their skillsets through acquisitions or organic growth to keep up with Boeing and Airbus, who may be actively looking for aftermarket deals with airlines and considering obtaining more knowledge to expand their airline customer base.
 
Valuations propelled
 
Last year, valuations had actually entered double-digit earnings (EBITDA) territory and current M&A market expectations are commonly in the low double digits, likely signalling that the aftermarket is the place to be. Consultancy firm Oliver Wyman needs aftersales in the commercial market alone to hit $114bn around the world by 2028 (from $77.4bn in 2018), driven by a great increase in repair, repair and operations (MRO) spending in Asia and the Middle East, with continual constant growth in North America and Europe. Meanwhile, Boeing stated in its June 2019 Commercial Market Outlook that 44,040 new jets—equivalent to $6.8tn in value—will be required in the next two decades to cater for growing demand and fleet upgrades. Importantly though, it predicts these aircraft will demand $9.1tn of aviation services.
 
Broad appeal
 
The aftermarket chance is persuasive to strategic buyers within the industry and high deal prices may be driven further skyward by increasingly bullish financial investors. Private equity firms are very active individuals in buying and selling aerospace and defense assets and have had substantial success in the past; this subsequently enables them to increase larger funds and have increased confidence to pay higher multiples.  The aerospace and defense sector’s high barriers to entry may make it a compelling investment arena in addition to affording the possibility for lucrative niches to be exploited. One such niche attracting attention is repairing and replacing parts on older fleets. OEMs’ main aims are typically to look ahead and focus on establishing next generation technology, but for older aircraft or legacy engines they often need to align themselves with dependable and trustworthy partners to take on the rigorous and demanding responsibility of keeping aircraft flying. While sustainment is an ultimately backward-looking job, any mistakes could have an impact on brand reputation, meaning there are likely rewarding opportunities for MRO firms to dominate this area of the aftermarket sector.
 
Now and next
 
While servicing legacy products can be extremely lucrative, the potentially more fervent battleground will be to secure triumph in the future. Predictive maintenance powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and big data is already a feature of the industry, but its continued development will most likely be vital to make MRO more streamlined. Those with optimal systems for improving routine repair schedules and, crucially, turning unexpected repairing events into scheduled ones, may likely court the greatest interest from aircraft owners. Furthermore, consolidation is likely to be necessary once aircraft volumes decline on the back of improved reliability. C-checks on Airbus A320 models dropped to every 20 months from 2014 compared to every 15 months previously, according to consultancy firm Vendigital, a trend that will likely affect parts of the aftermarket at some point. Whatever the catalyst, the desire by OEMs to secure a higher share of the aftermarket with a more obvious profit pipeline could recommend more aftermarket partnerships or purchases are on the horizon. Traditional aftermarket players will want to protect their market share, meaning buoyant valuations and deal flow are likely to be sustained for some time yet.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

Covestro partners with Carbon on 3D printing resin

Jul 22, 2019
Covestro partners with Carbon on 3D printing resin
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The resin is used in Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology, which, similar to stereolithography, cures 3D parts out of the polyurethane liquid substance. The procedure, however, can be up to 100 times faster than stereolithography.
 
Covestro is getting its expertise to scale up high-volume manufacturing of the resin, trading to allow production in business quantities.
 
'Our largest challenge in the upscaling of additive manufacturing until series production lies in the supply of suitable materials in the mandatory quality and quantity,' said Patrick Rosso, global head of additive manufacturing at Covestro. 'By partnering with companies like Carbon, we are pushing existing scale borders and supporting various industries along the value chain on their way to digital mass production.”
 
Covestro set the work as part of its larger research into materials right for industrial use. The company is usually upgrading its laboratories in Leverkusen, Germany; Pittsburgh, US and Shanghai, China, where its solutions are developed and tested.


This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com

Who Are Millennial Investors?

Jul 22, 2019
Who Are Millennial Investors?
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Life has moved on. Millennials are no further the youngest adult generation. Gen Z, most commonly accepted to be those born after 1995, is now producing adults who are making remarkable life purchases and investing their newfound income.
 
