“Addition of Altium will enable us to deliver an integrated and open development platform, making it easier for businesses of all sizes and industries to build and scale their systems,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas, in the company’s press release.

The $5.91 billion purchase will be funded through bank loans and cash. It is expected to take place in the second half of 2024, after approval by Altium shareholders and the Australian court, regulatory approvals, and the satisfaction of other typical closing conditions. The deal was unanimously approved by both the boards of directors of Renesas and Altium.

In a Zoom webinar on the deal, Shibata said Altium has over 61,000 global subscriptions and achieved a 20% growth year-to-year in recent years. He noted Altium currently has over 850 employees. Altium will continue to function independently as a consolidated subsidiary of Renesas. Altium’s current CEO, Aram Mirkazemi, will continue to lead the Altium team. 

There have been signs of coming change for a few years. In 2021, Altium declined a $3.9 billion bid from Autodesk. At Renesas, one clue of the acquisition plan was Renesas’ announcement of a company-wide restructure and the formation of a new group for software in October 2023.

Another sign of the impending acquisition was Renesas’ two-year partnership with Altium, which began in 2022. In June 2023, Renesas announced that it standardized development for all printed circuit board (PCB) design on Altium 365, Altium’s cloud-based project storage management platform. Last year, Renesas also shared that it published all of its products’ electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) libraries to the Altium Public Vault, Altium’s open server-based engineering content management system. This step allowed customers to use features like “manufacturer part search” on Altium 365 to choose Renesas parts from the Altium library.

PCB engineers who work with Altium’s flagship product, Altium Designer, can expect Renesas to further integrate Altium’s cloud platform capabilities with Renesas’ embedded systems. Renesas’ press release on the acquisition indicates Renesas will integrate and standardize “various electronic design data and functions.”

Screenshots from Altium Designer. (Image: Altium.)

Altium’s most recent feature launch was on January 11, a bill of materials (BOM) Portal in Altium 365. The BOM Portal is a dashboard that aims to make it easier for engineering and procurement teams to work together to monitor BOMs in production. This tool offers insights into parts supply issues with real-time component information from Octopart, S&P Global and SiliconExpert.

Going forward, PCB engineers using Altium software can expect to see Renesas offer more tools to improve engineers’ user experience. Renesas’ announcement caused Altium shares to rise by as much as 33% and Renesas shares to decline by 2.5%. Renesas is encouraging Altium shareholders to approve the purchase. Renesas said the acquisition will provide shareholders significant value and speed Renesas’ digitalization strategy. 

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Realtime reviews the path of a robotic arm using Optimization-as-a-Service. (Image: Realtime Robotics)

Boston-based software and hardware developer Realtime Robotics has launched an Optimization-as-a-Service (OaaS) program to help manufacturers increase productivity. Ther service pairs optimization software with evaluations regarding robotics and application engineering to analyze a customer’s simulation CAD file or digital twin. Realtime then identifies areas of concern and slowdowns and suggests paths for a customer to improve their manufacturing process.

Realtime’s OaaS removes the need for the engineers to engage in manual programming that may not reduce cycle time. In addition, users will quickly learn if a programming change will achieve the desired goal, without impacting existing processes or incurring extra costs.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Hanover, Germany is currently utilizing Realtime’s OaaS to improve the cycle time in a two-robot cell that welds car doors for the ID. Buzz, an electric minibus that will arrive at dealers in 2024. The interaction between Realtime and Volkswagen began with the auto manufacturer sending Realtime its simulation CAD file for bottlenecked cells. This step did not require Volkswagen to slow or stop production.

Realtime then analyzed Volkswagen’s simulation file and determined that optimization was possible. Next, Realtime rapidly generated, tested and validated potential robot paths to determine the best motion sequences. This process took weeks, but Volkswagen was then able to perform a single shutdown and incorporate the improvements. The result was a reduction of cycle time by several seconds, which ultimately led to 15 percent productivity improvement overall.

“Our Optimization-as-a-Service offering delivers results when you cannot spend months squeezing more productivity out of your automation cells. It has the potential to forever change how manufacturing operations are conducted, optimizing for improved speed and efficiency, without interrupting existing processes,” said Peter Howard, CEO of Realtime Robotics, in a press release.

