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Thread: Which Colossal Death Robot are you?

  1. #61
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    ttt for 2018!

    Chinese bomb-making robots. What could go wrong there?

    CHINA'S ROBOTS WILL TRIPLE BOMB AND AMMUNITION PRODUCTION CAPACITY BY 2028
    BY CHRISTINA ZHAO ON 1/2/18 AT 5:36 AM

    China’s artificial intelligence robots could triple the country’s production of bombs and shells by 2028, according to a senior scientist involved in the program to boost ammunition productivity.

    Xu Zhigang, lead scientist with China’s weapon system intelligent manufacturing program, told the South China Morning Post last Wednesday that smart machines—fives times more productive than a human—have begun replacing ammunition workers in a quarter of the country’s factories.

    The smart robots have been fitted with man-made “hands and eyes,” he told the paper. With these anthropomorphic qualities, they are able to assemble deadly explosives, including artillery shells, bombs and rockets, according to Xu.


    Soldiers load bombs onto a fighter plane, used to break up ice floating at Ordos section of the Yellow River, on March 22, 2011 in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. China's AI robots will triple the country's bomb and shell production capacity by 2028, according to a senior scientist with the weapons program.
    GETTY

    China has recently turned to robot automation to populate ammunition factories because the country is running out of human workers. According to Xu, robots have been brought in to address the safety and labor issues that have intensified over the past few decades.

    “However high the salary offered, young people are simply not interested in working in an army ammunition plant nowadays,” he said.

    According to the SCMP, this is in part because of the danger involved in the job, with numerous deadly accidents occuring at ammunition factories in recent years.

    Over the past six decades, 20 to 30 factories were set up in China. However, most of them are situated in remote locations due to safety concerns. The location of the factory coupled with the nature of the work means employees are difficult to find.

    The robot bomb makers are also more efficient and accurate than their human counterparts. According to Xu, they are able to measure the dangerous explosives more precisely and apply the perfect pressure to powder on warheads to produce the highest possible detonation yield.

    “And the machines never get tired,” he added.

    Professor Huang Dexian, from Tsinghua University’s department of automation, told the South China Morning Post that robots can now be programmed to come up with more efficient bomb-making techniques by analyzing the working habits of skillful, experienced human employees.

    “The robots can free workers from risky, repetitive jobs in the bomb-making process. It will create new jobs such as control optimization, hardware maintenance and technical upgrades. It will give us a stronger, healthier, happier defense workforce,” he said.

    China has recently increased efforts to rejuvenate the country’s military and defense force by modernizing their missiles, bombers and warships.

    In November, the country tested the DF-17, a new ballistic weapon with a hypersonic glide vehicle (GHV) and a range of between 1,800 and 2,500 km.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #62
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    Which Colossal Death Robot are you?

    This is kind of awesome.



    KING of BOTS: First China Robot Fighting Competition is Showing Now
    By jetli.com 1 month ago in Entertainment, Jet Li



    KING of BOTS, China’s first highest level robot fighting competition show started to broadcast on January 8th, 2018. Jet Li, as the Global Ambassador for King of Bots, helped the show to assemble 48 top teams: 34 Chinese teams and 14 international teams, including the famous team “Megabyte” and team “Spin Doctor”.



    The show uses the world’s highest magnitude – 110 kg class of large robot specifications, which also means the showdown will be more intense. The competitors will manipulate their own robot to fight against each other, and the champion will win a million dollar cash.



    Jet Li: “The future is what every nation must look forward and catch up, while science and technology are the keywords that describe the future. Robot fighting is not only happening in the movie, it has been linked with the future for a long time. Launching “KING of BOTS” is another important decision followed by “Gong Shou Dao”. China has fosters a good science and technology culture, we just need a platform to prove ourselves. “KING of BOTS” opens the door for Chinese to integrate with the world. After few months of efforts, it is finally aired on Zhejiang TV, and we will not let you down!”


    Continued next post
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  3. #63
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    Jet Li As the Global Ambassador for King of Bots, China First Televised Robot Fightin

    Gene Ching
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  4. #64
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    virtual kung fu bots?


    This character learned how to perform various acrobatic feats by observing a human.
    BERKELEY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH

    Intelligent Machines
    Virtual robots that teach themselves kung fu could revolutionize video games
    Machine learning may make it much easier to build complex virtual characters.
    by Will Knight April 10, 2018

    In the not-so-distant future, characters might practice kung-fu kicks in a digital dojo before bringing their moves into the latest video game.

    AI researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia have created virtual characters capable of imitating the way a person performs martial arts, parkour, and acrobatics, practicing moves relentlessly until they get them just right.

    The work could transform the way video games and movies are made. Instead of planning a character’s actions in excruciating detail, animators might feed real footage into a program and have their characters master them through practice. Such a character could be dropped into a scene and left to perform the actions.


