On June 16, a symposium on accelerating the development of new electromechanical integration industries in Guangdong was held in Guangzhou.
This conference focused on building a world-class new mechatronics and artificial intelligence industry cluster. Many experts from universities and scientific research fields, as well as representatives of enterprises in the fields of artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing gathered together to express their opinions.
As an important manufacturing base in the world, Guangdong’s development goal is to become a strong manufacturing province.
The guests at the meeting agreed that Guangdong has great prospects for the development of new mechatronics industries. They will continue to deepen R&D investment and industrial layout in Guangdong, jointly seize the development opportunities of new mechatronics and artificial intelligence, adhere to the two-way development of “AI + mechatronics”, and contribute more to the cultivation of new trillion-level industrial clusters in Guangdong.
At the meeting, representatives from universities and scientific research institutions introduced the latest scientific research results and industrial trends in mechatronics, and put forward valuable opinions and suggestions on strengthening basic research and deepening industry-university-research cooperation.
Zhou Ji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out in his keynote speech: “The intelligent generation of electromechanical equipment and products is the integration innovation of the new generation of artificial intelligence technology and advanced equipment manufacturing technology.” He particularly emphasized that the next 10 years will be a “once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity” for China’s mechanical equipment industry, and it is necessary to achieve a revolutionary leap from the “digital generation” to the “intelligent generation” of electromechanical equipment and products.
Yang Zhongmin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of South China University of Technology, introduced that South China University of Technology has relied on the mechanical engineering discipline to establish an interdisciplinary group of intelligent manufacturing, innovate and deepen the training of electromechanical talents, strengthen entrepreneurial orientation, deepen the ecology of the electromechanical industry, and accurately match the demand for talents in the mechatronics industry in Guangdong.
He suggested that we implement a special project to attract and educate top mechanical and electrical engineering talents and build a “five-in-one” mechanical and electrical integration science and technology innovation industrial park with education, technology, talent, industry, and funds.
Gao Wen, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of Pengcheng Laboratory, believes that “Although the current industrial Internet has made positive progress, there are still bottlenecks in terms of intelligent access, intelligent collaboration and global security.” It is necessary to create an “endogenous and co-prosperous nerve center” for industrial intelligence and manufacturing systems, that is, the infrastructure of the new industrial Internet to support the construction and implementation of independent intelligent manufacturing systems.
He suggested that the new industrial Internet should be used as the starting point to implement the intelligent transformation of the mechanical and electrical industry, establish a foundation for independent technology, make good use of data and computing power, and build a high-quality machinery industry data set and industrial knowledge base.
Liu Qing, president of the Jiangsu Provincial Industrial Technology Research Institute, suggested setting up special financial funds to support the industrialization of originality-led technology projects. “If it is not recognized by the market, failure will be tolerated; if it is recognized by the market, financial funds will be converted into equity.”
Huawei, Tencent, Shugen Internet, and Xiyu Jiezhi from the field of artificial intelligence, as well as representatives from Midea, UBTECH, Mingluo Equipment, Zhejiang SUPCON, Green Harmonic, and Galaxy General from the advanced manufacturing field, based on their respective production and operation practices, issued suggestions on how Guangdong can promote the quality and upgrading of the new mechatronics industry.
Li Qiang, Vice President of Tencent and President of Government and Enterprise Business, pointed out that “AI is not just a chat robot, but also an intelligent agent with the ability to independently plan and call tools and complete complex tasks.” AI technology is moving from thinking to execution, reshaping the boundaries of enterprise productivity.
He suggested that Guangdong build a talent highland native to AI, explore the community of intelligent agent developers, and provide paid or free computing power and strategic support; Guangdong has diverse application scenarios such as manufacturing, foreign trade, medical care, logistics, and government, and has natural soil for large-scale implementation of AI. It must deepen its industrial layout and develop intelligence that matches industrial scenarios.
Tao Jingwen, Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., said that Huawei continues to support enterprises in various industries in the province to develop large industry models, implement AI applications in various industries, and enable the deep integration of mechatronics and artificial intelligence.
He suggested that Guangdong should further transform scenario advantages into data advantages, manufacturing advantages into platform advantages, terminal advantages into ecological and cluster advantages, and focus on building a number of benchmark demonstration clusters.
Wang Jianguo, CEO of Midea Group Co., Ltd., pointed out, “From selling single products to selling scenarios, from selling hardware to selling data and algorithms, from the home appliance industry to ‘home appliances + X’.” AI provides a huge opportunity for the home appliance industry to break through the industry’s “ceiling”.
He introduced that Midea is accelerating the intelligent transformation of traditional manufacturing through artificial intelligence technology, and suggested that Guangdong strengthen the guidance of standards and norms, strengthen policy guidance and the gathering of human resources, and strengthen the training of application-oriented engineers.
Zhou Jian, chairman of Shenzhen UBTECH Technology Co., Ltd., said, “Humanoid robots are a typical product of mechatronics.” UBTECH will work with universities and scientific research institutes in the province to deeply integrate mechatronics and artificial intelligence to create an autonomous, controllable, safe and stable humanoid robot supply chain. It is recommended that Guangdong take the initiative to develop in the direction of embodied intelligence and humanoid robots.
Yao Weibing, chairman of Guangzhou Minluo Equipment Co., Ltd., said that AI empowerment can make the production lines of the automobile manufacturing industry smarter and more efficient.
He suggested building an implementable data-driven industrial service platform, including component evaluation, green manufacturing, industrial Internet asset management and manufacturing finance.
