Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Adlink Technology Inc (凌華科技) have formed a robotic venture that aims to use “swarm technology” to create robots that can communicate with one another on the factory floor to optimize production efficiency.
Hon Hai is Apple Inc’s leading iPhone assembler and the world’s largest contract electronics maker, while Adlink supplies industrial computers and Internet of Things solutions.
Through a subsidiary, Hyield Venture Capital Co (鴻揚創投), Hon Hai holds a 51 percent stake in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) developer FARobot (法博智能移動), while Adlink owns the remaining 49 percent. Together, the two companies put up NT$200 million (US$6.82 million) in capital for the new venture, which opened its doors on Wednesday.
Photo courtesy of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co
FARobot general manager Ryan Chen (陳家榜) told the Taipei Times via telephone yesterday that “swarm autonomy” is a concept from the field of robotics.
It utilizes data distribution service technology to enable robots to share information with each other in a decentralized manner, he said.
“They are like ants or bees, and each individual unit is getting constant feedback from the others so they can work as a team,” he said.
This ability to adapt to change in real time is key to optimizing productivity, he said.
“The factory of the future is very fast-moving and full of changes,” he said. “The same production line could be making one product in the morning and another in the afternoon.”
“Our biggest challenge is to deliver the right raw material or components at the right time to the right place,” Chen said. “This will reduce the amount of time spent waiting rather than in operation.”
FARobot’s AMRs are to be deployed in Hon Hai factories within three years, he said.
“Hon Hai is the factory of the world so we can prove our concept there first, but of course we would want to expand our market after that,” he said.
At the opening ceremony at FARobot headquarters in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和), Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said the collaboration capitalizes on the strengths of each partner.
“With FARobot’s swarm technology and the respective domain knowledge of Hon Hai and Adlink, we can hope to build the foundation of a robotic business that will reach many industries,” Liu said.
Adlink chairman Jim Liu (劉鈞) said that FARobot would provide “smart factories with smart logistic solutions.”
“It is not enough just to make one machine, we must make a group of machines that can communicate with each other and cooperate,” he said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS