One million robots at work in car manufacturing

The automotive industry has the largest number of robots working in factories around the world: operational stock hit a new record of about one million units. This represents about one third of the total number installed across all industries.

“The automotive industry effectively invented automated manufacturing,” said Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “Today, robots are playing a vital role in enabling this industry’s transition from combustion engines to electric power. Robotic automation helps car manufacturers manage the wholesale changes to longestablished manufacturing methods and technologies.”

Robot density is a key indicator which illustrates the current level of automation in the top car producing economies: In the Republic of Korea, 2,867 industrial robots per 10,000 employees were in operation in 2021. Germany ranks in second place with 1,500 units followed by the United States counting 1,457 units and Japan with 1,422 units per 10,000 workers.

The world´s biggest car manufacturer, China, has a robot density of 772 units, but is catching up fast: within a year, new robot installations in the Chinese automotive industry almost doubled to 61,598 units in 2021- accounting for 52 percent of the total 119,405 units installed in factories around the world.

Ambitious political targets for electric vehicles are forcing the car industry to invest: The European Union has announced plans to end the sale of airpolluting vehicles by 2035.

The US government aims to reach a voluntary goal of 50 percent market share for electric vehicle sales by 2030 and all new vehicles sold in China must be powered by “new energy” by 2035. Half of them must be electric, fuel cell, or plug-in hybrid – the remaining 50 percent, hybrid vehicles.

Most automotive manufacturers who have already invested in traditional “caged” industrial robots for basic assembling are now also investing in collaborative applications for final assembly and finishing tasks. Tier-two automotive parts suppliers, many of which are SMEs, are slower to automate fully. Yet, as robots become smaller, more adaptable, easier to program, and less capital-intensive this is expected to change.

5000th vehicle for Premcar heralds a great future for Australian manufacturing

The 5,000th new vehicle to be built at Premcar’s Epping, Victoria production facility has rolled off the assembly line. The new vehicle to set the milestone was a Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior.

Dual-cab 4x4 Navara pick-up models from the PRO-4X and SL model grades are shipped from Nissan’s overseas assembly plants to Premcar’s Epping production facility for secondary new-vehicle manufacturing and completion. Once completed, they are shipped to Nissan’s national dealer network via its newvehicle logistics provider.

During their production stop at Premcar’s new-vehicle production facility in Epping, these vehicles are fitted with their Australiandesigned and engineered components, which have all been developed by Premcar for Nissan.

The Nissan Navara Warrior by Premcar program began in 2019 with the Navara N-Trek Warrior by Premcar, Nissan Australia’s first local new-vehicle enhancement program with the local firm.

In September last year, Nissan Australia and Premcar announced the Y62-series Patrol would join the successful Warrior by Premcar program, becoming a new model grade in Nissan’s Australian showroom line-up. The 298 kW 4x4 Patrol Warrior SUV is currently undergoing its Australian reengineering and manufacturing development program. Premcar is scheduled to commence manufacturing and assembly in Australia later this year.

National Electric Vehicle Strategy a welcome step for Australian industry

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering welcomed the National Electric Vehicle (EV) Strategy as a critical step in making Australia a significant player in the global electric vehicle (EV) industry.

The Academy welcomes the introduction of fuel efficiency standards to reduce EV costs and incentivise national adoption. Making EVs accessible and affordable to all Australians is fundamental for reaching the nation’s 2030 and 2050 climate change commitments. The establishment of national standards for EV charging infrastructure, underpinned by the enormous opportunity to leverage technological solutions, like energy storage, and optimisation of EV charging, will help ensure energy grid resilience and uptake. It also welcomed the Government’s focus on addressing end-of-life waste from EVs and the investment in research into safe and environmentally friendly component recycle and re-use. However, second-hand markets for EVs are in their infancy and more regulatory support is needed to build these markets. Expanding and regulating these second-hand markets will help reduce the cost of EVs, making them available to more Australians.

To move Australia forward in EV capability, we need to: improve charging infrastructure; optimise charging practices to ensure reliable electricity supply; and use more digital technologies to help minimise the environmental impact and improve EV production efficiency.

