Service robots and drones will become a new explosion point for micro-motors

With the increase of modern consumption year by year, people are spending more and more in household appliances, automobiles and other fields, and drones, robots and other fields have also begun to rise. As the power source of these products, the market demand for them is also increasing. constantly expanding. A few days ago, Markets and Markets, a world-renowned market research organization, announced publicly that the global micromotor market will grow from $28.26 billion in 2015 to $35.59 billion in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 4.56%. The global micro-motor market demand is rising steadily, and my country's micro-motor market is booming. Up to now, the micro-motors consumed in my country have accounted for more than 60% of the global micro-motor share.

In order to enable people in the micro-motor industry to communicate better, Dabit Information hosted the "2016' Micro-motor Drive and Control Technology National Tour Seminar and 2016' Micro-motor Prospective Technology and Market Development Summit Forum" in Shenzhen, with a total of more than 500 participants. A guest attended the meeting to discuss the development of the micro-motor industry.

Shenzhen market is favored, but growth is bottlenecked?

Shenzhen is the South China Market as the bridgehead of South China as the national electronic market, and its market trend is of bellwether significance. Especially in Shenzhen, the electronic information industry is one of its four pillar industries, and innovation and development are the focus of government work. Relying on the superior economic environment, Shenzhen's electronic information industry has developed rapidly and has become a bright spot in the pursuit of international capital.

Ma Jianwei, an engineer in the development department of Jiangsu Yadi Technology Development Co., Ltd. Tianjin Branch, believes that the development of the electronics industry in Shenzhen and even southern China is better than that in the north, including supporting systems and suppliers' technical capabilities. "It may be because an industrial chain has been formed here, the industry is mature, and the response speed of suppliers here in Shenzhen is faster than that in the north. For example, I raised a question about the use of micro motors, which can be solved quickly here in Shenzhen. And There is also Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen, the largest electronics market in Asia. We are coming from Tianjin this time, and we are going to visit." Ma Jianwei said with a smile, "Because for the selection of suppliers, we will first consider the performance of the product, and secondly It is the strength of the factory, because the quantity we need is relatively large, and if the factory is small, it may not be able to handle it.”

The R&D management profit of Shenzhen Zhikong Technology Co., Ltd. believes that the South China market is more suitable for the survival of micro-motor enterprises, "Companies like ours often supply small and medium-sized equipment manufacturers, and the small and medium-sized equipment manufacturers in Guangdong are relatively relatively small. Intensive, it is more suitable for the development of our enterprise.”

However, Li Shuai, the maintenance director of Shenzhen Yankong Automation Technology Co., Ltd., believes that Shenzhen's demand for micro-motors has become saturated: "According to my observation, Shenzhen and even South China's demand for micro-motors, aside from servos (motors), for stepper ( The market share of motors) has been very bottlenecked. If the demand for motors is 100 million sales a year, the sales next year will not become 200 million, but 110 million or 120 million, which is already a stable saturation. State, motor export and domestic sales are all facing great competitive pressure. However, the Pearl River Delta is guided by several special economic zones, the economic environment is favorable, and it tends to be driven by innovation, and there will be more forward-looking equipment here.”

The prospect of service robots is good, and the core components can be made in China?

Robots can be roughly divided into industrial robots and service robots according to application types. In the past, the automation of manufacturing was the main application field of robots, but at present, the application scope of robots in medical, logistics, household and other service industries is also gradually increasing.

According to data provided by the China Robot Industry Alliance a few days ago, China's industrial robot market will reach 600 billion yuan in the next 10 years. Huai Jinpeng, vice minister of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said recently that China attaches great importance to the innovation and industrialization of cutting-edge emerging fields such as robots.

Xu Mingshan, general manager of Weikai Intelligent Equipment, said: "We have some understanding of the robot market. At present, it is relatively popular because it conforms to the "Made in China 2025". I predict that the price of the entire robot will be reduced in the near future. It will decrease, so the sales of robots will explode.”