    The same algorithm can be used to teach a wide range of challenging physical skills.
    BERKELEY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH

    “An artist can give just a few examples, and then the system can then generalize to all different situations,” says Jason Peng, a first-year PhD student at UC Berkeley, who carried out the research.

    The virtual characters developed by the AI researcher use an AI technique known as reinforcement learning, which is loosely modeled on the way animals learn (see “10 Breakthrough Technologies 2017: Reinforcement Learning”).

    The researchers captured the actions of expert martial artists and acrobats. A virtual character experiments with its motion and receives positive reinforcement each time it gets a little closer to the motions of that expert. The approach requires a character to have a physically realistic body and to inhabit a world with accurate physical rules.


    JASON PENG | YOUTUBE

    It means the same algorithm can train a character to do a backflip or a moonwalk. “You can actually solve a large range of problems in animation,” says Sergey Levine, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley who’s involved with the project.

    The computer-generated characters in high-budget video games and movies might look realistic, but they are little more than digital marionettes, following a painstakingly choreographed script.

    The animation and computer games industries are already exploring the use of software that automatically adds realistic physics to characters. James Jacobs, CEO Ziva Dynamics, an animation company that specializes in building characters with realistic physical characteristics, says reinforcement learning offers a way to bring realism to behavior as well as appearance. “Up until this point people have been leaning on much simpler approaches,” Jacobs says. “In this case you are training a computation model to understand the way a human or a creature moves, and then you can just direct it, start applying external forces, and it will adapt to its environment.”


    The reinforcement learning process involves making gradual progress—and the odd fall.
    BERKELEY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH

    The approach could have benefits that go beyond video games and special effects. Real robots may eventually learn to perform complex tasks with simulated practice. A bot might practice putting a table together in simulation, for instance, before trying it in the real world.

    Levine says the robots could end up teaching us some new tricks. “If somebody wants to do some sort of gymnastics thing that nobody has ever tried before, in principle they could plug it into this and there’s a good chance something very reasonable would come out,” he says.


    Will Knight Senior Editor, AI

    I am the senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. I mainly cover machine intelligence, robots, and automation, but I’m interested in most aspects of computing. I grew up in south London, and I wrote my first line of code (a spell-binding infinite loop) on a mighty Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Before joining this publication, I worked as the online editor at New Scientist magazine. If you’d like to get in touch, please send an e-mail to will.knight@technologyreview.com.
    Yeah, but can they do a whole form yet?

    THREADS:
    martial arts robot
    Which Colossal Death Robot are you?
    Gene Ching
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  5. #65
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    Chinese bots

    This sorta brings it back on topic here, right?

    AUGUST 23, 2018 / 12:36 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
    Trade tensions may power down China's robot industry

    Cate Cadell
    4 MIN READ

    BEIJING (Reuters) - At a trade show in southern Beijing, children and parents crowd around a group of pink and blue dancing robots that resemble toddler-sized Power Rangers.

    The robots – wired with wide LED smiles and cutesy personalities – are the brainchild of Chinese-American company AvatarMind, built to be futuristic retail workers, teacher’s assistants and household helpers.

    But even as the company polishes off production of 2,000 units, AvatarMind and companies like it are rethinking plans for international expansion in the face of widening tariffs.

    “We want to sell them for the price that is affordable for families, not just institutions. And Trump’s tariffs may affect that,” AvatarMind chief executive Dr John Ostrem said at the World Robot Conference, which ends Sunday.

    The main competitor to AvatarMind’s iPal humanoid robot is a similar but much pricier bot called Pepper, which is made by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T).

    Annualized growth rates for robot production in China dropped from 35.1 percent in May to just 6.3 percent in July, according to the country’s bureau of statistics

    China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says the slowdown is not related to trade.

    But analysts say there is an obvious link to direct tariffs on industrial machinery and robot parts, as well as domestic manufacturers’ putting off production during trade talks.

    “How could it not be related?” said Iris Pang, economist for Greater China at ING Wholesale Banking in Hong Kong. “The trade war may have already deferred some decisions of export-related manufacturers.”

    U.S. tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods came into effect at midnight on Wednesday, alongside retaliatory Chinese tariffs on an equal amount of U.S. goods.

    Although robots aren’t directly named, the U.S. list includes electronics, auto parts and other items that require automated manufacturing and robots. An earlier round of $34 billion tariffs on Chinese goods lists industrial robots.



    The situation could worsen for Chinese robotics manufacturers, analysts say, if the U.S. imposes a further $200 billion in tariffs on a range of consumer goods that create manufacturing demand for robots in China.

    China has included robotics as one of 10 industries to get state support under the country’s Made in China 2025 industrial plan, which aims to make it a world leader in key technologies within the next decade.

    Some Chinese companies hope the country’s cornerstone One Belt One Road foreign policy initiative will provide a boost even if trade with the United States evaporates.

