"Made in China 2025" stands at a new height in history, and from the strategic perspective, it clearly puts forward the action plan of the first decade of China's implementation of the strategy of manufacturing power, and regards "high-end CNC machine tools and robots" as one of the key areas to promote First, it is proposed that the development of the robot industry should "revolve around the needs of industrial robot applications such as automobiles, machinery, electronics, dangerous goods manufacturing, defense military, chemical industry, light industry, and medical services, such as health care, home services, education and entertainment, etc., and actively develop new Products, promote the standardization and modular development of robots, and expand market applications. Break through technical bottlenecks such as robotic bodies, key components such as reducers, servo motors, controllers, sensors and drives, and system integration design and manufacturing technologies. "And in key areas of technology The innovation roadmap clearly states that the development focus of China's robot industry in the next ten years is mainly two directions: First, the development of industrial robots and key parts and components serial products, promoting the industrialization and application of industrial robots, and meeting the urgent need for China's manufacturing industry to upgrade Demand; the second is a breakthrough Key technologies of intelligent robots, develop a group of intelligent robots, and actively respond to the challenges of the new round of technological revolution and industrial change.

High-end CNC machine tools and robots are one of the key areas of the strategic plan for a strong country

I. Demand-oriented, enhance innovation ability and expand market application

According to different application environments, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) divides robots into two categories: industrial robots in manufacturing environments and service robots in non-manufacturing environments. Industrial robot is a general term for robots used in industrial production. It is an important factory automation equipment in modern manufacturing; service robots are non-productive robots that serve human beings. Service robot technology is mainly used in unstructured environments and has a relatively complex structure. According to its own sensors and communication, it can obtain the information of the external environment, so as to make decisions and complete corresponding tasks.

1. China has become the world's largest industrial robot market, and the potential remains to be tapped

Industrial robots mainly refer to multi-joint manipulators or multi-degree-of-freedom robots facing the industrial field, which are used for handling, welding, assembly, processing, painting, and clean production in the industrial production process. In 2014, global industrial robot sales hit a record high, reaching 225,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 27%. The driving force for market growth is mainly from Asia, especially China and South Korea.

In recent years, the demand for the Chinese robot market has grown rapidly and has become an important market for global robots. In 2014, China's industrial robot sales reached 56,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 52%, and once again became the world's largest industrial robot market. Users have developed from wholly foreign-owned enterprises and Sino-foreign joint ventures to domestic-funded enterprises and even SMEs. Many companies in the developed coastal industrial areas of China use their products for export, which requires high product quality. More and more companies use robots instead of industrial workers. In the Pearl River Delta region, the average annual growth rate of the use of industrial robots has reached 30%. Especially in the fields of assembly, dispensing, handling, welding and other fields, there has been a wave of robot use.

Although China has been the world 's largest market for industrial robots since 2013, the density of manufacturing industrial robots is still very low. In 2013, the density of Chinese industrial robots was only 30 units per 10,000 industrial workers, less than half of the global average, and the degree of industrial automation The gap between South Korea (437 units / 10,000 industrial workers), Japan (323 units / 10,000 industrial workers) and Germany (282 units / 10,000 industrial workers) is even greater. The domestic industrial robot market still has huge potential.

As a large manufacturing country, China has been lagging behind in the application of industrial robots. Except for the automotive industry, the application of robots in the general manufacturing industry with a large amount and a wide range is basically in a spontaneous, scattered or scattered state. With the development of factory automation in China, industrial robots will also be rapidly promoted in other industrial industries, such as electronics, metal products, rubber plastics, food, building materials, civil explosions, aviation, medical equipment and other industries.

The degree of application of industrial robots is an important indicator of a country's industrial automation level. The development of China's industrial robots should focus on accelerating the development of intelligent manufacturing in China, and cooperate with both sides of the supply and demand of robots. On the one hand, it will improve the innovation ability of robot manufacturing enterprises in China, promote the standardized, modularized and systematic development of robots, reduce the cost of use, and improve integrated applications. Level, so as to expand the scope of market applications; on the other hand, actively carry out application pilots of independent brand robots, grasp a batch of typical application demonstration projects with outstanding results, strong driving force and high relevance, and promote the use of industrial robots to transform and upgrade traditional manufacturing industry.