The Academy also stated that to build a sector that is capable of competing on the world stage at the scale we believe is possible and to meet the huge demand for EVs we must also unlock the potential of a future Australian car manufacturing workforce through up-skilling and retraining.

Renault fine tunes nine prototypes

To fine-tune the future electric Renault 5, Renault is currently testing its first nine prototypes.

Known as mules, their platform, powertrain and battery are technically the same as the future production vehicle.

With a design based on the Clio silhouette, the mules do not yet look like the future model. Alternating between static and dynamic finetuning and endurance testing, the mules are being put through their paces in winter in low grip (ice, snow) conditions in Arvidsjaur (Swedish Lapland) as well as average-to-high grip conditions at the Renault technical centres in Lardy (greater Paris area) and Aubevoye (Normandy).

The Renault site in Aubevoye is unique in that it has the means and cutting-edge tools to reproduce any types of stress vehicles will be put through at the hands of customers: 613 hectares, 35 tracks covering 60km, 42 test lines, two wind tunnels, 18 corrosion chambers, all hidden within 272 hectares of forest to shield the prototypes from prying eyes.

Ford opens its Heritage Vault

Almost 100 years since the founding of the Ford Motor Company of Australia in 1925, Ford’s online Heritage Vault has added more than 180 photos and brochures of some of the brand’s most interesting and iconic models sold here between 1960 and 2002 –with more to come.

Following the opening of the vault in June 2022 with 5,000 images, which saw unprecedented web traffic from around the world, Ford’s new Australia upload includes images and brochures covering Anglia to Zephyr and everything in between including Escort, Econovan, Falcon, Meteor, Spectron, Transit and more.

Ford created the Heritage Vault for fans, journalists, and car enthusiasts, making it easy to discover the company’s rich heritage from anywhere in the world. The searchable artifacts are downloadable for personal use, free of charge, as one of the auto industry’s most comprehensive online databases.

To date, almost 12,000 curated Ford and Lincoln photographs and product brochures from the first century of the company’s history have been

Voluntary emissions reductions for light vehicles

The FCAI released the 2022 results of Australia’s voluntary emissions reduction standard for light vehicles.

The MA (passenger cars and light SUVS) outcome for 2022 was an average of 131 grams (146 grams in 2021) of CO2 for every kilometre travelled.

The MC + NA (heavy SUVs and light commercial vehicles) outcome was an average of 212.8 grams (212.5 grams in 2021). These results are set against a 2022 target of 146 grams for MA and 189 grams for MC + NA.

Industry developed and adopted the standard in 2020 in the absence of action from the previous Federal Government.

FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said that the 2022 results demonstrated the challenges of transitioning to a zero-emission light vehicle sector in Australia, especially in the absence of a government mandated CO2 standard.

“Globally, there is currently a limited supply of batteries and supporting technology to meet the demand for all new vehicles and in particular, the bigger vehicles which a large proportion of Australians choose to buy,” Mr Weber said.

“Development work is being undertaken by car makers across the world to overcome these challenges. However, we are not likely to see a significant improvement in the availability of these vehicles at prices many Australians can afford until at least the end of this decade.

made available to the public online for the first time and the site is currently seeing around 5,000 downloads per day.

Visit the vault at: https://fordheritagevault.com

“We have the opportunity to establish a standard which gets us on the pathway to reducing emissions, supports car makers to attract the best low emission technology to the Australian market and provides Australian consumers with certainty and clarity around future vehicle availability.

“Attempts to simplify our journey to net zero as one that can only be achieved through electric vehicles ignore the buying preferences of Australian consumers, market supply realities, price, and the very real impact of other low emission technologies.”

Aussie Airspeeder ready for racing

Alauda Aeronautics is seeking OEM partners to join it in a motorsport revolution, as it unveils the Airspeeder Mk4 – the world’s first, and fastest, crewed flying car.

