AUBURN HILLS, MI—ABB will begin manufacturing robots in the United States, making it the first global industrial robotics company to do so. The company made the announcement at the opening of a new robotics factory here. Approximately 300 new jobs will be added to the facility by 2017.
DONGGUAN, China—Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology Co., a manufacturer of connectors and other electronics components, is building a new factory here that will use only robots for production. The factory will initially be equipped with 1,000 robots, with the aim of reducing the current workforce of 1,800 to about 200.
ANN ARBOR, MI—A total of 6,895 robots valued at approximately $435.1 million were ordered from North American companies during the first quarter of 2015. That’s an increase of 16 percent in units and 29 percent in dollars compared with the same period in 2014. Both orders and shipments in the opening quarter beat the previous record for the first quarter last set in 2013.
MONTREAL—Matrox Imaging has announced its Design Assistant machine vision software will now be able to communicate directly with DENSO robots using the RC8 controller.
If humanoid robots could talk, they would readily admit that their real-world capabilities are much more limited than those showcased in movies and TV shows.