The hottest robot industry in China faces the risk

In recent years, with the accelerating pace of innovation and integration between artificial intelligence technology, digital manufacturing technology and mobile Internet, the development of the global robot industry is showing a new trend

according to the statistics of the international robotics Association (IFR), the average annual growth rate of newly installed industrial robots in the world reached 9% from 2002 to 2013. In 2013, the global sales of industrial robots reached 168000. Among them, thanks to the rapid growth of demand in developing countries represented by China, Asia has become the world's largest demand market. According to statistics, from 2007 to 2013, the annual compound growth rate of industrial robot sales in Asia reached 20%, and that in China reached 25%

in the face of this situation, the developed countries and enterprises in the robot industry in the world are stepping up their strategic layout to seize the commanding height of robot technology and industrial development, which makes the gap between China's robot development and foreign countries further widened

therefore, it is necessary to deeply analyze the development situation and trend of foreign robot industry, in order to provide reference and Enlightenment for the development of China's robot industry

developed countries seize the commanding height of industrial development

in recent years, the integration and innovation of the new generation of information technology and robot technology represented by big data, cloud computing and mobile Internet have accelerated. It will not only develop new intelligent robots with more autonomous learning ability and autonomous problem-solving ability, but also establish a corresponding cloud space of interconnection and knowledge base for robots to interact through interconnection, And improve the intelligent level of robots through cloud computing

in the face of the new situation, developed industrialized countries and regions have made strategic arrangements to seize the commanding height of the development of the robot industry. The United States implements the Reindustrialization strategy. In the advanced manufacturing Partnership Program (AMP) launched in 2011, it is clear to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing industry through the development of industrial robots, and with the advantage of information network technology, it will invest 2.8 billion US dollars to develop a new generation of intelligent robots aimed at realizing mobile interconnection. The European Union has invested US $600million in the research and development of robots through the seventh framework plan, and plans to invest US $900million in the 2020 Horizon Project for robot manufacturing. Japan has formulated a long-term development strategy for robot technology, taking the robot industry as one of the seven key supported industries in the new industry development strategy, and increasing investment. It plans to invest 350million US dollars in the field of humanoid robots alone in 10 years. South Korea has formulated the "basic plan for intelligent robots", and released the robot future strategic outlook 2022 in October 2012, focusing on expanding the Korean robot industry and supporting domestic robot enterprises to enter overseas markets

among them, the field of service robots has gradually become the focus of development in developed countries. The United States released the robot technology roadmap: from Internet to robot in March 2013, emphasizing the important role of robot technology in the field of health care services and its potential in creating new markets, new jobs and improving people's lives. The EU said that it would work out the R & D roadmap and schedule of EU robotics, especially home service robotics, as soon as possible. Japan established robot special zones in Kanagawa and Ibaraki prefectures in 2013, with an investment of 1billion yen to promote the R & D and application of service robots such as nursing robots and disaster relief robots. South Korea put forward the development strategy of service robots in 2010, and plans to narrow the gap with developed countries by opening an innovative market. In 2012, the ten-year robot development plan was issued, with the goal of realizing one robot for each family

China faces the risk of widening the gap

as China has become the world's largest potential demand market, the degree of foreign well-known robot enterprises entering China has been strengthened. The international robotics Association predicts that China is expected to become the world's largest robot market this year or next year. In view of this development trend, major foreign robot enterprises are no longer satisfied with taking China as a product sales and technical service market, and begin to take China as a robot production base and go deep into the production of key components from machine assembly

for example, KUKA company of Germany built a new factory in Shanghai in October 2012, Yaskawa electric of Japan established its first overseas robot production base in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China in July 2012, edep robot Trading (Shanghai) Company of the United States was established in 2012, and Reis robot company of Germany established a new factory in Suzhou in 2013. Since 2013, Hyundai Heavy Industries has sought to establish production bases in China

it is worth noting that while western developed countries and major enterprises rely on their existing technological advantages to seize the commanding heights of industrial development, there is a risk that the gap between the development of China's robot industry and foreign countries will be further widened

first of all, the innovation and development of a new generation of intelligent robots is more urgent. Although China has made initial progress in the R & D and industrialization of traditional robot technology, it still lags behind in the integration of information network technology and robot technology. Internet enterprises are not aware of the development of robot technology, and no enterprise has participated in the development of robot technology and industry, which is bound to further expand the gap between China's robot technology and industry development and developed countries