Designed and built in Adelaide, South Australia, the Airspeeder Mk4 is an electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Capable of reaching a top speed of 360 kph in just 30 seconds from a standing start, it’s designed to set the bar for performance and technology in the radical new sport of piloted Airspeeder racing. With its sophisticated electric propulsion system, advanced aerodynamics and a take-off weight (MTOW) of just 950 kg, the Airspeeder Mk4 is also extremely efficient, with a projected range of 300 km (188 miles) while producing near-zero emissions.

The new aircraft is a development of the remotely-piloted Mk3, which has successfully completed more than 350+ test flights and took part in two Airspeeder demonstration races in South Australia in 2022.

The Airspeeder Mk4 is powered by a 1,000 kW turbogenerator that feeds power to the

New model to link SA innovation

As AUKUS becomes reality SA will introduce a new innovation model to connect the state’s innovation districts including Lot Fourteen, Tonsley and Adelaide BioMed with knowledge and manufacturing hubs such as the Osborne Naval Shipyard and the Edinburgh Defence precinct and in the future the Australian Space Park.

This will a boon to economic growth and it will link education, skills and workforce programs to work sites.

The framework will be developed by Di Dixon of Lot Fourteen and will capitalise on SA’s defence, space and advanced manufacturing capabilities as well as technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

“This framework offers a dynamic vehicle to support state-wide job placement and enhance regional connectivity to support strategic investment, and drive new clusters of economic activity and job creation,” Ms Dixon said.

“We will leverage the power of proximity and connection to supercharge innovation and in so doing lay the foundation for new and more inclusive prosperity.

“Innovation assets are formidable job engines. Research has shown that for each innovation intensive job an innovation district supports, it creates an average of four or five in production and service-related jobs.” batteries and motors. Specifically designed for use in eVTOLs, this revolutionary technology allows green hydrogen to be used as fuel, providing safe, reliable and sustainable power over long distances and flight times. The Mk4 has a projected range of over 300 kilometres. Alauda Aeronautics’ demonstrator ‘Thunderstrike’ engine incorporates a unique combustor made using 3D printing techniques developed in the space industry for rocket engines. The combustor’s design keeps the hydrogen flame temperature relatively low, greatly reducing nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions.

Hydrogen is an ideal fuel for future aviation, and specifically personal urban air travel. It has a high energy density and can be stored in a lightweight, compact form, making it suitable for small aircraft; it’s also non-toxic and produces no emissions except pure water, so it doesn’t cause air pollution. Further to this, because hydrogen gas is lighter than air, it will simply rise and disperse into the atmosphere in the event of a leak, reducing the risk of fire or explosion.

As well as taking the existing eVTOL industry into the next-generation H2eVTOL era, this technology has the potential to significantly reduce emissions and create a sustainable future for individual air travel.

Most eVTOLs steer using tilt-rotors, which are simply positioned vertically for take-off and landing and horizontally while cruising. In contrast, the Mk4 manoeuvres using a unique gimballed thrust system, whereby an Artificial Intelligence (AI) flight controller individually adjusts four rotor pairs mounted on lightweight 3D printed gimbals.

This makes the Mk4 not only fast in a straight line, but also able to manoeuvre with the incredible precision essential in closeaction racing. In fact, it handles less like a multicopter and more like a jet fighter or Formula One racing car.

Fleet Space signs with Defence Space Command

Fleet Space Technologies has signed a $6.4 million contract with Australia’s Defence Space Command, marking their first defence contract.

The agreement will see Fleet’s next generation of Centauri satellites used to develop and demonstrate a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications system focused on tactical communications and data transmission where connectivity is limited.

The program, named ASCEND2LEO, will make use of Fleet’s commercial satellites. A collaboration between government, defence industry and academia. Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), Fleet Space Technologies, University of South Australia, Rice Satcom Pty Ltd and SmartSat CRC are taking advanced research and technologies to demonstrate LEO capabilities to the war fighter.

This innovative approach enables Defence to take advantage of the most modern commercial space technology used by the mining industry with the most up-to-date research to rapidly advance space capabilities. Fleet Space’s key capabilities are low-power, high-performance edge computing in small spacecraft and terrestrial devices, as well as additive manufacturing.