Realtime was founded to change the movement of robots and autonomous vehicles. It is currently assisting customers with improving risk-aware driving, high-productivity multi-robot workcells, and automated robot vision that continuously calibrates itself. Realtime partners with HLS Engineering Group, a Gersthofen, Germany-based engineering firm that develops sustainable production solutions in plant construction and engineering. HLS focuses on the bodywork sector of the automobile industry. It also offers solutions to the rail vehicle and aerospace industries, the field of assembly technology, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs), and robot-based automation solutions.

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The versatility of OpenUSD is reflected in the variety of industries represented by the newest members of the AOUSD: Cesium, Chaos, Epic Games, Foundry, Hexagon, Ikea, Lowe’s, Meta, OTOY, SideFX, Spatial and Unity.

“The AOUSD mission is to promote greater interoperability of 3D tools and data, enabling developers and content creators… to describe, compose, and simulate large-scale projects and build an ever-widening range of 3D-enabled products and services,” said Steve May in an AOUSD press release yesterday. May is the chairperson of AOUSD and the chief technology officer at Pixar, which created OpenUSD and open sourced the framework in 2016.

Example of OpenUSD being used in the development of a factory’s digital twin. (Image: AOUSD.)

Many of the new Alliance members will help drive the adoption of OpenUSD in engineering applications. Developer Hexagon, for instance, sees the framework as facilitating collaboration among different 3D software platforms.

“By joining the alliance, we’re demonstrating our dedication to the advantages that OpenUSD provides our clients when linking with cloud-based platforms, including HxDR, Hexagon’s digital reality platform, Nexus, Hexagon’s manufacturing platform, and Nvidia Omniverse to build innovative solutions in their industries,” said Burkhard Boeckhem, CTO of Hexagon, in the AOUSD press release.

Other new members, like Meta, see OpenUSD as a key to delivering better virtual and augmented reality experiences.

“Building key interoperability for the metaverse will require an industry-wide focus on common

standards, formats and protocols. The Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD) can help drive the collaboration that’s needed to make this possible…. Creators, developers and companies will benefit from the technologies and experiences that will be made possible by open standards for 3D content,” said Amir Frenkel, VP XR Tech at Meta, in the press release.

AOUSD also revealed its two-year development roadmap and a announced a new liaison relationship with the Khronos Group, developer of the glTF 3D file format, to “maximize alignment and interoperability” between glTF and OpenUSD.

Overview of the Alliance for OpenUSD’s newly published two-year roadmap. (Image: AOUSD.)

Beyond the two-year plan, AOUSD is interested in working with the ISO JTC1 PAS submission process to allow international adoption and recognition of the core specification, according to the AOUSD website. The ISO JTC1 is a joint technical committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

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People appear to put in less effort when they are told robots are helping them with a task, according to an October 2023 study by researchers at the Technical University of Berlin. The research reveals dependence on robots may lead to more errors, especially over time.

The study involved examining the results of 42 German students performing a task to look for manufacturing defects on circuit boards. The first group reviewed the boards alone. The second group reviewed boards that they were told had already been inspected by a robot. The second group could not see or hear the robot. They were told the robot left red marks near potential defects. The first group found an average of 4.2 out of 5 defects, while the second group found an average of 3.3 out of 5 defects.

The reduced effort is likely to have a direct effect on the detection of circuit-board defects, shares Dietlind Helene Cymek, the first named author of the study. The finding that humans attempt to engage in “social loafing” with robots indicates that human-robot teams could be less efficient than engineers’ estimations.

The concern could have safety implications, says Dr. Linda Onnasch, senior author of the study.

“In our experiment, the subjects worked on the task for about 90 minutes. We already found that fewer quality errors were detected when they worked in a team. In longer shifts, when tasks are routine and the working environment offers little performance monitoring and feedback, the loss of motivation tends to be much greater. In manufacturing in general, but especially in safety-related areas where double checking is common, this can have a negative impact on work outcomes,” says Onnasch.