2. China's service robot industry should be demand-oriented and focus on development

Service robots include special service robots and home service robots. Service robots have a wide range of applications. They are mainly engaged in maintenance, repair, transportation, cleaning, security, rescue, monitoring, and medical, retirement, rehabilitation, and disability assistance. Service robot is a new type of intelligent equipment and a strategic high-tech product. It will have a larger market space than industrial robots in the future.

Global service robots have shown rapid growth in the past five years. According to statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), global sales of professional service robots and personal / home service robots reached 21,000 and 4 million units in 2013, respectively, with market value of 3.57 billion US dollars and 1.7 billion US dollars, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 4 % And 28%. In the next few years, the global service robot market will continue to grow rapidly. With the major breakthrough of mutual learning and knowledge sharing cloud robot technology, small home auxiliary robots have greatly reduced production costs, and an emerging market of at least US $ 41.6 billion will be formed by 2020; However, it can be predicted that there will be rapid growth in the next 20 years.

At present, the technical research and development of service robots in the world are mainly led by the United States, Japan, China, Germany, and South Korea. The development of service robots in China lags behind industrial robots. Compared with Japan, the United States and other countries, China's R & D in the field of service robots started late, and the absolute gap with developed countries is still relatively large. However, compared with industrial robots, the gap at home and abroad is small. Service robots are generally developed in conjunction with specific demand markets. It is easier for local companies to develop in a specific environment and culture to occupy a good market position, thereby maintaining a certain competitive advantage. On the other hand, foreign service robots are also emerging industries. Most service robot companies have been established for a relatively short time, so China's service robot industry is facing great opportunities and development space.

From the perspective of development trends, China's professional service robots are expected to achieve industrialization before personal / home robots, especially medical robots, dangerous special environment inspection robots, etc. As China enters an aging society, the demand for medical care, nursing and rehabilitation increases. At the same time, as people's pursuit of quality of life improves, personal / home robots will have a wider market space in the future.

2. Break through technical bottlenecks and improve industrialization capabilities

The robot integrates modern manufacturing technology, new material technology and information control technology. It is a representative product of intelligent manufacturing. Its R & D, manufacturing, and application have become an important indicator of a country's scientific and technological innovation and manufacturing level. highly valued.

The development of the robot industry in China can be traced back to the 1980s. At that time, the Ministry of Science and Technology included industrial robots in the scientific and technological research plan. The former Ministry of Machinery Industry led the organization of industrial robots in spot welding, arc welding, painting, and handling. Other ministries and commissions also actively supported projects, forming the first climax of Chinese industrial robots. Since then, mainly due to market demand, the independent research and development and industrialization of robots have experienced long-term stagnation. After 2010, the installed capacity of robots in China has increased year by year, and it has begun to develop towards the entire industrial chain of robots.

The development of the robot industry includes research and development experiments, industrialization of robot bodies and parts, system integration technologies, and services. Every link is important. The development of China's robot industry chain is a long and arduous process. On the whole, most robot companies in China are currently concentrated in the integration field, and processing and assembly companies account for the majority. In terms of original research on core and key technologies, high-reliability basic functional components, system process application solutions, and mass production of mainframes, there is still a considerable gap from developed countries. In terms of key components, key components such as precision reducers, servo motors and drives rely heavily on imports. Although the country has also invested heavily in this area for many years, the original market scale and industrialization level were not high enough to drive the development of core components, resulting in unsatisfactory results.

It can be seen that the insufficient technical strength of China's robots restricts the scale of industrialization, and the small scale also constrains the development of technology, which affects the industrialization process of robots. If we want to improve the market competitiveness of domestic robots, on the one hand we must increase the production of domestic robots and increase the production capacity of domestic robot companies; The need for capacity expansion.

