Combining the ultimate in traditional hospitality with Nissan’s autonomous driving technology, one Japanese inn is treating guests to some unusual amenities: self-parking slippers, tables and floor cushions.
The ProPILOT Park Ryokan looks like any other traditional Japanese inn, or ryokan. Slippers are neatly lined up at the foyer, where guests remove their shoes.
Tatami rooms are furnished with low tables and floor cushions for sitting.
What sets this ryokan apart is that the slippers, tables and cushions are rigged with a special version of Nissan’s ProPILOT Park autonomous parking technology. When not in use, they automatically return to their designated spots at the push of a button.
First introduced in the all-new Nissan Leaf in Japan in October 2017, ProPILOT Park detects surrounding objects and lets drivers automatically park the vehicle in a selected parking space by pressing a button. The same technology is being used in the amenities at the ProPILOT Park Ryokan during a demonstration to entertain guests and reduce staff workload.
Autonomous parking technology
ProPILOT Park is a fully fledged system that helps drivers park by automatically controlling acceleration, brakes, handling, shift changing and parking brakes to guide the car into a parking spot.
By combining advanced image processing technology using four high-resolution cameras and information from 12 ultrasonic sensors around the car, ProPILOT Park guides the car into a space safely and accurately.
All steering, braking and throttle inputs for various parking maneuvers, such as parallel parking, are automated. The system can automatically identify a parking space around the car so that the driver doesn’t need to set a target parking position. Requiring only three easy steps for activation, this technology liberates drivers from one of the most tedious, and at times the most challenging, tasks of driving.
Tecniche Nuove goes on supporting professionals and enterprises by joining the “Digital Solidarity” initiative that provides the free access to the digital copies of the Group’s magazines.
The initiative, promoted by the Ministry of Innovation Technology and Digitalization, gives the opportunity, through apps and digital magazine kiosks, and sending the request via the following page www.semprepresenti.it/solidarieta-digitale, of free browsing the available review issues from this month until next May 31st.
“In a moment of serious limitations owing to the health emergency in course, we are going to back productive and professional activities with our B2B communication platforms. We support business education and culture because we cannot foresee but we can get ready for the future, the next one, too”
Tecniche Nuove Group is leader in specialized publishing and one of the most important players in Italy in the sector of exhibitions and conventions, in professional education and in B2B communication development.
Manufacturing Division reviews are among all free browsable magazines until May 31st. We are mentioning some of them: Macchine Utensili, Lamiera, Automazione Integrata, Automazione Industriale, Il Progettista, Logistica, Organi di Trasmissione, Plastix and many others.
On January 8th 2023 PoliMOVE team of Milan Polytechnicswon the second edition of Indy Autonomous Challenge at CES in Las Vegas, an elimination tournament with multiple rounds of head-to-head racing between two teams. Results? The team’s car reached the maximum speed of 290Km/h, new world record on track for an unmanned car. Pushing the boundaries of autonomous guide head-to-head racing, PoliMOVE competed at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway against nine teams coming from seventeen Universities of six Countries worldwide. The second place was conquered by TUM Autonomous Motorsport of Technische Universität in Munich. Sergio Savaresi, Ordinary Professor of Automatics at Polytechnics declared: «Precisely one year after our first victory, we were so proud and excited of having returned to Las Vegas for the Autonomous Challenge. This victory represents for us an important step forward in terms of speed, competition complexity and management of challenging head-to-head situations. We are very happy of this success, for the contribution by the Indy Autonomous Challenge and by all teams in making the artificial intelligence applied to drive improve».
Ecobonusis the measure promoted by the Ministry of Economic Development that offers contributions in Italy for the purchase of low-emission vehicles, as provided for by the Budget Law 2019.
Since January 2020, it has been possible to book contributions for cars (M1 vehicles) and demands will be accepted until June 30th 2020. They have allocated almost 40 million Euros for this second phase, an amount that results in incentives for electric and hybrid cars from 1,500 to 6,000 Euros. The discriminant consists in the different characteristics of the vehicle and in the scrapping of a previous vehicle.
To receive the contributions, the purchased cars must mandatorily feature various characteristics: they must be new, from the factory, they must release CO2 emissions under 70 g/km, they must have been bought and registered in Italy from March 1st to December 31st at a list price under 50,000 Euros, options included.