The study indicates that examining human versus robot capabilities could help engineers determine which entity should perform a task first. In some instances, robotic vision systems exceed the capabilities of human vision. When this is true, a company should have a robot check the work that people performed. In other instances, robotic vision systems perform more poorly than human workers.

For example, robotic vision systems can miss fine cracks. They can also confuse small grains of dust or oil residue with fine cracks. When a task involves spotting and distinguishing fine cracks, dust grains, and oil residue, a company should have a person check the work that the robot performed. Alternatively, the company could mandate that only human workers perform the task.

A company might also benefit by refraining from telling human workers that robots were involved in completing a task before them.

Cymek acknowledges that the main limitation of the research is the laboratory setting.

“To find out how big the problem of loss of motivation is in human-robot interaction, we need to go into the field and test our assumptions in real work environments, with skilled workers who routinely do their work in teams with robots,” says Cymek.

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Robot simulation software company RoboDK has launched TwinBox, a new device to facilitate production robot integration. TwinBox and its accompanying software help users control a system with multiple robots, devices and sensors. A user has a 3D view of their cell and the machines within it. TwinBox can be used remotely from any location with a web browser or RoboDK connection.

TwinBox requires that the user pre-install RoboDK software on their computer. A user typically sites the computer next to or within a factory’s robot control system. TwinBox does not require the use of a mouse, keyboard or monitor. The next steps to use TwinBox are to build a project using RoboDK Desktop, load the station using the computer’s browser, execute the robot program with the TwinBox web interface, and adjust the program as needed.

Engineers benefit from using TwinBox because the technology is compact, cost-effective, and easy to set up. In addition, TwinBox allows a user to create and test a digital twin of a robot and paired devices. TwinBox offers real-time monitoring to ensure immediate feedback between real and virtual robots.

TwinBox runs on industrial-grade hardware like an industrial PC as well as consumer-grade hardware like a simple single-board computer. It supports a number of operating systems and hardware architectures, including Open Platform Communications United Architecture (OPC UA), Windows, and Linux Debian or Ubuntu running on Intel x86-65 platforms or ARM. Going forward, RoboDK plans to implement other industrial protocols.

TwinBox facilitates integrating a wide range of robots into virtual and real setups, since RoboDK supports over 900 robots made by 50 brands. The company provides users access to robots through its online robot library. RoboDK also provides dedicated builds for systems like the NVIDIA Jetson and Raspberry Pi-based industrial computers.

RoboDK created TwinBox because its customers requested a robot integration tool that did not rely on conventional computers. Customers also wanted a way to streamline programming. Typically, each robot must be programmed separately. With TwinBox, a user can connect and program a set of machines like robots and external sensors together. This makes the system of connected machines flexible and well-integrated.

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The primary finding of the report is that three federal acts from 2021 and 2022 remain key to American manufacturers’ recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts like the war between Russia and Ukraine. These are the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). One of the concerns for manufacturers is the average lead time for production materials has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The problem is there are ongoing shortages for particular components, including electrical, electronic, and semiconductor parts. The shortages have lasted for over 30 months. Yet the CHIPS Act has motivated manufacturers like Intel to build semiconductor fabrication plants, some of which are set to begin production in 2024.

Such relief could be stalled by factors like a CHIPS Act requirement for chip manufacturers to offer high-quality, reliable childcare for workers. If component producers succeed in getting plants to come online on time, 2024 could be the first year that manufacturers begin to meet the rise in demand. 2024 could also mark a definitive, “no turning back” point away from pre-pandemic trends. For example, in the coming year, manufacturers could cement their prioritization of providing increased connectivity for remote work.

Technology is changing manufacturers’ roles

New tools like blockchain platforms are helping manufacturers deliver a greater-than-expected value from the public’s investment through the IIJA, CHIPS, and IRA. Such tools help manufacturers to increase production and be more competitive.

The change has come because the public and corporate markets have placed a higher value on being energy efficient, reducing waste, and tapping into the knowledge of retirees. The language and requirements of the IIJA, CHIPS, and IRA also encourage a shift in manufacturers’ views and actions. Consequently, manufacturers are focused on more than producing and distributing their products. They have expanded their role as agents to change how industries operate.