    Others said the low cost of Chinese manufacturing would - for now - compensate for tariffs in the U.S., where competing products like Pepper are still more expensive.

    Li Shuai, a manager at Chinese medical robot firm Remebot, said her company is seeking FDA approval for its robots.

    “There is a similar product abroad in France,” Li said. “Its domestic price is probably in the tens of millions, and the price of our equipment is controlled at about five or six million. Therefore, there is still a great advantage for us.”

    Reporting by Cate Cadell, additional reporting by Cong Sun and Irene Wang in Beijing; Editing by Gerry Doyle
    Gene Ching
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  6. #66
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    Hen ha Hotel

    I totally want to stay here.

    Robotel: Japan hotel staffed by robot dinosaurs
    August 31, 2018 by Raito Ono


    Dinosaur robots wait to check in customers at the Henn na hotel

    The reception at the Henn na Hotel east of Tokyo is eerily quiet until customers approach the robot dinosaurs manning the front desk. Their sensors detect the motion and they bellow "Welcome."

    It might be about the weirdest check-in experience possible, but that's exactly the point at the Henn na (whose name means 'weird') chain, which bills itself as offering the world's first hotels staffed by robots.

    The front desk staff are a pair of giant dinosaurs that look like cast members of the Jurassic Park movies, except for the tiny bellboy hats perched on their heads.

    The robo-dinos process check-ins through a tablet system that also allows customers to choose which language—Japanese, English, Chinese or Korean—they want to use to communicate with the multilingual robots.

    The effect is bizarre, with the large dinosaurs gesticulating with their long arms and issuing tinny set phrases. Yukio Nagai, manager at the Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay, admits some customers find it slightly unnerving.

    "We haven't quite figured out when exactly the guests want to be served by people, and when it's okay to be served by robots," he told AFP.

    But for other guests the novelty is the charm: each room is staffed with mini-robots that look a bit like spherical Star Wars droid BB-8, and help guests with everything from changing channels to playing music.


    Even the fish are robotic with electric lights on their battery-powered bodies

    Even the fish swimming in the lobby run on batteries, with electric lights in their articulated bodies flickering on and off as they work their way around giant tanks.

    "The dinosaurs looked intriguing, and I thought my son would love it," said Chigusa Hosoi, who was at the hotel with her three-year-old.

    "My son is really happy. There's an egg-shaped robot inside the room. He was playing with it a lot."

    The first Henn na Hotel opened in Nagasaki in 2015, and was certified the following year by Guinness World Records as the world's first hotel with robots on its staff.

    The travel agency group that operates the chain now runs eight hotels across the country, all with robots on the staff, some of them dinosaurs, but others taking a more humanoid shape.


    The Henn na Hotel in Nagasaki was certified by Guinness World Records as the world's first hotel with robots on staff
    Some humans are also on call to intervene in case of glitches, which customer reviews online suggest are a not infrequent problem at check-in.

    But Nagai said relying on robots for everything from front desk duty to cleaning had proved an efficient choice in a country with a shrinking labour market.

    "It's becoming difficult to secure enough labour at hotels. To solve that problem, we have robots serving guests."
    Gene Ching
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  7. #67
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    Man takes his self-built 'Transformer' for a spin in Beijing

    Man takes his self-built 'Transformer' for a spin in Beijing, gets shooed away by security

    Gene Ching
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  8. #68
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    oh crap

    this is how the robot apocalypse begins...

    SKEWERED ALIVE Factory robot impales worker with 10 foot-long steel spikes after horror malfunction
    The 49-year-old was on the night shift at a porcelain factory in China when the accident happened
    WARNING
    By Tariq Tahir
    13th December 2018, 12:08 pm Updated: 13th December 2018, 3:09 pm

    A CHINESE factory worker has survived being skewered with TEN metal spikes when a robot malfunctioned.

    The 49-year-old, named as Mr Zhou, was working on the night shift at a porcelain factory in Hunan province when he was struck by a falling robotic arm.


    REX FEATURES
    Surgeons working to remove the skewers

    The accident resulted in him being impaled with foot long, half-inch thick metal rods, the People’s Daily reported.

    He was first taken to a local hospital before he was transferred to the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University due to the severity of his injuries.

    Six steel rods fixed on a steel plate pierced his right shoulder and chest, and four penetrated elsewhere in his body.

    During the operation, doctors found that one of the rods missed an artery by just 0.1mm.


    REX FEATURES
    The ten skewers that were removed


    REX FEATURES
    One of the skewers narrowly missed an artery

    The rods also prevented doctors from carrying out X-rays before the operation.

    “They were relatively big so there was no means of getting fitting the patient into the X-ray machine while the nails themselves could have caused interference with X-rays," said Wu Panfeng, an associate professor of hand microsurgery.

    Surgeons worked through the night to take out all of the rods in Mr Zhou's body.