The state contribution is concretized through compensation with the purchase price of the new electric or hybrid vehicle.
Certified components in end products are increasingly important in the marketplace. The advantages are essential whether you manufacture components or end products. Adopting a safety-by-design approach places user safety at the forefront of appliance development to prevent harm rather than to remediate after the fact.
However, safe appliances and extended appliance lifetime aren’t just consumer demands. European governments are driving manufacturers to take responsibility for their appliance products’ environmental impact, urging them to make sure they can remain in use for as long as possible. Increasing appliances’ repairabilitylevel is one way to extend their lifetime and support more sustainable production and consumption.
To reflect on these issues, UL Solutions proposes the webinar “Appliances and Components: an overview of safety and repairability” on November 21st at 3 PM.
SIGN UP for the webinar! Participants will receive a promotional code for a 10% discount on testing and certification services related to component certification and/or appliance repairability.
Speakers: • Giorgio Decataldo, Business development manager for appliances, HVAC and components, UL Solutions • Pika Patel, Global business development manager for Controls, UL Solutions
Moderator: • Alessandro Garnero, Editor in chief, Tecniche Nuove
The first edition of the online news dedicated to the most important news of the manufacturing sector
Tecniche Nuove Media‘s Manufacturing Division is pleased to present the first edition of Manufacturing News, the online news programme that will inform, in just a few minutes, about the most relevant news from the manufacturing world. What will it be about? Here are just some highlights: Green light for the Transition 5.0 Plan; A new drive system for the vehicles of the future; Positive first two months for industrial production; In Bologna MECSPE 2024, the most important appointment for the manufacturing industry.
Tecniche Nuove Group, with about 300 employees and more than 65 million euros in sales, is a leader in specialized publishing for manufacturing and professional activities in the Manufacturing, Healthcare, Architecture-Design, Building-Planting, Agriculture-Farming, Horeca and Retail sectors. With more than 147 publishing platforms, the Tecniche Nuove Group has been operating in B2B communication for 60 years, training and informing companies and professionals. 1,500 books in the catalog, 550,000 copies distributed monthly, 1,450,000 monthly contacts and nearly 250,000 visitors attending the group’s trade fairs and conferences in a year represent the strength of the country system’s professional culture and updating.
Resilient, ready to change and to accept challenges, even the most unexpected ones, relying on their resources and capability of looking ahead, despite the particular time: this is the picture portrayed by MECSPE Observatory survey.
We are certainly facing an unprecedented period, which marks a decisive gap between those who had been able to adopt in advance the digital change and those who found themselves unprepared, so being more affected by the effects caused by the pandemic on industry.
The analysis reveals a transitory phase, where the confidence in one’s own corporate situation almost reaches the sufficiency but scepticism and uncertainty about the general scenario remain. Almost two thirds of the sample fixes one year maximum of time to restart at full rate.
Innovation remains the key factor to recover, together with the training of specialized young and a growing attention to sustainability.
Desire of living normality again: 35% of interviewees believe that exhibitions should necessarily involve the alive participation.
Covid-19 pandemic has unavoidably influenced the performance of Italian SME, exerting a negative impact on almost 9 companies out of 10. However, if 14% of entrepreneurs state they have already recovered normality completely and 65% are going to do that within one year maximum (23% within 6 months), the general confidence index surveyed by the investigation makes Italian enterprises’ sentiment, in a scale from 1 to 9, rank on an “average” level versus the current situation.
Digital and new technologies to react to the crisis: resilience weapons
Last months have witnessed a necessary digital acceleration, especially in lockdown phase, for those who were not compelled to stop manufacturing activities for a period, corresponding of 62% of interviewees.
A boost promptly suited by 6 companies out of 10, succeeding in reacting promptly to the crisis through the investments made some time ago in new technologies and the deployment of useful instruments for the social distancing:
· platforms for the remote management of meetings, adopted by 36%;
· design technologies to redesign the new spaces of the 4.0 factory in conformity with safety requisites (10%);
· virtual systems that allow the control from remote of operational activities (7%);
· platforms of collaborative design and manufacturing process simulation for the development of the whole product (5%);
· apps and software to localize and to trace the paths of people in the factory (4%). Moreover, the resilience of manufacturing companies is proven also by the choice, already made or under evaluation, of shifting the production towards other sectors (12%), as well as by timely provisions carried out in the course of the emergency phase, such as safety plans drawn up to avoid contagion risks (55%), the introduction of smart/flex working modalities (43%), with 34% providing for the reduction of operating costs, 29% who went on investing in innovation and new technologies and 19% who focused on the corporate training from remote.