Today manufacturers are engaged in digitizing their supply chains, developing augmented reality (AR) interfaces for applications, finding ways to best deploy devices like IoT sensors to optimize energy use, and developing paths for retirees to share their knowledge with young workers. The mindset with which manufacturers are using new technologies is set to increase customer satisfaction and demand. 

For example, consumers have increased their demand for customized goods. Manufacturers are relying on digitization to remain nimble and agile. Recording transactions such as purchases of supplies on a blockchain platform is one form of digitization. The decision to use blockchain technology to keep track of expenses and shipments is valuable because the data is not stored in one location. It is decentralized, so it can be accessed easily and reliably from multiple locations.

As manufacturers rely on new tools, it is critical that they maintain significant cybersecurity protections. Deloitte’s report cited numerous studies showing that manufacturing remains a highly targeted sector for malicious behavior like ransomware attacks. One of the reasons that manufacturing is so vulnerable is that it cannot sustain many delays or outages. If a manufacturer has to slow or stop a production line, it faces considerable costs and potential cancellations of orders.

Paths to success

Manufacturers are navigating their way through this period of transition with collaboration, communication, targeted development, and expansion. The IIJA, CHIPs, and IRA are shaping a new reality in which individual and corporate customers have different requirements and priorities. For example, joint projects involving multiple manufacturers can help all partners meet goals to lower emissions. The Deloitte report cited an example of Hitachi Construction Machinery and ABB working together to electrify mining haulage trucks.

The report also discussed Caterpillar’s creation of a “specialized vertical,” or development of a marketing niche, dedicated to offering zero-emissions products and technologies. The products include modular and scalable advanced power sources to help customers reduce climate change.

Some information in the report should be viewed with skepticism. For example, the report expresses enthusiasm that a manufacturer could use generative AI to significantly improve business outcomes in multiple areas. Generative AI has great potential, but it still needs considerable guidance. A 2023 enterprise AI study found less than 36 percent of study participants had a full policy framework guiding their generative AI use. Manufacturers, as many other types of companies, have a long way to go in developing “ethical guardrails” for algorithms and their use.

If companies do not develop and implement policies that value ideals like a lack of bias, the companies are less likely to correct algorithms and the materials they generate. This will result in companies experiencing problems likely to cause internal concerns, such as issues with operations and testing. It will also result in external concerns, such as negative impacts on a company’s reputation.

The Deloitte report offers a thoughtful, data-driven look into how the three federal acts’ push for sustainability, expansion, and economic recovery from the pandemic is changing operations and perspectives for manufacturers in sectors from automotive to aerospace, as well as their necessary counterparts, like battery design. As American industries become more interdependent, hopefully the positive outcomes anticipated in the report will have even broader effects than Deloitte anticipated. For example, the report found that 2022 ended with 71 percent of industrial companies talking positively about aftermarket services like product repair. Digitization has made it easier for manufacturers to communicate with customers to offer repairs.

Another one of Deloitte’s recent documents beyond the 2024 Manufacturing Outlook report, the 2023 Deloitte and MLC industrial metaverse study, found that close to one-third of respondents were experimenting with offering virtual aftermarket services like AR-based remote troubleshooting assistance. Partnerships between manufacturers and software developers on repair services could streamline and refine repairs even further. The partnerships could also raise public awareness and use of AR itself. Greater acceptance of AR as an educational tool and a method to solve problems could lead to a lower need for transporting repair people between destinations. This would further reduce energy consumption and the reliance on fossil fuels.

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The money comes from funding earmarked for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), a component of the Act. The total sum will pay for new projects, programs that include an advanced packaging piloting facility to validate and transition new technologies to U.S. manufacturers, and workforce training, to make sure new processes and tools have adequate and well-trained employees. The first area to be funded in early 2024 will be materials and substrates.

In the coming years, the NAPMP will allocate funds to projects in five other areas:

• equipment, tools and processes
• power delivery and thermal management
• photonics and connectors
• a chiplet ecosystem to improve performance, reliability, yield and cost in advanced packaging
• co-design for test, repair, security, interoperability and reliability

In a speech at Morgan State University in Maryland, Locascio said the funding will help the U.S. semiconductor industry avoid delays and security concerns.