    REX FEATURES
    Surgeons worked through the night pulling out the skewers


    REX FEATURES

    His condition is now described as stable and he will undergo treatment and physiotherapy to assist his recovery, and he is already able to move his right arm.

    Mr Zhou was lucky not to suffer the same fate as American factory worker Wanda Holbrook.

    The maintenance technician was killed by rogue robot who had veered into the area she was working in and crushed her head.

    The 57-year-old was inspecting machinery in an area where components were assembled when the robot “took Wanda by surprise, entering the section she was working in", court documents filed at the time said.

    In 2015, another car industry worker, this time in Germany, was also killed by a robot.

    The unnamed 22-year-old man was part of a team that was setting up the stationary robot at a Volkswagen plant when it grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate,

    Last year, a construction worker miraculously survived after he was electrocuted, thrown from his workstation and then impaled through the anus by a four-foot steel bar.

    Yang Ming, 37, had accidentally touched live wires on a building site and the shock sent him flying backwards onto the protruding metal rod.

    Rescuers left the pole inside and rushed him to hospital so surgeons could fish it out.

    Ming had to undergo seven hours of surgery at the Sichuan University West China Hospital in Chengdu, capital of China’s south-western Sichuan Province.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #69
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    Gundam in orbit for realz

    I cannot wait until mecha fights become an Olympic event.

    Japan to release Gundam and Char’s Zaku into space to orbit Earth, ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympics
    Dale Roll 57 minutes ago



    Launch will celebrate the anime’s anniversary and look forward to the 2020 Olympics!

    Mobile Suit Gundam, the anime that defined the mecha genre, is celebrating its 40 year anniversary, and that’s cause to celebrate. But as if the release of limited-edition Gundam coffee cans, the opening of a brand new Gundam Cafe, and plans for an actual moving Gundam statue weren’t enough, now there are also plans to actually send some mobile suits into space.

    That’s right, you read that correctly. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has teamed up with the Tokyo University Graduate School of Engineering’s Aerospace Engineering department to use mobile suits to cheer on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics from space. To do so, they’ll be sending models of the original Gundam and Char’s Zaku from the Mobile Suit Gundam series out into Earth’s orbit.

    ▼ The suits will even be traveling around the Earth at a rate of about eight kilometers (five miles) per second, which means they’ll complete one orbit in about 90 minutes!


    Sadly, they won’t be full-size Gundam statues, like the one in Odaiba. The logistics of launching a 20-meter tall (60-plus foot), extremely heavy statue into space would probably be too difficult with the technology we have right now. Instead, they’ll be sending out two Gunpla models, like the build-it-yourself kind that fans can buy and make at home, but they won’t be ordinary plastic Gunpla models, of course; thanks to the cooperation of three companies in Fukui Prefecture, as well as JAXA and Tokyo University, they’ll be made with special materials and painted with a special kind of paint in order to withstand the harsh environment of space.

    They’ll be launched from the International Space Station sometime in March or April next year, together with the new G-Satellite, a micro satellite which measures just 30 centimeters across (about 11 inches), and which is also an electronic billboard. The models will be housed in the “cockpit” of the G-Satellite until it enters Earth’s orbit, and then it will open, and they’ll look as if they’re floating in outer space.

    ▼ An image of the G-Satellite


    The mobile suits will be standing on the electronic signboard, on which encouraging messages for the athletes will be displayed in the five colors of the Olympics. The G-Satellite will also be equipped with seven cameras to capture the messages, which those involved with the project will share on social media.

    Unfortunately the mobile suits won’t be allowed to revolve around the earth for eternity, as they’ll be taken back in sometime during the Olympics. Still, thanks to cool experiments like this, maybe one day we will be able to send a Gundam into space to orbit the earth perpetually, and a full-sized one at that! Now wouldn’t that be something for extraterrestrial visitors to see?

    In any case, we’ll be looking forward to the pictures posted on social media next year!

    Source: One Team Project via Japaaan Magazine
    Images: One Team Project
    THREADS:
    2020 Tokyo Olympics
    Which Colossal Death Robot are you?
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  10. #70
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    Chinabots


    China’s robot makers are hooked on subsidies, highlighting another red line in US-China trade war

    Mentions of ‘Made in China 2025’ may have disappeared, but Beijing and local governments continue to subsidise emerging technologies, sparking US outrage
    US President Donald Trump has long complained about China’s state subsidies, even accusing Chinese trade practises of ‘raping’ the American economy
    SCMP
    Orange Wang
    He Huifeng
    Sidney Leng
    Published: 6:15am, 20 Jun, 2019


    Last year China was the world’s largest producer of industrial robots – the machines that automate production lines – for the sixth successive year, with 147,682 units made, according to date from OFweek. Photo: Handout