Engineer Li Shuai said that he is more optimistic about industrial robots: "I have seen service robots in restaurants now, and I don't think they can become a trend yet. Because all service robots are not used to improve efficiency, they only introduce this thing. In order to have a gimmick. But the emergence of industrial robots is to solve problems. In the case of a bad economic environment, labor costs increase, and industrial robots are urgently needed.”

Cai Chengpan, an application engineer at STMicroelectronics (ST), holds the opposite opinion: "I am more optimistic about service robots. At present, the number of real industrial robots is very small, but the price is very expensive. There are hundreds of thousands of units a year, but service robots are very expensive. There will be more, this market will usher in a period of explosion, and it is now profitable.”

General Manager Xu Mingshan said: "Both are optimistic, but the demand for service robots is greater, and industrial robots have limitations, because they are used in factories, but how many factories are there? Hundreds of thousands of factories, one uses 10 units, which is the same amount; but there are 7 billion people and more than 1 billion families in the world, the market demand will be even greater. And this is also related to the marketing process. If a company wants to buy an industrial robot, there are many processes to be done. In the end, it will take several months to buy, but the service robot order is very fast, just like buying a TV at home.”

There are different opinions about which prospect is better for service robots and industrial robots, but it has to be said that the prospects for the entire robot market are bright. However, there is a phenomenon in the field of robotics that cannot be ignored: the high-end core parts and components of robots are currently mainly dependent on imports.

Regarding this situation, Chen Junqian, the regional manager of the Marketing Department of Guangdong Lihao Technology Co., Ltd. explained: "For high-end servo motors, in terms of performance and control, motors with a power of 6 kW to 100 kW or more can still be used in our country. Reaching the level of foreign countries. However, for small motors, such as 50 watts to 3000 watts, which require relatively high control accuracy, there are still gaps at home and abroad. The gap is mainly reflected in the core components inside, such as encoders and controllers. We have no way to break through the block yet.”

Song Gong, an engineer in the R&D department of Shenzhen Mazhida Electromechanical Co., Ltd., bluntly said that they are not yet able to reach the foreign level: "I know the motors used in service robots, and it is true that the precision requirements are very high, and the technical level of our current factory cannot reach it. "

"Indeed, there is a gap between our product performance and foreign products. Everyone understands this. We are eager to solve this problem, so we are also working hard." Li Shuai engineer said, "Our company has now launched the fourth generation of servo motors. Now, it doesn't mean that the first three generations can't be used, but the stability and performance cannot be generally recognized in the market. Therefore, we gradually increase investment in servo, and want to shorten the gap between domestic and foreign. One of our sincere vision is to make it in China. "

Xie Jianghai, manager of the management department of Hunan Kelier Motor Co., Ltd., said with emotion that the biggest bottleneck in China is the servo motor. There are two factors: one is the lack of talents, and the other is the core technical problem.

While engineers were worried about the inability to make breakthroughs in technology and the lack of human resources, Professor Min Lin of Xi'an Micro-Electrical Research Institute injected a boost for "Made in China": "Servo products rely heavily on imports, not our technology No. Whether it is a university or a research institute in China, their technology and design capabilities should be comparable to those of foreign countries, especially scientific research institutions like our Xi'an Micro-motor Research Institute, whose products should be made with foreign technology. There is not much difference in the indicators. However, we need research institutes and universities with R&D and innovation capabilities that can transform technology into industrialized things. Now the country is also promoting the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and the country has launched a series of policies. , I hope it can inspire industry, academia and research to go better."

The drone market is booming, and the DC brushless is sought after

According to the forecast of CEA (Consumer Electronics Association of America), in 2015, the total annual market of global consumer drones will exceed 6.4 billion US dollars for the first time, the profit will be 130 million US dollars, and the total sales volume will exceed 425,000 units. 50%. According to CEA estimates, the total market for drones will continue to rise in the future, and will even increase to more than $11.5 billion in 2024. And by then, the civilian drone market share will increase from the current 11% to 14%, reaching 1.6 billion US dollars.