“Fabricating chips in America but shipping them overseas to be packaged creates supply chain and national security risks we cannot accept. That is why we envision that, by the end of the decade, the United States will be home to multiple high-volume advanced packaging facilities and a global leader in commercial-scale advanced packaging for the most sophisticated chips,” said Locascio.

The advanced packaging piloting facility will provide a site to test new equipment and processes and allow for hands-on workforce development.

“Success means validating development efforts as well as demonstrating the technology integration and transfer essential to achieving commercial scale advanced packaging here in the United States,” said Locascio.

Universities, colleges and training programs are encouraging the growth of the U.S. semiconductor industry by readying the workforce. For example, in March 2023, Morgan State University announced that it will receive $3.1 million in state funding from Maryland to build a center for research and education in microelectronics. Since August 2022, at least 50 community colleges across 17 states have instituted new programs or expanded programs relating to the semiconductor industry. In May 2023, Handshake, a career management system to help college students find jobs, found applications to full-time jobs in the semiconductor sector were up by almost 80 percent year after year.

Locascio likened the effort to drive growth in the semiconductor sector to the space race. She said jobs in the field are promising economic opportunities that could lift whole communities and entire regions.

“It is incumbent upon all of us in education, government and industry to attract people to those jobs, eliminate barriers that keep people from completing training programs and entering the workforce, and pay good wages and provide pathways to upward mobility so that we retain valued workers,” says Locascio.

“Making substantial investments in domestic packaging capabilities and R&D is critical to creating a thriving semiconductor ecosystem in America. We need to make sure new leading-edge chip architectures can be invented in our research labs, designed for every end-use application, manufactured at scale and packaged with the most advanced technologies,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a NIST press release.

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Countries around the world are seeking to further restrict the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, encouraging manufacturers to identify cost-effective alternatives that will allow them to offer new and current products. One of their primary tools is materials data management software and add-ons that provide information on legislation, restricted substances, and the use of these substances in particular materials.

One notable project is the development of the PFAS Toolkit for Innovating Replacements (PFASTIR), a library of knowledge about PFAS substitutes. This project is the work of IBM, the University of Pittsburgh, Cornell University, and OntoChem GmbH, a Germany-based company that offers text analysis and data mining products. PFASTIR received a 2022 award from the U.S.’s National Science Foundation to build out and demonstrate the library’s capabilities.

Manufacturers are motivated to take action to find substitutes for PFAS because recent studies and articles have linked them with adverse health effects, including decreased antibody response in adults and children and increased kidney cancer risk in adults. If PFAS are not destroyed through methods like mixing and boiling them with compounds to break them down, they linger for decades in air, soil, and water. In the past three years, academic institutions, corporations, governments, and the general public have gained a greater awareness about the links between PFAS and health problems

Simultaneously, regulatory entities such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have encouraged more research on PFAS. Residents around the world have also filed a higher number of lawsuits alleging damage from exposure to PFAS.

In October 2023, government documents revealed that the European Union (EU) intends not to strengthen PFAS regulations in the next few years. Yet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering the first national drinking water standard for six PFAS chemicals. Canada is also taking action to reduce residents’ exposure to PFAS in drinking water. American states from California to Maine are passing new laws to regulate products that contain PFAS. Manufacturers stand to benefit from identifying substitutes for PFAS even if they make the shift years later. Knowing the cost of alternate materials and planning ways to acquire them can help them transition quickly and efficiently.

PFAS chemicals are water and stain-resistant, a necessity for companies in industries from chip fabrication to aircraft manufacture. In a chip fab facility, PFAS are in valve assemblies and other pipes, tubes, and pumps in semiconductor equipment. PFAS help filter tiny particles from fluids in the process of chip production. In an aircraft manufacturing plant, PFAS are in chemical-resistant tubes, hoses, and fluid seals.

“PFAS can be in anything from cookware to construction materials. It all depends on what a product is made from and how it’s manufactured,” says Roger Barnett, senior product manager for Ansys.

As state, province, and national governments examine PFAS more closely, they tend to add more PFAS to their lists.

“The number of PFAS that are considered harmful are extremely unlikely to ever decrease. Substances usually don’t get taken off the list,” says Barnett.