    Prospects of China and the US securing a deal to end the trade war are dwindling. This is the fifth in a series of long reads examining the elements of any deal that Beijing would be willing to agree to, those that are considered achievable in the long run, as well as the red lines, on which Beijing is unlikely to ever budge. Part five focuses on the complex issue of state subsidies for China’s hi-tech industries.
    If Beijing’s phasing out of references to “Made in China 2025”, the ambitious blueprint for the country’s industrial upgrade, was supposed to convince the United States that it had dropped the plan, then an outburst from US President Donald Trump last week showed that the move had clearly failed.
    In an interview with CNBC, Trump railed against the plan, claiming that he had told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that it was “insulting” to America, and that it was his own threat of retaliation that led to the brand being quietly dropped.
    Washington has long complained about China’s state subsidies. Trump has often directed his fury at heavy industry, railing against cheap Chinese steel flooding US markets, even accusing Chinese trade practises of “raping” the American economy. However, it is arguably Beijing’s subsidies for hi-tech industries that the US fears most, as can be showed by its pursuit of China’s technology giants, Huawei and ZTE.
    Both China and the US are aware that whoever dominates in technologies such as 5G, robotics, electric vehicles and cloud computing, could gain the upper hand in both trade and military terms in the decades ahead. Furthermore, the US government can look at industries such as electric vehicles and solar cells for precedents as to how China subsidises a developing technology to the point of dominance and only then winds down government support.
    In the EV sector, China is beginning to reduce subsidies, but only at a stage when it is by far the global leader. In 2017, the country produced more electric vehicles than the rest of the world combined, 579,000, compared to 200,000 in the US and 98,000 in Japan.
    China views these technologies as crucial to moving its manufacturing economy up the value chain and avoiding the dreaded middle income trap, where wages stagnate, igniting the potential for domestic unrest. In that regard, subsidising new industrial sectors – as with the state support continually pumped into job-rich industries like machinery and car manufacturing – helps keep discontent among the public muted.
    For these reasons, hi-tech subsidies are viewed by many as a red line for China in the talks with the US to end the trade war. Conversations with industry insiders – many of whom receive subsidies – reveal little desire to change a model which suits them well.


    In 2017, China produced more electric vehicles than the rest of the world combined, 579,000, compared to 200,000 in the US and 98,000 in Japan. Photo: AFP

    In the robotics business, for instance – one of the 10 key industries named in Xi’s Made in China 2025 plan, launched in 2015 – subsidies are warmly welcomed and viewed as necessary if Chinese companies are to be competitive.
    Some even think that even with the billions being pumped into the sector from government coffers, Beijing is not doing enough, even though last year China was the world’s largest producer of industrial robots – the machines that automate production lines – for the sixth successive year, with 147,682 units made, according to date from OFweek.
    Sun Kai, the chief technology officer of Beijing Elite Technology, a privately-owned industrial robot maker which opened a production plant in the manufacturing hub of Suzhou near Shanghai last year, said that he “absolutely” wanted the Chinese government to grant more financial support to the industry, despite US demands to stop.
    “[The subsidies for buying robots] make little sense in terms of boosting the R&D on industrial robot technologies,” Sun said.
    This year, the picture has been less rosy, with tariffs and a slowdown in global demand forcing industrial robot production down by 10.2 per cent in the first four months, according to OFWeek, a data resource for China’s hi-tech industries.
    But that does not mean that Beijing has stopped subsidies. Government handouts accounted for 44 per cent of net profits for 53 listed robotic companies in 2018, according to a research note by Sinolink Securities, a sharp rise from the 10 per cent recorded between 2012 and 2017.
    continued next post
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  11. #71
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    Continued from previous post

