All posts tagged: industrial

The role of cable markers in AI-driven industrial automation

The role of cable markers in AI-driven industrial automation

Published by skeptic

When you walk into an AI server room, you’ll see a maze of cables running in almost all directions. A single misconnection of these cables can halt production and cost you thousands of pounds per minute. That’s where the advanced cable markers come in. They are a specialised labelling solution that acts more than the basic wire labels. These markers help to connect the physical and digital worlds of AI-driven industries. They help to ensure that AI-driven automation works more efficiently than ever before. Solutions like RS cable markers provide a structured approach to cable organisation, preventing misconfigurations and ensuring seamless connectivity in complex automation systems. Read on to learn more about the role of advanced cable markers. The growing complexity of AI-driven industrial automation The industrial automation market is growing at an exponential rate. In fact, Consegic Business Intelligence estimates that by 2031, its market size will reach $427.42bn from $205.63bn in 2023. A main contributor to that growth rate is artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). These technologies have changed how factories …

Hunter-gatherers get less sleep than people in industrial societies

Hunter-gatherers get less sleep than people in industrial societies

Published by skeptic

Members of the Himba community in Namibia get just 5.5 hours of sleep a night on average Nick Fox / Alamy Much has been written about how modern lifestyles mean we are no longer getting enough sleep, unlike our ancestors who lived in less technologically advanced times. But an analysis of 54 sleep studies conducted around the world has found that people in small, non-industrialised societies actually get less sleep than those in more industrialised regions. “Everyone I talk to in Canada and the US talks about how awful their sleep is,” says Leela McKinnon at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada. “The numbers aren’t showing that.” It is often assumed that the rise of gadgets like big-screen TVs and smartphones mean that people today are sleeping less than in the recent past – the so-called sleep-loss epidemic. But many studies that report a decrease in sleep in the past few decades are based on asking people how long they sleep, which is an unreliable measure. Even using this method, the results are mixed, …

Training robots in the AI-powered industrial metaverse

Training robots in the AI-powered industrial metaverse

Published by skeptic

For example, Siemens’ SIMATIC Robot Pick AI expands on this vision of adaptability, transforming standard industrial robots—once limited to rigid, repetitive tasks—into complex machines. Trained on synthetic data—virtual simulations of shapes, materials, and environments—the AI prepares robots to handle unpredictable tasks, like picking unknown items from chaotic bins, with over 98% accuracy. When mistakes happen, the system learns, improving through real-world feedback. Crucially, this isn’t just a one-robot fix. Software updates scale across entire fleets, upgrading robots to work more flexibly and meet the rising demand for adaptive production. Another example is the robotics firm ANYbotics, which generates 3D models of industrial environments that function as digital twins of real environments. Operational data, such as temperature, pressure, and flow rates, are integrated to create virtual replicas of physical facilities where robots can train. An energy plant, for example, can use its site plans to generate simulations of inspection tasks it needs robots to perform in its facilities. This speeds the robots’ training and deployment, allowing them to perform successfully with minimal on-site setup. Simulation also …

Nvidia to replace Intel in Dow Jones Industrial Average

Nvidia to replace Intel in Dow Jones Industrial Average

Published by Sam

Intel will lose its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after a 25-year run to Nvidia, S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Friday, the latest blow to the struggling chipmaker that was among the first two technology firms to be included in the blue-chip index. Once the dominant force in chipmaking, Intel has in recent years ceded its manufacturing edge to rival TSMC and missed out on the generative artificial intelligence boom after missteps including passing on an investment in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI. Intel’s shares have declined 54 per cent this year, making it the worst performer on the index and leaving it with the lowest stock price on the price-weighted Dow. The stock fell about 1 per cent in extended trading on Friday, while Nvidia was up 1.5 per cent. Launched in 1968, the Silicon Valley pioneer sold memory chips before switching to processors that helped launch the personal computer industry. In the 1990s, “Intel Inside” stickers turned commodity electronic components into premium products, and eventually became ubiquitous on laptops. Nvidia has emerged as …

Singapore drivers rush to Malaysia’s VEP information counter in Woodlands industrial park to seek help

Singapore drivers rush to Malaysia’s VEP information counter in Woodlands industrial park to seek help