But Millennials stay misunderstood by many observers. Even though the oldest in that generation are nearing 40 years of age, many observers still treat them as young and impulsive investors. Many Millennials now are in high-paying jobs and have a substantial amount of investable assets. They are a generation of concentration for numerous advisors who are closing books on their Baby Boomer consumers who have settled into more static retirement portfolios.
 
Due to this move toward Millennial investors, Spectrem has crafted a new study of research on Millennials with annual incomes of $100,000 if unmarried and income of $150,000 if married. High Income Millennials alters the landscape of Spectrem studies a bit, as earlier studies mostly qualify survey participants subject to net worth but High Income Millennials is instead studying investors who are making money and deciding what to do with it.
 
Financial literacy is a target topic aimed at Millennials. Because many high schools have ceased teaching basic financial concepts like maintain a checking account properly, Millennials are often considered behind in understanding higher level financial concepts including investing. But the Millennials surveyed for the Spectrem study disagree.
 
Forty-four percent of Millennials look at themselves to be relatively knowledgeable about investments and finance, and 18 percent consider themselves to be very knowledgeable. That’s 62 percent which put themselves in the knowledgeable category, and that compares to 83 percent of all investors who describe themselves in that manner, according to Spectrem research. So Millennials are far less knowledgeable than the entire investment population, the rest of which is apparently older and more experienced.
 
As investors get older, they have the tendency to back away from investments that carry a high risk of losing the principle investment. Younger investors are often regarded as to be the ones who can take a chance on alternatives or riskier investments.
 
Based upon High Income Millennials, 42 percent of Millennials consider themselves to be aggressive or most aggressive with regards to the risk tolerance on their investments, and 44 percent call themselves moderate investors. Only 14 percent of Millennial investors are conservative investors. Advisors need to consider both the net worth and the income of Millennial investors when discussing investment opportunities and portfolio decisions. And they must cease to think of the Millennial generation as something other than what it is, which is a group of adults making real money and wanting to invest that money smartly.

Toyota Teams With BYD On Electric Cars For China

Jul 22, 2019
Toyota Teams With BYD On Electric Cars For China
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Toyota Motor said Friday it has arranged to develop electric vehicles with BYD, the Chinese leader in that field, aspiring to roll out electric sedans and SUVs under the Toyota brand in China in the course of the first half of the 2020s.
 
The tie-up, which includes development of batteries for electrified vehicles, might also lead to combined production as China loosens restrictions on local manufacturing of environmentally friendly autos by foreign companies. Right now, the electric vehicles perhaps will be produced at Chinese plants that Toyota already operates with two local partners.
 
Japan's biggest automaker has been establishing joint ventures to make up for its sluggish entry into electric vehicles, as Volkswagen and other foreign rivals considerably focus on EVs.
 
BYD, which started as a battery manufacturer, sold roughly 250,000 electrified autos in 2018. Along with batteries, the automaker develops motors in-house. It hopes to blend those strengths with Toyota's vehicle design expertise and production technologies.
 
Toyota's conjunction with BYD was inspired by China's move to strengthen environmental regulations in the world's biggest auto market. Though hybrids may receive more favorable treatment than originally planned under the newest rules, automakers still will be required to manufacture a certain number of electrics.
 
By bolstering its EV business, Toyota also expects to make strides in the Chinese market, where its presence is fragile in comparison to American and European rivals. Toyota plans to bring a mass-produced electric vehicle to market in 2020, broadening the lineup to 10 or more models in the first half of the 2020s.
 
The automaker's other partnerships in this field include starting a business in 2017 to develop technologies with companies such as for example Mazda Motor and components maker Denso. Toyota also hopes to develop platforms with Subaru and release models under both of their brands in the first half of the 2020s.
 
Toyota and Suzuki Motor have an EV partnership in India. And Toyota has enrolled with forces with China's CATL as well as compatriots Toshiba and GS Yuasa in automotive batteries. Toyota said last month that it intends to elevate sales of electrified vehicles to 5.5 million units in 2025, moving up the target date by five years.
 