    Big powers in manufacturing are all ratcheting up the development of intelligent manufacturing
    unnamed Gree executive
    Robotic industry subsidies come in different forms, but they are delivered by government authorities across China. In 2014 and 2015 alone, more than 36 Chinese cities launched a total of 77 supportive policies for the sector, according to the China Robot Industry Alliance.
    This led to an influx of companies to the sector, including private start-ups like Beijing Elite Technology and major, established manufacturing players, such as Gree, a state-owned home appliance maker based in Zhuhai, which created a subsidiary in September 2015 to produce industrial robots.
    “Big powers in manufacturing are all ratcheting up the development of intelligent manufacturing. China also released the action plan for Made in China 2025. Within this context, Gree dug into the research and development of intelligent equipment,” said an unnamed Gree Intelligent Equipment executive in a statement received from the company, who declined to disclose how much the company had received in subsidies.
    In Suzhou, the municipal government released a two-year funding plan in 2016 for smart devices and the internet of things, whereby 500 million yuan (US$72 million) would go towards helping manufacturers upgrade their production lines with one-time rewards of between 5 million yuan (US$722,000) and 10 million yuan.
    These enable companies to purchase robots from companies such as Beijing Elite Technology, but Sun said that he would prefer the government channel funds directly into research and development (R&D).
    “It makes little sense not to boost the R&D on industrial robot technologies,” Sun said, adding that 10 per cent of his companies budget came from government subsidies.
    “China’s robot industry is still falling behind the ones in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. Most [robot] companies that target the high-end market are facing huge financial pressure, mainly from the spending on research and development.”
    Zhu Sendi, a member of the National Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Committee, told the Made in China Forum in Foshan earlier this year that while China is the world’s biggest manufacturer, building better industrial robots would help it catch up with the US in terms of efficiency.
    “It is urgent now for China to consider the strategy of how to transform manufacturing from big to strong. Intelligent manufacturing should be the main direction,” he said.
    This is a widely-held view within the sector and one backed up by research as a study by the Chinese Academy of Engineering showed that Chinese manufacturing is 15.48 per cent less efficient than its American equivalent, up from 11.68 per cent in 2012.
    Chen Hongbo, the vice-president of Jaten Robot & Automation, a robot manufacturer in Foshan in China’s Guangdong province, said that “global economic and trade trends are not conducive” to innovation in China’s hi-tech sectors, with the drag on international demand caused by the trade war making it difficult for his company to invest in R&D.
    “Tech enterprises, the government and talent should support each other to tide over the difficulties to improve the productivity of robot and intelligent manufacturing and promote the transformation of robotics companies,” Chen said, adding that government subsidies could help achieve this.
    Tech enterprises, the government and talent should support each other to tide over the difficulties to improve the productivity of robot and intelligent manufacturing and promote the transformation of robotics companies
    Chen Hongbo
    A separate Guangdong manufacturer based in Dongguan, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted that government subsidies form “about 30 per cent” of its R&D budget, which itself was up to 20 per cent of the company’s revenue.
    “Government subsidies and incentives are an important boost to R&D, especially in the current economic downturn and uncertainties, which mean most Chinese companies have become more conservative with regard R&D investment than in previous years,” said the executive, whose company makes radio frequency identification equipment for controlling industrial robots.
    The message from the robotics sector is clear: China should continue subsidising companies until the money is no longer needed, the technology is sufficiently developed and the companies able to sustain market forces.
    “The US government thinks the monopoly of Chinese state-owned enterprises has been strengthening, so it is disgusted with China’s government subsidies. But even in mature market economies, the US or European Union, they also have government subsidies and financial support programmes in cutting-edge technology development,” said Luo Jun, chief executive of the International Robotics and Intelligent Equipment Industry Alliance, a government think tank.
    Understandably, this is a point of frustration in Washington. Jeff Moon, assistant US trade representative for China during the final year of the Obama administration, cites the example of solar panels, which China subsidised to the point of domination, as well as Beijing’s plans last year to establish a 300 billion yuan (US$43.38 billion) fund to support its domestic semiconductor industry.
    “I don't think that [the Trump administration] think they are going to wipe out all subsidies, but I think that putting some really outrageous number against semiconductors, then that is completely changing the entire industry,” Moon said.
    “If China is claiming that it has the right to now subsidise beyond anyone's wildest expectations a company that is going to sell products below market prices, engage in predatory pricing, bankrupt companies all around the world, and that is how they are going to achieve Made in China 2025, by first capturing the Chinese market and then capturing world markets, well, then there's a reason to have a trade war and we ought to fight it.”


    China offered subsidies to solar panel manufacturers. Photo: San Jose Mercury News/MCT

    In China’s electric vehicle sector, where subsidies are being reduced, companies are racing against time to innovate before they are fully exposed to market forces. Beijing’s latest policy plan showed that this year, subsidies for all electric vehicles combined would be half last year's level and are expected to be completely phased out by the end of next year.
    The plan also forbids local governments from subsidising electric passenger vehicles starting from this month – subsidies for electric public transports and fuel cells are still allowed – but encourages local officials to fund more infrastructure construction, such as charging stations.
    Chongqing Sokon Industry Group, a private Chongqing-based company, mainly produces low-end electric vehicles that are reliant on subsidies. According its annual report, nearly 40 per cent of its electric vehicle revenue came from government subsidies last year.
    “The subsidy is only a guidance. The government eventually will let the market play a bigger role. The subsidy can only raise a lot of locusts. Any subsidy policy is not a long-term solution,” said an analyst at the company, who preferred not to be named.
    Sokon has been pouring funds – 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) over five years – into an advanced new model, its plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, with its self-developed engine, with a view to mass-producing later this year. The company is betting on the new model to boost revenues that have been hit by China’s sluggish vehicle market and help reduce some of its debt burden, which has risen to more than 70 per cent of its assets.
    It is easy to see why China is now happy to stop propping up its electric vehicle industry as it is already miles ahead of other competing nations. Bloomberg reported earlier in June that there are already 486 electric vehicle start-ups in China, many of which are yet to introduce their first commercial products. Despite this, there were more than 1 million electric vehicle sales in China for the first time in 2018.
    Other tech-related issues in the trade war, such as an end to intellectual property violations and forced technology transfer, are viewed as items China can accept and address in the medium-term. However, as it strives to be the global power in new technologies, Beijing appears less inclined to meet US demands on subsidies.
    THREADS
    Trade War
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    Gene Ching
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  12. #72
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    ttt 4 2020!

