Breaking the Bottleneck | Issue 58
[9/15/2024] Reshape Automation, Google Deepmind, and Boeing's Strike!
Breaking the Bottleneck is a weekly manufacturing technology newsletter with perspectives, interviews, news, funding announcements, manufacturing market maps, and a startup database!
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Content I Enjoyed Last Week 🏭🗞️🔬 📚
News:
Google DeepMind’s Advancements in Robotics Dexterity [DeepMind]
Deepmind has released updates to ALOHA Unleashed and DemoStart, to enhance robot dexterity and enable them to perform complex tasks that require precise, coordinated movements. ALOHA Unleashed is designed for bi-arm manipulation, a breakthrough compared to previous systems that only used a single arm. The system features improved ergonomics and teleoperation for data collection. The learning process was further enhanced by a diffusion method similar to the Imagen model, predicting robot actions from random noise. This allows robots to learn tasks with fewer human demonstrations, making them more adept at completing complex tasks independently. DemoStart is focused on multi-fingered robotic hands, where controlling the fingers, joints, and sensors is highly intricate. This system uses reinforcement learning to teach robots dexterous behaviors in a simulated environment, requiring 100 times fewer demonstrations than real-world learning. The success rate in the simulation was over 98% for tasks such as cube reorientation and tightening nuts and bolts. In real-world testing, it achieved a 97% success rate for cube reorientation and a 64% success rate for a more complex plug-socket insertion task. DemoStart’s effectiveness lies in its progressive learning approach, which starts with more manageable tasks and gradually moves to more challenging ones. The system was tested on the DEX-EE, a three-fingered robotic hand developed with Shadow Robot. Combining reinforcement learning, domain randomization, and simulation-to-reality transfer dramatically reduces the cost and time needed for physical experimentation.
The Next Frontier for EV Batteries: Nanoscale Coatings [IEEE Spectrum]
The article discusses the advancements in electric vehicle (EV) battery technology, focusing on atomic layer deposition (ALD), a chemical technique used to enhance lithium-ion batteries. Several companies, including Forge Nano, Picosun (a subsidiary of Applied Materials), and Beneq, are applying ALD to coat battery electrodes with metal oxides or nitrides. In conventional lithium-ion batteries, silicon is added to graphite in the anode to increase energy density. However, this can lead to mechanical degradation due to silicon’s tendency to expand and contract during charging cycles. ALD technology, developed in the 1960s, allows for molecular-level coatings on the anode, cathode, and separator, boosting the batteries' performance and durability without increasing their weight or volume. The ALD process creates thin films by introducing two gaseous precursors to the substrate in alternating cycles, forming a protective layer one atomic layer at a time. Preliminary data around this process shows a 15% improvement in specific energy compared to current batteries on the market, though third-party validation is still underway.
Solar Panel Manufacturing Shines in the US, But Installations Are Falling [Verge]
US solar panel manufacturing capacity has quadrupled in just a few years following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). By the second quarter of 2024, domestic solar module manufacturing capacity reached 31.3 gigawatts (GW), a significant increase that brings the US closer to its clean energy goals. This is comparable to 80% of the 40GW of solar energy installed in the US in 2023, a remarkable achievement attributed to the federal funding boost from the IRA. However, while the US has ramped up its solar panel production, the rate of solar installations has slowed. Wood Mackenzie projects a 19% drop in residential solar installations in 2024, mainly due to California lowering the rates utilities pay residents who sell excess power from home solar systems. Second, high financing rates and the bankruptcies of two major residential solar companies also contributed to the decline. Finally, while tariffs on Chinese solar cells have helped US companies, they still rely on imported cells, raising concerns about potential new taxes on solar imports that could further slow industry growth. Utility-scale solar installations are expected to fall by 2% this year, with challenges such as labor shortages, long wait times for grid connections, and high-voltage equipment delays impacting the sector. Overall, solar installations are predicted to decrease by 4% this year.
Why 96% of Boeing’s Machinists Voted to Go on Strike [WSJ]
The strike, which has halted production of the 737 and other jets, reveals deep-seated frustration from both long-time employees and recent hires. Many veteran workers expressed anger over concessions made by their union in the last 16 years, which have eroded retirement and health benefits. Younger workers are facing the rising cost of living and are dissatisfied with Boeing's stagnant starting wages. Furthermore, workers are still angry over Boeing’s decision in 2008 to move production of its 787 Dreamliner to a nonunion factory in South Carolina, which they see as punishment for a previous strike. Hau Vo, a 43-year-old employee, explained that while Boeing offers better benefits than his last construction job, his family's budget is tightening. "We’re not building toy cars for Walmart. We’re building a plane that puts people in the air,” Vo emphasized, reflecting the sentiment of many workers. Despite the tentative contract offering a 25% wage increase over four years, 94% of the union’s 33,000 members rejected the deal, and 96% voted to strike. Workers overwhelmingly believe the proposed deal falls short, particularly when considering inflation and other cost-of-living pressures. Daniel Dias, a Boeing employee of nearly six years, said the proposed increase would only bring his salary from $48,000 to $51,000 in the first year, a small gain in today's economy. "The cost of living has gone up exponentially and… we only stand to gain $2 to $3 an hour," he explained.
Research:
The American Manufacturing Pressure and Productivity Index [CADDI]
New research conducted and released today by Caddi found that 49% of U.S. manufacturers expect a recession to hit in 2025, with 84% predicting it will happen within the next two years. Other key findings from the report include:
Talent challenges remain top pressure drivers, including a lack of access to skilled labor (56%) and equipping current employees to step into strategic roles (50%).
Speed to market, which 23% of manufacturers say is a 2025 priority, is at risk.
77% of procurement professionals say that every few projects, they need to find a new part, product, or supplier because the one they found doesn't meet engineering's specifications.
68% believe at least half of their institutional knowledge will be lost forever in the next decade when senior executives retire.
27% of manufacturers fear they aren't transforming fast enough to survive (27%).
45% of senior management leaders cite digitally transforming their operations as a top business pressure.
51% said navigating political demands to bring more production onshore is a top three pressure point.
Podcasts:
Unpacking Amazon’s Unique Covariant AI Deal [Robot Report]
Manufacturing Deals🏭💵
Reshape Automation - A company helping manufacturers find and deploy industrial automation with transparent ROI
$5 million [Seed] - Led by Ironspring Ventures and joined by Haystack, Supply Chain Ventures, Remus Capital, Expansion VC, Schematic Ventures, and Bee Partners.
Reverion - A German company building an all-in-one solution that offers electrical efficiencies of 80% for both power generation and energy storage
$62 million [Series A] - Led by Energy Impact Partners and joined by Honda, EIC Fund, Extantia Capital, UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, and others
Forterra - A leading provider of autonomous systems for ground-based movement in the working world
$75 million [Series B] - Co-led by Moore Strategic Ventures, XYZ VC, and Hedosophia VC and joined by Standard Investments and others