Consequences that have probably led to the choice, for almost half of them, of going on investing, by the yearend, up to 10% of their turnover in innovation, with 17% of interviewees who are going to achieve from 11% to 20%.
Mecspe Observatory: staking on sustainability and on specialized young
To overcome this moment and to start growing economically again, almost 8 entrepreneurs out of 10 believe it is important to focus on sustainability, too. Among the aspects already most cared, the consumption reduction ranks first, indicated by 61% of interviewees, followed by social responsibility projects (53%), by the attention to pollution and environmental impact, by the ethics in the relationships with suppliers and customers (52%). Importance is acknowledged also to the support to the territory economy (35%), and to the product eco-sustainability (30%). The new phase, in the name of the fast race of digital processes, has consequently disclosed new opportunities to engage and to train more young workers in factories. If on one hand 26% prefer not providing for employments of this kind at present, 20% are evaluating the engagement of young specialized in the field of 4.0 technologies, coming from Technical Institutes or Universities, or with a basic working experience. Furthermore, 13% are organizing in-house training courses for the young workers already engaged by the company while 9% are evaluating to employ young even without a previous scholastic or working education but providing for in-house specific training courses.
Exhibitions and events, astride on and off-line experiences
Digital talks, webinars and virtual events. Users seem to appreciate the numerous business initiatives conceived in digital version in recent months for companies and professionals owing to the imposed situation, mainly for safety matters (21%), but the off-line remains the preferential channel.
Although they judge the online a valid alternative, 27% of interviewees continue to attend live events, and 35% believe that soon the digital experience of exhibitions will necessarily be combined with the physical experience again, already since next Autumn, with traditional trade fairs.
At Ulsan, in South Korea, Hyundai Group is building the second factory where only electric carswill be manufactured. The new plant, close to the current one that has been in operation since 1962, will start operating in the first 2026-quarter and produce an electric SUV, Genesis-branded, based on the new eM platform of the Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) factory. It is an investment worth 1.53 billion dollars and they estimate that up to 200,000 cars will leave the factory yearly. Advanced manufacturing solutions, developed by Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore, will be used for the new factory. Moreover, artificial intelligence will be exploited to automatically adapt the manufacturing volumes to demands and implementation methods with low CO2 emissions will be used. “In the last half-century, Hyundai factory at Ulsan has evolved as production line technicians have learnt, created and faced new challenges. Inheriting the expertise of Ulsan factory, which has turned great dreams into reality through the power of people, Hyundai will do its best to become the protagonist in the electrification era, with the pride and the responsibility of creating mobility innovation for people”, so stated Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Group.
The Croatian manufacturer of electric supercars and hi-tech solutions for e-cars, Rimac Automobili, has taken over Bugatti, the iconic French brand that since 1998 had been part of Volkswagen Group and that since the current year had been managed by Porsche. It is an unbelievable piece of news indeed, if you think that in just 10 years, Rimac Automobili has risen from the setup of a single-man workshop to takeovers of such level. Today, Bugatti Rimac merges into Rimac Group, which will be the primary shareholder with 55% share, while the remaining 45% will still be of Porsche, with joint venture formula.
The development, the production and the supply of battery systems, transmissions and other components for electric battery cars for which Rimac is appreciated as supplier of many automotive manufacturers, will be separated and integrated into a new entity: Rimac Technology, which will be 100% owned by Rimac Group. Rimac Technology will remain an independent company that collaborates with many global automotive companies.
«This is a really exciting time in the short, but rapidly expanding, history of Rimac Automobili – stated Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Rimac Automobili. – This new adventure establishes a completely new level for things. I have always liked cars and I can recognize in Bugatti where the passion for cars can arrive. I am enthusiastic of the potential of these two brands that will combine knowledge, technologies and values to create some really special designs in the future».
A feather in the cap of RImac? The new Nevera with four electric motors able to offer 1,914 HP in all with 2,360 Nm torque that assure acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 2 seconds (1.85 for 0-60 mph) for a maximum speed of over 400 km/h.