    Isn't this just a sophisticated metronome?

    ‘Scary Beauty’: Japanese robot opera comes to UAE
    Alter 3, an android, will conduct a human orchestra for the performance in Sharjah on January 31


    Android opera 'Scary Beauty' will come to Sharjah as part of Sharjapan. Kenshu Shintsubo

    A humanoid robot with artificial intelligence (AI) will be leading a human orchestra in the operatic performance Scary Beauty, which is set to have its Middle East premiere on Friday, January 31.

    Conceived by composer Keiichiro Shibuya, the piece examines the relationship between humans and technology, and considers our growing dependence on our own technological inventions. Shibuya composed Scary Beauty’s music and developed its lyrics based on literary texts, including those by William S Burroughs and Michel Houellebecq.



    During the performance, the android – named Alter 3 – will decide on the piece’s tempo, volume and singing expression. Alter 3 will also add its electro-vocals to the mix, singing alongside the musicians. With a mechanical body and a human face and hands, watching the android in motion is rather uncanny and something out of a sci-fi movie as it leads the orchestra with machine-like movements combined with facial expressions.

    An early version of the piece was first performed in 2017 by a prototype android. In 2018, Alter 2 made its world premiere in Tokyo at a conference on artificial life. Robot scientist Hiroshi Ishiguro, who teaches at Osaka University, created Alter 2, which runs on an AI programme by Takashi Ikegami from the University of Tokyo. For the android’s latest iteration Shibuya has worked with Warner Music Japan and mixi, Inc to add software developments to Alter 3.


    Android opera 'Scary Beauty' will come to Sharjah as part of Sharjapan. Kenshu Shintsubo

    Scary Beauty is part of Sharjah Art Foundation’s Sharjapan exhibition themed Inter-Resonance: Inter-Organics Japanese Performance and Sound Art. Now in its second year, Sharjapan highlights performance art and sound-based installations from Japan that examine the interactions between nature, technology and human life.

    Other performances in Sharjapan’s programme include Locus Focus, an improvised dance presentation by Min Tanaka, who will react and build on his movements based on his surrounding environment. It will take place on Thursday and Friday, January 30 and 31. In Nature’s Rhythm: Heartbeat from Japan on Friday, January 24, Eitetsu Hayashi will demonstrate his innovative drumming technique on traditional Japanese Taiko drums.

    The performances are free and open to the public. Details on sharjahart.org
    I always thought bots would be more into EDM.
    Gene Ching
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  13. #73
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    This October it begins...


    From anime to reality: Mobile 25-ton Gundam robot to be built in Yokohama

    BY KAZUAKI NAGATA
    STAFF WRITER
    JAN 20, 2020



    What was once thought limited to the realm of animation is set to become reality in Yokohama this fall when an 18-meter mobile Gundam robot steps into action.

    Fans of the iconic anime series will be able to get an up-close look at the 25-ton machine at Gundam Factory Yokohama, a 9,000 sq.-meter facility set to open at Yama****a Pier on Oct. 1 for a year.

    Tickets for the facility will go on sale in July, though the price has not been disclosed. Other details remain a mystery, such as the exact movements the robot will be able to perform using its 24 fully functional joints.

    Gundam Factory Yokohama will consist of two areas: a 25-meter-tall Gundam-Dock that will serve as its maintenance site, and a two-story building with shops and event space.

    On weekends in July and August, the facility will be operating on a pre-opening basis, but the Gundam robot itself won’t debut until October.

    Gundam Global Challenge, a project aimed at actually building a mobile Gundam, was launched in 2014 as part of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Gundam anime series, which began in 1979.

    Creators, engineers and researchers make up the team working on the project, including Yoshiyuki Tomino, director of the TV series “Mobile Suit Gundam,” Pitoyo Hartono, professor at Chukyo University’s School of Engineering, and Seiichi Saito, creative and technical director at Rhizomatiks Co., a Tokyo-based firm that devises interactive digital artwork.

    Robotics and engineering firms such as Asratech Corp. and Yaskawa Electric Corp. are also providing support. The project’s budget has not been disclosed.

    Since the opening of Gundam Factory Yokohama is timed to coincide with the Olympics and Paralympics, the team said it will promote the facility to foreign media outlets for the games.

    Over the years, Gundam titles and products have attracted anime fans around the world.

    The mobile Gundam in Yokohama, however, will differ from the 19.7-meter Unicorn Gundam robot erected in 2017 in Tokyo’s Odaiba district. While parts of Unicorn Gundam are functional, its feet stay on the ground.