secondly, foreign-funded enterprises and brands occupy the development space of China's robot enterprises. China's robot industry is still in its infancy on the whole. Industrial robots lack brand recognition. The largest robot enterprise produces only a few thousand robots a year. The robot market is basically occupied by foreign-funded enterprises and brands. The products of foreign well-known enterprises such as abb in Sweden, FANUC in Japan, Yaskawa, KUKA in Germany and so on account for nearly 90% of the Chinese market. FANUC alone, its robot products account for 23% of the market share in China. As foreign robot enterprises have taken China as a production base, the market space for the development of independent brand production enterprises will be further compressed

finally, the risk of hollowing out the robot industry is further expanded. Most of China's robot enterprises are processing and assembly, lacking key core technologies. Key core components such as high-performance AC servo motors, precision reducers and controllers have long relied on imports. For example, precision reducers are almost monopolized by Japanese companies Teijin and harmonic, and the price remains high, which directly pushes up the production cost of China's robot products and reduces the market competition of products B0 - the outer dimension of carton width (CM); Competition makes the development of robots in China face the risk of industrial hollowing out of processing and assembly lock-in

speed up the pace of catch-up in five aspects

the development experience and mode of the robot industry in developed countries are worth learning and using for reference. China needs to focus on the following aspects in combination with the actual development:

first, strengthen top-level design and forward-looking layout. Strengthen the tracking research of international robot technology, grasp the development trend of robots under the condition of information network technology, study and issue a robot technology roadmap that conforms to the actual development of our country as soon as possible, clarify the steps of technology development, key core technologies, processes and parts for key breakthroughs, and industrialization paths, and provide macro guidance for the development of China's robot industry with significant economic and social benefits

the second is to establish a robot development model that conforms to the actual development of our country. China is about to become the world's largest robot demand country. It is suggested to first adopt the Korean model of combining external procurement with complete set design and system integration, strengthen the integrated application of industry segments, and expand and occupy the application market. At the same time, learn from the Japanese model, strengthen the collective research of the combination of industry, University, research and application, focus on breaking through the key core components, and form the overall promotion of the whole robot industry chain, such as robot ontology, key parts, system integrators, etc., as soon as possible

third, increase policy support for R & D and industrialization. Take advantage of the existing policy channels such as high-end CNC machine tools and major projects of basic manufacturing equipment science and technology, intelligent manufacturing equipment projects, etc., build an innovative application platform, focus on strengthening key technology or core technology breakthroughs, joint research on key parts and components, and promote the synchronous research and development and collaborative support of key parts and components, complete vehicles, materials, and processes. Give play to the guiding role of government finance, increase investment, attract social capital participation, explore the establishment of robot industry development fund, take advantage of enterprises as the core, guide and support enterprise integration, and expand the application channels of industrial robots

fourth, accelerate the cultivation of leading enterprises and brands of industrial robots. China should take cultivating and developing its own brand industrial robots as an important task to build an upgraded version of China's economy. Improve the first set of support policies, increase government procurement support, study and establish the first set of insurance mechanism guided by the government and operated in a market-oriented manner, and speed up the application and promotion of robot products. Actively build a production and demand docking platform, go deep into the appraisal of scientific and technological achievements, study and establish the appraisal announcement release system, issue the industrial robot industry catalogue, jointly promote the localization of industrial robots, and cultivate robot leading enterprises and brands with high demand for aluminum profiles with international competitive decoration, which must be turned up and down

fifth, strengthen the R & D and industrial application of service robots. China has entered the rapid development period of population aging since 2012. It is expected that by 2015, there will be the first growth peak of the elderly population, with the elderly over 60 increasing from 178 million to 221 million, and the proportion of the elderly population increasing from 13.3% to 16%. This will make China's elderly care services face great challenges. At the same time, China is also a country prone to earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters. To this end, China needs to carry out a forward-looking layout, learn from the experience of Japan and South Korea in the development of robots during feeding, increase investment, strengthen the R & D and industrial application of nursing, medical, disaster relief and other service robots, and actively carry out regional demonstration and promotion