Talking about the opportunities and challenges of the robot industry

Time flies, part of the first-mover advantage has gradually become history, where is the breakthrough in the next round of catch-up? The robotics industry is doing its part in people’s vision. Sitting on the solid foundation of industries, universities and other resources, a group of Nanjing enterprises have taken the lead in exploring.

The Opportunities and Challenges of the Robotics Industry Google acquired 7 robot manufacturing companies. Foxconn announced that it will introduce millions of robots to replace labor. At our side, there are also thousands of robots in the Nanjing LCD Valley working day and night... Right now, the robot is fast. Step out of the "laboratory" and replace the manpower with "a one-and-five" energy.

This year, the government’s work report first proposed the implementation of “Made in China 2025,” which is called the “China 4.0 Industry Plan”. Robots occupy an important position among them. Taking this “Dongfeng”, the industry predicts that in the next 10 years, with the popularization of robots in the industrial field, the level of automation and intelligence in China’s industrial manufacturing will be greatly enhanced, and it will become a “stone” to improve the competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing.

As a traditional equipment industry and a strong city of electronic information industry, Nanjing City has nurtured countless "China No. 1": the first domestic electronic tube, the first radio, the first wireless digital satellite communication station, and the first radar. , The first fully automatic washing machine ... but time flies, some of the first-mover advantage has gradually become history, the next round of catch-up breakthrough where? The robotics industry is doing its part in people’s vision.

Sitting on the solid foundation of industries, universities and other resources, a group of Nanjing companies have taken the lead in exploring.

Demand: China has become the world's largest robot demand market. Some people say that the experience of using industrial robots is like a chocolate box in a child's hand. Once tasted "sweetness", it will no longer be possible.

Last year, for the first time, five industrial robots “entered” the factory building of the Nanjing Coney Electromechanical Company that produced the subway door panels, replacing various types of work such as door glass coating, polishing, and sheet metal. Today, the benefits of these five robots have gradually emerged, which not only saves 16 individuals, but also uses single counting materials, which can save 460,000 yuan per year.

Nanjing LCD Valley flat panel display factory automation level is currently the country's first, supporting its automation, it is precisely the machine that joins every year.

Manufacturers that are hit by the increase in manpower and raw material costs are rushing to purchase robots on the agenda. Xing Fei, vice president of the Nanjing Robotics Research Institute, presented this set of data: In 2013, the global robot market reached 32 billion U.S. dollars, and the Chinese robot body market exceeded 950 million U.S. dollars, and will maintain an annual average of 18% over the next 5 years. growth rate. Last year, the Chinese market sold a total of 36,000 industrial robots, which accounted for about one-fifth of global sales. China quickly promoted it to become the world’s largest robot demand market.

With the advancement of technology, the application of industrial robots is rapidly expanding. Compared to the new generation of workers, companies prefer to use "industrial hard-working" and unpaid industrial robots. According to the person in charge of the Nanjing City Economic and Information Technology Commission, the current demand for robots in key industries such as machinery, automobiles, electronics, petrochemicals, light industry, textiles, metallurgy, building materials, food, and medicine is relatively high.

In the monitor production line of LG Xingang Company in Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, the reporter saw that most of the assembly components still require manual operation. Company officials said that with the increase in labor costs, they very much need robots to "join." However, the accuracy of robots on the market today cannot meet their requirements. “I believe that every manufacturing company needs robots, but considering the factors such as cost and technical level, once the robot technology is mature, it will be promoted on a large scale,” said the person in charge.

The market gate has been opened. With this opportunity, what is the development of robot manufacturing in our city?

The one-meter-high six-joint robotic arm shuttles back and forth. Not only can it move east and west, but it can also complete multiple processes on the assembly line.... In the test room of Nanjing Eston Robot Engineering Co., Ltd., the size and shape are different. Different robots perform their duties.

"Our algorithm can reduce the robot's induction time to 0.15 seconds, and its stability, accuracy, and longevity are not inferior to those of foreign products," said Han Banghai, the company's principal. Just last month, Estun Automation Co., Ltd. was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The share price of the company soared 44% on that day. It became the “Sweet potato” in the eyes of investors.

This month, Nanjing LCD Valley Electronic Equipment Park welcomed the “new tenant” - Panda Electronics Equipment Co., Ltd. moved from the old factory area of ​​Haifu Lane to this point, ready to flex its muscles. Liu Kun, deputy general manager of Nanjing Panda Electronics Co., Ltd. and general manager of Panda Electronics Equipment Co., Ltd., said: “Robots are a major trend in the development of the manufacturing industry. We entered the robotics industry in 2012. We established the Robotics Institute in Japan in 2013 and moved into a new factory this year. The new robot equipment workshop covers an area of ​​about 10,000 square meters, and the production capacity is fully released. The annual output will reach 2,000 units."

Currently, "Panda" has developed three products: welding robots, 20 kilograms of relatively universal robots (which can engage in welding, cutting, and simple handling), and 165 kilograms of carrying robots. It sold nearly 800 units last year.