In the past two years, the state has attached great importance to intelligent manufacturing and robots. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other departments are all pushing the development of the robot industry. From the top design, finance and taxation, demonstration applications, talent training and other aspects to promote the development of the independent brand robot industry, support policies are becoming more comprehensive and detailed. Into. China's robot industry roadmap and related work of the "13th Five-Year Plan" of the robot industry are also progressing steadily. This will greatly promote the breakthrough of technological bottlenecks and improve the industrialization capacity of robot companies in China.

At present, for China's robotics industry, it is no longer a matter of attaching importance or disregarding it, but a question of how to look at the industry and how to cultivate and orderly develop the industry. Regarding the market demand of the robot industry, technological innovation models, and funding support methods, various local governments are expected to refine the industry's support policies.

3. Accelerate the development and production of next-generation robots, and seize the next commanding height of robot technology and industrial development

With the development of robot technology, according to different functions, robots are divided into general robots and intelligent robots. Among them, the general robot refers to a robot with only general programming capabilities and operating functions. Most of the robots produced in China currently belong to this category; there is no uniform definition of intelligent robots. Most experts believe that intelligent robots must have at least the following major functions Features: one is to have the ability to adapt to uncertain operating conditions; the second is to have the flexibility to operate complex objects; the third is to have the ability to coordinate and cooperate closely with people; the fourth is to have the ability to interact with people naturally; the fifth is to have man-machine Cooperative security features. Whether it is a modern industrial robot or a service robot, it will eventually develop into a smart robot with learning capabilities. We generally call intelligent robots the next generation of robots. With the continuous progress of 3D visual perception / cognition, force sensor and other technologies and the deep integration with the new generation of information technology such as the Industrial Internet, cloud computing, and big data, the intelligence of the next generation of robots will be further improved. The perception ability will be further enhanced, and it can complete dynamic and complex operation missions, realize multi-machine collaboration, and collaborate with humans.

In order to further seize the international market and enhance the global competitive position of the manufacturing industry, various economic powerhouses are eager to try out development plans in order to seize the development opportunities of advanced robotics. At present, the German government implements the "Industry 4.0" strategy, builds "smart factories", and builds "smart production". One of its key topics is the interaction and cooperation between humans and machines, and between machines. The United States proposed the "Robot Development Roadmap" in 2013, which will focus on the strong adaptability and reconfigurable assembly of robots in manufacturing industries, human-like smart operation, model-based integration and supply chain design, autonomous navigation, non-structured Key technologies such as perception of the environment, education and training, and the intrinsic safety of robots working with people. In early 2015, the Japanese government announced the "New Strategy for Japanese Robots", and in its five-year action plan, it explicitly stated that "research and development of data terminalization, networking, cloud computing and other technologies to be realized in the next generation of robots." In recent years, the South Korean government has issued a number of policies aimed at supporting the development and application of third-generation intelligent robots. In 2012, the "Robot Future Strategic Battle.net 2022" announced by South Korea. Its policy focus is to support Korean companies to enter the international market and seize intelligence. Opportunities for the industrialization of robots. With the vigorous advancement of technological powers such as the United States, Japan, and Europe, the next generation of robot prototypes, demonstration applications, and even practical systems continue to emerge in the past 5 years.

From the current point of view in China, the market for the demand for the next generation of industrial robots has not yet fully matured, but the research and development and reserves of strategic common technologies are particularly urgent. At present, in the development of the next-generation robot industry in China, we must first focus on consolidating the technical foundation of the robot industry, strive to promote the industrialization of existing robots, and accelerate the promotion and application of independent brand robots in the domestic market. Exploring new technology research and development models, encouraging scientific research institutes and enterprises to give play to their respective advantages, and establishing a national-level platform for cutting-edge and common technology development and storage of next-generation industrial robots in many ways. Starting from China's national conditions and needs, breakthroughs in core technology for next-generation robots will be made. Developed the next-generation robot prototype system and products, and promoted the industrialization process, seizing the international commanding heights of the next-generation robot. For robot products applied in different fields, different development strategies are implemented: on the one hand, enterprises are the core and the common technology platform is the support; priority is given to the development of the next generation of industrial robots; the integration of production and demand is promoted to seize the commanding heights of development; Market-oriented, grasp the characteristics of domestic demand, develop medical robots, elderly care and disability service robots and special robots operating in special service environments.