India¡¯s Paytm Mall Raises $150 Million Funding From eBay

Jul 22, 2019
India¡¯s Paytm Mall Raises $150 Million Funding From eBay
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Indian digital payments giant Paytm on Thursday announced its e-commerce arm raised $150 million from U.S. online mall operator eBay, as it looks to increase its competition against Amazon. 
 
The investment valued Paytm Mall at $3 billion, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma stated to the Nikkei Asian Review in Tokyo. Current backers include SoftBank Group and Alibaba Group Holding. 
 
With regard to the partnership, eBay will make its products available for purchase on Paytm Mall’s shopping platform, eBay said. 
 
The deal will give some additional firepower for Paytm Mall, which has been facing an uphill challenge with Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. Last year, Forrester Research expected that Paytm Mall has a market share of only 6%.
 
Sharma said Paytm itself, which encompasses the core mobile payments business, is not seeking additional funding at this point in time. Paytm at present handles transactions worth $100 billion at an annualized rate and aims to double the number of merchants using its platform this year to 25 million, he said.
 

EU Assessing Security Risks to 5G

Jul 22, 2019
EU Assessing Security Risks to 5G
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The European Union said that it may consider some 5G suppliers a security risk, noting that Chinese law requires domestic companies to collaborate with intelligence agencies. The EU may not target China's Huawei Technologies Co 'from the outset', Security Commissioner Julian King told reporters last Friday. But he mentioned that Chinese national intelligence law 'puts certain quite broad requirements on organisations or citizens to support or cooperate or collaborate with national intelligence work'. He added: 'It is indeed possible that we reach the conclusion that in some cases, some products, services and suppliers are deemed unsafe.'
 
US President Donald Trump has advocated for a worldwide bar on Huawei on security grounds, notifying European telecom operators who rely upon the company's equipment to run networks. Excluding Huawei and ZTE Corp from the next generation of mobile networks would likely burden European phone companies with 55 billion euros (S$84 billion) in excess costs and check the 5G roll-out, the wireless industry's main lobby group GSMA said last month.
 
'There's a lot of debate about Huawei,' Mr King said. 'It's not because we're obsessing about China. We're trying to develop a risk assessment across this market', and major suppliers will feature in the discussion. Whilst individual European governments are completely free to block a 5G supplier over security concerns, Mr King said that he desired they would rely on a risk assessment that he is putting together by Oct 1, based on information from all EU members.
 
'Huawei welcomes the fact-based approach that the EU plans to take in reviewing the national risk assessments of 5G network infrastructure,' the company remarked in a statement. 'It is now more important than ever to develop a common approach to cyber security.'
 
The EU is somewhat powerless to force its member states to abide by its suggestions, but Mr King said that the report should help them 'reach a view on whether particular products, services or suppliers are sufficiently safe' as states make measures on high-speed 5G spectrum auctions and network deployment, he told a Brussels press conference.
 
Whilst outright bans on Huawei appear less likely in Europe - the region that it relies on most for growth outside China - countries for example Germany, France and Britain have signaled more limited limitations and tighter oversight of their networks.
 
Huawei's European smartphone sales reduced last month, according to market research firm Kantar, after a US component supply ban on the Chinese manufacturer threatened its access to significant handset software.
 

osch Venture Capital invests in 3D printing marketplace Xometry

Jul 22, 2019
osch Venture Capital invests in 3D printing marketplace Xometry
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Robert Bosch Venture Capital joins Greenspring members, Dell Technologies Capital, BMW i Ventures, Foundry Group, GE Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Maryland Venture Fund and Almaz Capital in the Series D round, raising $55mn. Throughout its funding rounds, $118mn has been elevated.
 
'We're happy to grow our partnership with a world class manufacturing brand like Bosch,' said Randy Altschuler, co-founder and CEO of Xometry.  'Global expansion is one of our key upcoming initiatives and we look forwards to leveraging Bosch's deep manufacturing expertise as we start in Europe.'
 
Xometry uses its Instant Quoting Engine technology to supply instant quotes to product designers, who can publish CAD files and order their print sourced from Xometry’s network of more than 3,000 manufacturers.
 