Stricter regulations can mean that a company will need a special authorization to continue using a certain substance. When the company is not compliant, they can expect fines, product recalls, damage to the brand, and a curtailing of the ability to enter particular markets. In rare cases, a company could even expect line slowdowns or plant shutdowns.

The cost of changing a material is low at the outset, when a company is first contemplating using a material. It rises over time. If the company has to stop using a material at the point of full production, the cost is very high.

“That’s where a materials database is so useful. It can help a company estimate the viability of shifting to a replacement material with no PFAS at different points in the manufacturing cycle, for different products and different outputs,” says Kate Osborne, senior research and development engineer for Ansys.

Using a materials database effectively requires thinking about the database as a way to reduce risk.

When a company is in the conceptual design phase, it can be beneficial for it to estimate cost and feasibility using a generic or typical grade of the material compiled from an assessment of commercially available supplier grades. Later in the design process, the company can update the material to a specific supplier’s grade. This typically requires getting data from the supplier in the form of declarations.

Programs like Ansys’ Granta MI with the Restricted Substances add-on simplify the process. The complete Granta MI dataset with all add-ons has data on 250,000 materials. The program integrates with Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. Granta MI also contains charting and comparison tools. Other measures that manufacturers can take include hiring materials advisors who interview experts and conduct literature reviews on alternate materials. In addition, manufacturers can assist with the development of greener materials and encourage research to accumulate information about PFAS.

How a materials database helps Rolls-Royce

UK-based aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce wanted to find a way to handle the fact that it had large quantities of legacy data stored in a variety of locations. Absent a systematic approach, the company was duplicating tests. It also saw 40% of all generated test data not reused after initial analysis.

Using Granta MI helped Rolls-Royce improve rates of test data re-use and traceability. This allowed it to maximize the value of critical materials needed for manufacturing. Ultimately, Rolls-Royce realized a savings of $10 million per year through time saved, optimization, and waste reduction.

Barnett says materials databases teach engineers what components contain PFAS and address concerns about supplier data that may be missing. 

“There are over 11,000 PFAS substances in the Ansys database. No engineer could be expected to memorize all of the materials that contain them. In addition, this information can change between years. For example, a glass-filled plastic wouldn’t seem to contain PFAS. Yet some do. That’s because PFAS chemicals are sometimes used to lubricate the glass fiber,” says Barnett. 

When manufacturers stop using materials that contain PFAS, they may have an obligation to look back to bills of materials (BoMs) of past products. Reviewing these documents helps manufacturers, consumers, recycling facilities, and waste management companies understand the risks of handling a manufacturer’s former goods.

The lookback is part of product stewardship, a practice that guarantees product safety and general health for people who come into contact with older goods. A materials database helps manufacturers because it offers a way to “trace back” materials from past products.

A manufacturer who starts and publicizes their effort to identify PFAS in their current and past products now gains a reputational advantage. They also get a jump on new requirements, like providing government agencies with a list of their products that contain intentionally added PFAS. For example, in 2025, Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency, will require that manufacturers provide the agency with such a list.

Manufacturers who use materials databases can also advance on another front, achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions. This happens to be one of Rolls-Royce’s goals.

It is possible for companies who look for materials that contain PFAS to note which materials will help them reduce or eliminate carbon emissions in the manufacturing process. A company can then select materials that meet two objectives.

Rolls-Royce’s first step regarding zero emissions involves eliminating emissions from its operations to achieve net zero by 2030. Its second step will involve expanding technologies to product development and testing. The idea is to have all of the company’s new and existing products be designed to achieve net zero.

Barnett says companies with more developed product strategies can set an example for companies that are just beginning to understand PFAS and how restricted substances fall under the broader umbrella of sustainability.

He adds that undoing the excitement of working with materials like Teflon teaches companies to avoid thinking there is a single solution for all products.

“If you’ve got a wonder material that’s banned absolutely everywhere, you don’t have a wonder material. Having information on different materials gives engineers the power to formulate and validate design choices that work with the best replacements. That’s what is going to carry us through the enormous shifts many industries are set to experience,” says Barnett. 