Lu Hengyang, the technical sales manager of Xinwangwei, believes that the rise of drones is inevitable: the concept of drones has always existed, and it may be due to some technical bottlenecks and some high thresholds, which lead to the failure of drones to be carried out prematurely. commercialize. A few years ago, the public may have come into contact with a model aircraft. Now thanks to the development of motors and the development of various sensors, many makers are applying drones to commercial fields, such as aerial photography, night monitoring, forest fire warning and agricultural applications, not only professional applications, but also ordinary public Can also be applied, such as selfies.

Wison of Texas Instruments (TI) Motor Drive Design Center said that he is very optimistic about the development of drones: "UAVs are a very popular trend, and I personally think that this emerging field should be an explosive growth point for motor applications in the future. , our current main research and development efforts are also in these directions.”

Xie Jianghai, manager of the management department of Hunan Kelier Motor Co., Ltd., is also optimistic about the field of drones: "UAVs are particularly popular. Although we have all been in contact with them at exhibitions, drones are indeed a big trend. We are now mainly It is in the field of robotics, but has always been concerned about drones.”

"The annual sales volume of professional-grade drones is about several hundred thousand units, and the annual sales volume of consumer-grade drones is several million units." said Luo Xue, application manager of the application department of Fengdao Technology, "Consumer-grade and professional-grade are not the same. an order of magnitude."

Manager Lu Hengyang said: "The one that can spread the reputation of a drone must be the consumer market, and the starting volume must also be the consumer market. It can quickly occupy the market, while professional drones are mostly unknown. Dedication. But at present, consumer-grade drones are not rigid requirements, and the cost of drones is still too high. In addition, there are technical bottlenecks in drones, that is, battery life and load-bearing issues.”

Although there are still some technical problems in drones, it is undeniable that the market for drones is still very good, and its related industrial chain has also ushered in development. Luo Xue, application manager of Fengdao Technology Application Department, said: "UAVs now use DC brushless motors, and unlike other application fields, they generally require built-in motors and use better materials; At the same time, there is also a feature of high speed. UAVs are on the rise in both professional and consumer applications, so the motor market is also rising rapidly and steadily.”

The popularity of high-efficiency motors is the trend

With my country's entry into the WTO, the competition pressure and challenges faced by the international community in my country's motor industry are increasing. From the perspective of the international and domestic situation, it is very necessary to promote high-efficiency motors, which is conducive to promoting technological progress and product export needs. .

Professor Yang Xiangyu of South China University of Technology explained the importance of the promotion of high-efficiency motors: "The power consumption of motors is indeed too large, accounting for nearly 60 to 70 percent of the power of our entire grid. Therefore, the improvement of motor efficiency will save energy for our country. Emission reduction is of great significance. For micro-motors, the power consumption is also very large. We need to upgrade traditional motors.”

The profit-making engineer of R&D management of Shenzhen Zhikong Technology Co., Ltd. said: "I think the popularization of high-efficiency motors is an inevitable trend. The development of all walks of life also requires more efficient motors. For example, new energy vehicles are very popular now. But the biggest problem with new energy vehicles at present is battery life. The power of the battery is limited. If the efficiency of the motor is high, the electricity used will be less, and the battery life of the new energy vehicle will be greatly improved. Therefore, this is an inevitable Trend, the motor will move towards high efficiency."

Luo Xue, application manager of the application department of Fengdao Technology, said: "The promotion of high-efficiency motors is good news for the industry. The improvement of energy consumption standards means that the industry needs to be transformed. In the past, AC motors were the mainstay, but now they are all To do brushless DC, a typical example is an air conditioner compressor, and now about 40% of air conditioners are brushless DC."

As the energy problem becomes more and more serious, the country is also continuing to increase the promotion of high-efficiency motors, and has also introduced many policies, including financial subsidies, but the effect is not obvious. According to the data, the proportion of high-efficiency motors in the current domestic memory is only 8 %about. The high price is a barrier to the popularization of high-efficiency motors.

The profit-making engineer disagreed with this: "In the past, everyone said that high-voltage electricity is not good, but later we found that high-voltage electricity is used everywhere because it saves energy. Nowadays, the promotion of high-efficiency motors will definitely have various voices. What are the disadvantages of high-efficiency motors, high costs or complicated processes. But the times always have to improve, I have confidence in the development of modern technology, and high-efficiency motors can definitely be popularized.”

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