'Xometry's immediate quoting engine helps drive efficiency by leveraging AI algorithms to instantaneously produce a price, lead time, and manufacturability comments,' said Ingo Ramesohl, Managing Director for Robert Bosch Venture Capital.



This article is originally posted on 
Tronserve.com

AUTHORISED REPAIR SERVICE CENTER ZHAFIR KEB INVERTER in MALAYSIA

Jul 21, 2019
AUTHORISED REPAIR SERVICE CENTER ZHAFIR KEB INVERTER in MALAYSIA
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One Driver Steers Two Trucks With Peloton¡¯s Autonomous Follow System

Jul 19, 2019
One Driver Steers Two Trucks With Peloton¡¯s Autonomous Follow System
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A host of companies are working to develop autonomous driving technology, but Silicon Valley startup Peloton has put its focus on autonomous following. The company today announced technology that uses computers, sensors, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications to allow one driver to drive two separate trucks. 
 
Just the past year, Peloton began selling technology that enabled closer and safer truck platooning, using sensors, V2V communications, and automatic powertrain control and braking. That version of its product, Platoon Pro, requires a driver in the second truck to steer. The new version will take the second driver out of the equation.
 
Here’s how it works:
 
In the front truck, the driver drives regularly. Whenever he adjusts his foot on the throttle, touches the brakes, or maneuvers the steering wheel, digital details describing that action are wirelessly transported to the computer in the following truck. Using that information, along with data gathered from its own collection of radars, cameras, and other sensors, the second truck can safely trail close behind the first, forming a single-driver platoon.
 
Peloton founder Josh Switkes has been planning on the autonomous vehicle problem for decades. While finishing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford in 2006, he worked for Volkswagen in Germany, performing experiments on how drivers respond to autonomous vehicles. There were, of course, no fully-functioning autonomous vehicles back then, so Switkes hid behind a one-way mirror in the back seat, ready to take control of the car. A VW colleague rode as a passenger, while the test subject sat in the driver’s seat. The test subject was told to push a button on the dash at any time to activate the car’s self-driving system (which was actually the hidden Switkes).
 
Switkes found that it only took about 10 seconds after pushing the button before the human driver would take his or her hands off the wheel and turn to chat with the VW employee sitting in the passenger seat. That kind of trust, he says, looked good for future attempts to market self-driving technology, but not so good for road safety, at least in the short run.
 
Ever since, Switkes says, “I haven’t been a fan of Level 2 or 3 autonomy because if people think a car can drive on its own, they will trust it to do that without really assessing the system.” (Level 2 autonomous vehicles have automated acceleration, deceleration, and some steering, like lane maintenance. Level 3 autonomous vehicles drive themselves in normal conditions, but require a driver to quickly intervene in case of emergency.)
 
Platooning, nevertheless, a concept that his Ph.D. advisor had earlier discovered as part of a smart highway project, captured Switkes’ attention. It seemed to be a trouble that could be solved sooner than Level 5 autonomy (fully autonomous in all driving conditions), yet didn’t require that a human driver be on constant alert, even when the vehicle is driving itself. Instead, one vehicle would have a fully engaged human driver, while one vehicle would have no human at all. “A lot of the tech challenges get dramatically simpler when you are following another vehicle,” Switkes says. “You aren’t worrying about what is way ahead—just about not hitting the car in front of you, and watching for other vehicles that might try to get in between you and that car.”
 
In 2011, brainstorming about startup possibilities with friends, the discussion transformed to platooning. Switkes started looking at possible market opportunities, and trucking stood out. He filed for a lot of patents that year on automated following technology.
 
Understanding nothing about trucking, Switkes also got a learner’s permit to allow him to get behind the wheel of large trucks and better empathize with truck drivers. The experience was daunting. “It’s really scary out there,” he says. He included Peloton in 2013 and got his first round of funding that year. Ever since then, the company has collected UA $80 million in investment. Its L1 Platoon Pro is currently legal in 22 states and is now being tested by six trucking companies, Switkes says.
 
The new L4 automatic following system is not quite yet street legal, and is at this time being tested on closed tracks.
 

