Breaking imagination and moving towards action, industrial robots empowering hundred industries

Robots are complex intelligent machines that integrate mechanical, electronic, computer, sensor, control technology, bionics and other subjects. They can be roughly divided into industrial, service and special robots based on different application fields. Industrial robots, taking the majority proportion, are significant driving force for development of the intelligent manufacturing industry.

A review of the development history of modern industrial manufacturing is enough to understand the significance of the machine to the manufacturing industry. In 1784, the birth of the steam engine became a milestone in the first industrial revolution. The steam engine was reliably used to produce a new generation of steam-powered engines, which led to the first industrial revolution.

Combining industry, technology, and trade, "technology + industrialization" laid the foundation for success in the industrial age. Similarly, today, the combination of technology and industrialization will also promote the development of the new industrial era. Among the emerging technologies characterized by informatization and digitization, the power of industrial robots cannot be underestimated.

Industrial robots have become a key part of intelligent manufacturing. The reason is that for industrial robots, it is the first consideration to be able to assist in solving the problems in the manufacturing process. In other words, as in any industrial revolution in the past, machines have improved productivity. The greatest contribution of industrial robots lies in the improvement of manufacturing productivity rather than the profit of robots themselves.

This group intelligence can be used in a variety of production activities, in different single product production lines, or in different production scales, including some flexible production lines. The application of industrial robots to industrial production lines can not only improve production efficiency, but also improve the working environment and ensure the safety of workers, while reducing the loss of raw materials and reducing industrial costs from the source.

For China, the development of industrial robots seems to be gaining momentum. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Robot Industry Operation Situation from January to December 2020", which shows that in 2020, a total of 237,000 sets of industrial robots were produced, a year-on-year increase of 19.1%, setting a record for the highest single-year output of industrial robots in China.

According to information released by the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to February 2021, the output of industrial robots above designated size nationwide was 45,400 sets, a year-on-year increase of 117.6%, a record high for the same period in the previous year. In the process of upgrading from “Made in China” to “Made in China”, robots are playing an increasingly important role.

The development of industrial robots is basically due to the scale effect of technological progress that drives the decline in the price of industrial robots. In the initial stage of the development of industrial robots, high prices were once the main factor hindering many small and medium-sized enterprises from purchasing equipment and building intelligent production lines. With the market impact brought by domestic industrial robots, the advancement of manufacturing technology and the rapid decline of manufacturing costs, the price of industrial robots has shown a clear downward trend in recent years.

In addition, in the manufacturing industry, labor costs are constantly increasing, which has a significant impact on labor-intensive industries. Enterprises are turning to more economical production modes to reduce costs, and machine replacement has become a general trend. At the same time, the working-age population is declining and the demographic dividend disappears, forcing industry development. This means that in the future, the proportion of the working-age population in China will still be at a relatively low level, creating an urgent need for the development of industrial automation.

Under the influence of many aspects, industrial robots naturally show a trend of rapid development.

Before robots empower all industries

The replacement of manual production by robots is an important development trend in the manufacturing industry. It is the basis for the realization of intelligent manufacturing and the guarantee for the realization of industrial automation, digitization and intelligence in the future. Although the current application of China's industrial robots in manufacturing and industrial facilities is rapidly changing, there is still a big gap between China's industrial robots and developed countries in terms of manufacturing and application。

From the perspective of manufacturing, industrial robots follow the context of the development of automation as the underlying technology, and then toward digitization, networking, and intelligence. The more they go up, the more they need the help of chips, software, and algorithms. Even though China's manufacturing output value has surpassed that of the United States since 2010, the scale of development is relatively high, but the quality and efficiency are not high, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Nowadays, industrial robot manufacturing in developed countries has entered the intelligent stage, while China is still in the entry stage. According to "China Business News" reports, domestic industrial robots have occupied most of the domestic market in many sub-sectors by virtue of their advantages in cost performance and channels, but they are still in line with the international advanced level in terms of key technologies, materials, and parts. gap.

Among the newly installed robots, 71% of the parts are from abroad, and the localization rate is less than 30%. Among them, among the three most important components in the upstream—reducer, servo motor and controller, the localization rate is about 30%, 22%, and 35%, respectively, which are relatively low. The product accuracy and stability are relatively low. There is still a lot of room for growth in such areas.

At the same time, the homogeneity of China's industrial robots is very serious. At this stage, products of many industrial robot brands are mimicking each other in terms of performance, appearance, technology, and even marketing methods. Even the core technologies and production goals of products developed by various manufacturers are the same. Therefore, looking at the current industrial robot market, there are almost no outstanding and competitive robot products.

In terms of application, industrial robots in developed countries already have a complete set of equipment used in industrial production lines, and they are already very skilled in the use of industrial robots. They can even complete their tasks without the need to be equipped with specialized industrial robot operators. Operation, and China's industrial robot applications also need to be equipped with specialized industrial robot technical operators to assist in the completion of the operation.

Industrial robots have been popularized in Japan in the 1920s, but so far, the development of China's industrial robots is still in its infancy, and it is facing the transformation to high-end, undertaking major challenges such as international advanced manufacturing and international division of labor.

The continuous development and innovation of industrial robots put forward higher requirements for practitioners, and the contradiction between the supply and demand of talents in this field is becoming increasingly prominent. In terms of manufacturing, servo motors, controllers, and reducers have become the main bottlenecks restricting China's industrial robot industry, and China's technical personnel in this area are extremely scarce. In terms of application, there is a huge gap in the application of talents for industrial robots such as corresponding operation and maintenance, system installation and commissioning, and system integration.

All kinds of signs indicate that the large-scale introduction of robots into production and life is no longer an illusion scene in science fiction films, and is and is bound to become a reality. Led by industrial robots, in the future that overcomes many obstacles and hurdles, robots will also empower all industries with a brand new look.