    The first life-sized Gundam statue was installed in Odaiba in 2009 and has become popular with Japanese and foreign tourists alike.
    Am I being judgemental or does that spokesman look just like an anime villain?
    Gene Ching
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  14. #74
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    Baby Gundam steps...

    A 60-Foot Robot Just Took Its First Steps
    By Jack Dunhill
    28 JUL 2020, 20:02



    No, you’re not watching Pacific Rim or an insane anime – this is an actual 18-meter (60-foot) robot taking its first steps (at least, sort of).

    Designed after the popular Gundam robot from multiple TV series and manga, this is by far the largest robot ever created – and it looks just as awesome as we imagined. The massive robot, currently in construction in Gundam Factory Yokohama, Japan, is seen lifting and lowering its legs in preparation for its debut in October 2020, although that may be postponed due to the ongoing pandemic.



    Watch as the robot lifts its leg for the first time. Credit: Michael Overstreet on YouTube

    People in cranes are seen ****zing about the robot, tweaking moving parts as they carry out mechanical testing. This appears to be a preliminary test, with no weight put on the legs. But whilst it may not be ready to fight supervillains just yet, it looks well on its way to full independent walking.

    Gundam Factory Yokohoma has been working on the robot since January with the aim of providing the spectacle of a 60-foot, 25-ton walking robot. Popular Mechanics reports the robot will feature articulated fingers, 24 degrees of freedom, and the ability to support its huge weight, adding to Japan’s impressive robotics records.

    The robot resides just outside of Tokyo in the Port of Yokohama, where it will stay for a year. It is already a technical marvel, and we're incredibly excited to see it in full operation.
    I'm debating whether this is just what we need right now, or exactly the opposite.
    Gene Ching
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  15. #75
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    Rx-78f00 gundam



    ANIME/COMICSGEEK BITS
    Shinto Priests Bless Japan’s Life-Size Gundam Head In Completion Ceremony
    Fumiko Kudasai August 6, 20203 min read



    In a bizarrely elaborate ceremony on 29 June, Shinto priests were brought in to perform rites for Japan’s life-size Gundam before its head was mounted on it. They were seen bowing to the head in order to mark the completion of this monumental achievement. The life-size Gundam also now has a name, RX-78F00 GUNDAM.



    The life-size Gundam will be able to do 2 main poses for now with plans for more coming up in the near future. The first pose is reminiscent of the famous “Last Shooting” stance from the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam TV animation. The second pose is the “∀ Gundam” adapted from Turn A Gundam broadcasted in 1999.



    The exterior of the RX-78F00 GUNDAM is made of Fibre-Reinforced Plastic(FRP) and consists of over 200 parts. The original weight of the Gundam was 25 ton, but for the sake of mobility, the weight was reduced by 10 tons. The Gundam has 24 moveable parts, of which 22 are in the body itself and the joints are powered by motors and reducers. 900 cables were used in total.

    The Gundam hangar, named Gundam Dock (G Dock) stands at 25m tall, weighs 436 tons, and is a huge facility that consists of 1,851 pieces. The Gundam Carrier supporting the statue boasts a height of 17m and weighs a whopping 160 tons. Moreover, each floor of the Gundam dock was built to allow people to get closer to the statue for every level which they ascend.



    The backstory of the RX-78F00 Gundam has also been revealed in the video. Here is a rough translation:

    It is believed that the parts of Earth Federation pilot Amuro Ray’s aircraft RX-78-2 GUNDAM launched at UC 0079, which are believed to have been lost in the fierce battle of A Baoa Kuu, were rediscovered in the suburbs of the Earth Federation Forces-related facility “GUNDAM FACTORY YOKOHAMA” of the Far East Asia region. Using the parts, it was reconstructed by engineers from various fields.

    It was as if the new GUNDAM was being developed. There are some parts still missing, and no materials related to Minovsky craft have been found. After about two years of research and development, the GUNDAM FACTORY YOKOHAMA finally started a reconstructed MS startup experiment. The staff involved in the study called this aircraft “RX-78F00”.
    The meaning of “F00” in the name will be revealed at the time of the official opening. Additionally, the process of making the exterior will be revealed in a special program scheduled for the 14 August 2020.



    Special advanced sales for the RX-78F00 Gundam 1/144 scale moveable figure priced from 2750 JPY (S$35.68) will start today, 6 August from 1 p.m. We were all excited to see the full-scale Gundam take its first steps but Gundam Factory Yokohama was forced to postpone the October 2020 opening due to the global pandemic. You can still refer to this site to take a look at the facilities and tours available though!


    Fumiko Kudasai
    Fumiko is an avid fan of spreading herself too thin and drowning in too many fandoms. She would love to spend all day reading fanfiction at home and crying.
    Finally...good news?
    Gene Ching
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