Google Now Allows Users To Auto-delete User Data

Jul 19, 2019
Google Now Allows Users To Auto-delete User Data
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Google is rendering it possible for Android and iOS users to auto-delete location history and activity data starting today. Although the search giant currently offered the ability to turn on or off the Location History and Web & App Activity straight from the Google Account, such as the option to manually delete the data recorded, there was one feature that makes it a lot quicker to eliminate this data.
 
Starting today, a new set of auto-delete controls are available in the Google app, which will enable users to manage their data convenient than before. Just choose a time limit for how long you want your activity data to be saved, and any data that’s older than that will be automatically deleted from your account.
 
Google claims that you’ll be able to set a time limit for how long your activity data to be saved from anywhere between 3 and 18 months, so there is that.
 
Based upon Google, users should start seeing the new auto-delete controls soon, and that they will come first to Location History and Web & App Activity. A much wider rollout should happen in the coming weeks, so if you do not see the new feature straight away, you will have to wait.
 

Applied Materials¡¯ New Memory Machines

Jul 19, 2019
Applied Materials¡¯ New Memory Machines
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Chip equipment giant Applied Materials wants foundry companies to know for certain that it feels their pain. Continuing down the traditional Moore's Law path of expanding the density of transistors on a chip is far too expensive for all but the three richest players—Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. So to maintain the customers coming, other foundries can preferably add new features, such as the ability to embed new non-volatile memories—RRAM, phase change memory, and MRAM—right on the processor. The trouble is, those are incredibly hard things to make at scale. So Applied has manufactured a pair of machines that boost throughput by more than an order of magnitude. It introduced the machines on 9 July at Semicon West, in San Francisco.
 
Establishing embedded spin-torque transfer MRAM—a two-terminal device that stores data in the materials’ magnetic orientation—is a primarily difficult task. “MRAM is a complex stack,” says Kevin Moraes, vice president of metal deposition at Applied Materials. Each cell has “30-plus layers and 10-plus materials. Some are just a couple angstroms thick; even fractional variation can have a strong effect.”
 
Building it requires countless passes through physical vapor deposition (PVD) tools. Hard drive manufacturers have had the ability to make that structures for their read heads, but the volume of those devices is so low that they could afford to use a low-yield, and therefore expensive, process, says Moraes.
 
Yet when nonvolatile memory is just one part of a larger—and potentially expensive—piece of logic, you need a high-yield and high-throughput process. Inside a single vacuum system, Applied Materials’ new Endura Clover system integrates nine PVD tools, each of which can deposit five different materials. The system even includes an atomic-precision metrology unit, so the thicknesses of the deposited materials can be measured without the need to leave the vacuum environment.
 
Phase change RAM (PCRAM) and resistive RAM are slightly less complicated to construct than MRAM. PCRAM stores its bit as the crystal state of material, which is resistive in its amorphous state and more conductive in its crystalline state. RRAM’s information is also placed as a resistance, but it changes according to a conductive bridge that forms through an otherwise resistive material. The Endura Impluse, Applied’s solution for those two memory technologies, is also a nine-PVD machine with integrated metrology.
 
Moraes revealed that some customers already were installing the two tools. Though he wouldn’t name them, it looks likely that GlobalFoundries is among them. Diversifying its offerings to include embedded nonvolatile memories was a key strategy for the company when its leadership decided to abandon the manufacturing nodes at 7-nanometers and below. The company began offering embedded MRAM in 2018. The company already manufactures chips for stand-alone MRAM producer Everspin, which recently began pilot production of a 1-gigabit chip. GlobalFoundries isn’t alone among the majors in embedding MRAM, of course. TSMC, Intel, and Samsung have also developed it.
 
Embedded nonvolatile memories are also crucial to some kinds of neuromorphic and deep learning accelerators. For neuromorphic chips, the memory cells encode the values of the neural network’s synapses. In deep learning, they form the backbone of the multiply and accumulate circuits that are the basis for AI inferencing. “IBM has been spearheading R&D of new memories for many years, and we see the need for these technologies increasing as the AI era demands improvements in chip performance and efficiency,” Mukesh Khare, vice president for semiconductors and AI hardware and systems at IBM Research said in a press release.
 

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