Published by Sam

QUEUE BEGAN TO FORM PAST LUNCHTIME When CNA returned to the information centre at about 1.40pm, a queue had formed outside the office. There were about 25 people inside, and another 15 queuing outside. One driver, who only wanted to be known as Steven, told CNA that he took half-day leave from work to get his queries settled. He got to know about the location of the information centre following the publication of this article. The 42-year-old mechanical designer said that he arrived at about 1.30pm and got a queue number about 10 minutes later. “I was at home when I saw the news and decided to come down. I had to come today, otherwise, it would be crowded later on.” According to Mr Steven, his RFID tag was pending activation after he submitted a photo of his car on Jun 29 online, and he had come down to the information centre to check on its status. “I did not expect so many people today because it’s only the first day.” As of 2.15pm, more …

Tell us: have you been affected by GPs taking industrial action in England? | GPs

Tell us: have you been affected by GPs taking industrial action in England? | GPs

Published by skeptic

Almost half of GP surgeries in England are staging industrial action for the first time in 60 years amid a row over funding, a survey suggests. In a ballot run by the British Medical Association (BMA), 98% of family doctors voted in favour of taking collective action earlier this month in protest at the last government increasing their budget by only 1.9% this year. The new government has pledged to increase funding for 2024-25 to 6%. The study of 283 GP partners by Pulse magazine suggests 46% are already taking work-to-rule action, with more than a quarter (26%) limiting the number of patients seen each day to 25. If you’re a patient in England – do you think you’ve been affected by the action? Do you have concerns about pressures on GP practices? We’d also like to hear from GPs and other health workers. Share your experience Let us know how you’ve been impacted by GPs staging collecting action in the form below. Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is …

‘There is nowhere to fish any more’: life in the shadow of Nigeria’s biggest industrial complex | Global development

‘There is nowhere to fish any more’: life in the shadow of Nigeria’s biggest industrial complex | Global development

Published by skeptic

On the outskirts of Lagos sits Africa’s largest oil refinery, and beside it, the continent’s biggest fertiliser plant. Armed men guard the gates and the perimeters are lined with floodlights and security cameras. Owned by Dangote Industries, a multinational conglomerate founded by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest person, the compounds are in the Lekki free trade zone, abutting the Atlantic Ocean about 30 miles outside Nigeria’s commercial capital. The zone was designated by the federal government to develop industry and jobs. The $2.5bn (£2bn) urea and ammonia plant opened in 2022 and the $21bn refinery opened last May and began production in January. Dangote and the government, which has a 20% stake, hope this will make Nigeria less dependent on expensive imported petroleum “and stop, once and for all, the dumping of substandard petrol products in our markets”, Dangote said in a televised speech last year. People living near the site were happy about the developments when they were first mooted a decade ago, says Tajudeen Ismaila, 35. But the mood has changed. “We prayed for …

Tata steelworkers vote to take industrial action over job losses | Tata

Tata steelworkers vote to take industrial action over job losses | Tata

Published by skeptic

Members of a steelworkers’ union have voted to take industrial action in protest at planned job losses at Tata. The company last month rejected a plan by unions to keep open a blast furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks, ending hopes of avoiding as many as 2,800 job losses. Community said more than 85% of its members backed industrial action. Unions are campaigning against plans by Tata to change production at its site in Port Talbot, south Wales, to a greener method of steelmaking. The Community national officer Alun Davies said: “Today our members delivered their verdict on Tata Steel’s job cuts plan, and they have voted to demand a better deal for the workforce. “Community balloted more than 3,000 members across all Tata Steel UK production sites, and more than 85% have voted for industrial action. “It should be noted this resounding mandate has been delivered in spite of the company’s bullying and unacceptable threats to slash redundancy payments. “We will now be consulting our members on next steps, and we urge Tata to …

‘In the European Parliament, the resources of industrial lobbies are huge’

‘In the European Parliament, the resources of industrial lobbies are huge’

Published by skeptic

The European Parliament, Brussels, April 11, 2024. KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP Faustine Bas-Defossez handles issues related to nature, health and the environment at the European Environmental Bureau, a federation of nearly 200 NGOs. During the last term of the European Parliament, she witnessed the efforts of industrial lobbies to weaken the European Green Deal. Since the last 2019 European elections, have industrial lobbies been more active than usual? Yes, their activity has been intense because they have sensed the importance of the moment. The Green Deal is an ambitious, systemic project designed to put the European Union on the required path to carbon neutrality by 2050. And it requires action across all sectors. With the emergence of Covid-19, certain lobbies, such as Business Europe, which brings together many industrialists, tried to torpedo the whole agreement by claiming that the priority would now be to support businesses for years to come. This failed, and the crisis has instead contributed to greening economies with the various recovery plans. Many companies were in fact on this line, as …