The Nanjing Robot Research Institute at the Kirin Institute is a pioneering and innovative entrepreneurial base in our province. It is also the hatching cradle of the city for robots. According to Xing Fei, Nanjing Robot Research Institute has a total investment of 500 million yuan. It is invested by the Kirin Technology Innovation Park and the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and Nanjing Zhongke Company. At present, it has gathered 10 "321" companies.

Into this key enterprise, Nanjing Zhongkehao Laser Technology Co., Ltd., the reporter saw a robot named "laser cutting workstation" that was cutting the plate meticulously. The staff member said: "For example, auto parts factories need custom parts. As long as the requirements are described, we can design a program to load the light source on the cutting workstation. It is understood that the company's main business direction is to use lasers for cutting and Welding, its research and development welding machine accuracy has reached 0.05 millimeters, synchronized with the highest level in the world.

Statistics show that there are currently 102 robot R&D and key component companies in our city. There are 13 universities and colleges in the city that have electromechanical expertise. Six of them have robot development teams. They have certain foundations in robot control systems, servo systems, vision systems, ontology development, and testing and testing.

Breakthrough: Aiming at Core Technology to Cultivate Professional Operational Talents For the development level of the city's robotics industry, the relevant person in charge of the Municipal Economic and Information Commission gave such a pertinent assessment: “Although there is a certain amount of scientific research strength and talent pool, it is still at a low level. "He admitted that there are few companies that are truly technological, large-scale and capable of mass production of industrial robots.

At present, the city's robot manufacturing industry is mainly distributed in high-end CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment, intelligent control systems, automated production lines and intelligent special equipment, key components, components and general components, as well as precision and intelligent instrumentation and test equipment. These five key areas. There are some representatives of companies in all fields, but there is no leading enterprise.

The City Economic and Information Technology Commission has conducted a random survey of 15 key robotics companies in Nanjing and found that these companies are not large-scale and have not yet formed a clear competitive advantage. The robot industry needs to be broken.

The robot industry "breaks" and first needs to overcome the core technology. Liu Kun said that robots have five core technologies: controllers, core algorithms, drivers (servo motors), speed reducers, and robot system integration technologies. “We have three of the five, and the drivers and speed reducers also need to be imported. These two are precisely the key areas for Chinese robot manufacturing, and we believe that we can overcome the difficulties within three to five years.”

Xing Fei said that at present, the Nanjing Robot Research Institute has reached a strategic cooperation with Hexagon of Sweden to create a sensor cooperative R&D center; Germany's KUKA Smart Sensor Center is also about to be completed, and it specializes in research and development of robot core device reducers.

In addition, there are people in the industry who are “squeaking”: In China, where industrial robotics technology is implemented, the biggest problem encountered is who will use it.

The robot arrives at the factory and needs someone to operate and maintain it. However, the recruitment experience of companies is that although a few colleges and universities have robot-related majors, there are not many talents suitable for enterprises. In the interview, many companies called for the fact that there are not enough robotic products and that they need a large number of operators, maintenance engineers, and more advanced design engineers.

How big is the gap in industrial robot talent? Liu Kun gave an estimate to the reporter. He said that robots say plainly is to graft a smart "brain" for the machine tool industry. According to the evaluation criteria for the development of robots in the world, in the first round of industrial upgrading, 20-25 robots should be deployed for every 100 machine tools. At present, China has only 3-5 robots per 100 machine tools. If you match a person with a robot, the gap is quite large. "Guangzhou us 'Panda', we need about 100 installation and maintenance talents in the first phase, and our customers also need talents in this area."

The reporter learned that in order to break the bottleneck of talents, “Panda Electronics” plans to sell 60 million yuan within two years, unite well-known robot integrators and several professional technical colleges to build laboratories, jointly educate teachers, and jointly build professional structures. Robotics technology, training, operation and maintenance, after-sales service, and human resources that can be regenerated continuously create an “eco-environment” for the robot industry. At present, Nanjing Technician College has already reached cooperation with the "Panda". The first phase of the 5 million yuan fund has been put in place and will be used for the equipment input of the school.

It was also learned that in the past year, the installed capacity of industrial robots in China reached 36,000 units, of which imported products accounted for more than 90%, especially the "Family of four families" such as Japanese Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric and Swiss ABB, and German KUKA. 60% of the share, the share of domestic robots is less than 10%, and it is a relatively low-end product line. How to bypass the foreign brand's "Maginot Line"? In addition to technology upgrades, marketing service upgrades are another breakthrough for domestic robot manufacturers.

According to Liu Kun, “Robots are not simply selling products. They also need to provide post-installation services such as installation, maintenance, and operation. This is exactly the problem many foreign robotics companies have encountered in the development of China. We also cooperate with Nanjing Technical College for this purpose. We hope to cultivate more operators and maintenance personnel, 'package' equipment and personnel services, and hope that after several years of hard work, we will enter the ranks of mainstream suppliers in the Chinese robot market."