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Despite Britain’s cancellation of the northern part of its London-based High Speed 2 (HS2), numerous high-speed rail (HSR) projects in cities around the world are moving forward. The goals of these projects include connecting new cities, modernizing existing systems, reducing severe traffic jams and addressing climate change.

A HSR train is generally defined as one that travels over 200 km/h (124 mph). Amtrak’s Acela qualifies under this definition as it reaches 150 mph (240 km/h) on part of its route between Washington, DC and Boston. Projects finished in fall 2023 include Brightline, a private rail line that connects Orlando and Miami; and WHOOSH, Indonesia’s first high-speed rail, which links Jakarta to Bandung, a tourist destination.

Work currently underway includes westward extension of the Réseau Express Régional (RER E) in France and the growth of the HSR system in China. Other projects of note include the purchase of trains for the California HSR; the construction of tunnels for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor in India; and a revamp of the HSR service along the Northeast Corridor, which stretches between Boston and Washington, D.C. Areas interested in HSR include Dallas-Fort Worth Las Vegas, which would like to connect a future line to Los Angeles.

Countries with high-speed rail projects operational (blue) and those with systems under construction (red). Image: Wikipedia.

All of the projects mean more opportunities for civil engineers and mechanical engineers who are involved with rail travel, as well as companies that supply engineering and design software for the rolling stock and infrastructure, such as Siemens and Bentley Systems. AI and digital twins help to maximize efficiency and reliability. The key to seeing projects completed is estimating a budget correctly and ensuring the national government has enough money to accommodate delays and small to midsize cost overruns.

In the United States, HSRs are moving forward because of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) award of over $1.4 billion for 70 rail improvement projects. The FRA provided the funds in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. France, Germany and Italy are also doing well in managing funding of HSR lines. France is particularly excited about its expansion because it saw record ridership in summer 2023, especially to the country’s coastal regions. This raises the question of why the UK canceled HS2 and what the shift away from HSR means for the nation.

In early October, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that HS2 would not be extended to Manchester, Britain because costs for the project rose considerably. The change has cut HS2 to half of its original length. Substantial overruns for the light rail line were a result of the need for the construction of noise barriers; long tunnels, particularly under the Chilterns; a remediation of problems caused by environmental groups; and discoveries of asbestos and archaeological remains. In addition, the British government greatly underestimated the price of buying expensive property in metropolitan areas like West London, where it needed to acquire land to construct the line. It also underestimated the number of gas and power lines it had to divert and costs for building bridges and stations. Lastly, in the early years of the project, companies contracted to perform the work carried the risk for the work. Now contractors are not required to carry the risk.

After the COVID-19 pandemic began, the British government experienced delays for HS2 that were related to the public health emergency. Over the past 2 years, inflation, global conflict and supply chain disruptions have added to HS2’s costs. Sunak said that some of the money saved by not building HS2 up to Manchester will be used to build light rail and tram systems between cities in Northern England.

The cut to HS2 reveals what California and states in the Northeast Corridor should watch for when developing their HSRs. As of fall 2023, these states are facing a different concern. The new Acela trains for the Northeast Corridor, which are manufactured by Alstom, are failing safety tests. There have been reports of glass windows spontaneously shattering and water draining between railcars. The water corrodes the parts that hook the cars together. As California considers prebids on its trains from Hyundai, Alstom and Siemens, it is seeking to avoid the delays that Amtrak is currently experiencing.

Most of the current HSR projects do not involve magnetic levitation (maglev). Maglev trains are currently present only in China, Japan and South Korea. One of the concerns for this type of technology is that the trains are so fast—around 621 mph—that project managers are worried about passenger and infrastructure safety. There may also be a high cost for maglev tracks, stations and related infrastructure.

As of fall 2023, China is working on a new maglev train in Harbin. This train will be twice as fast as the Shanghai Maglev, which has a top speed of 286 mph. The track for the Shanghai Maglev is only 19 miles in length. Other countries are likely watching China’s progress on the Harbin project. The idea may be to see how passengers deal with the impacts of rapid accelerations for longer trips.

Over the past 2 years, there has been a shuttering of efforts related to passenger rail lines that would operate within a Hyperloop, a low-pressure underground tube. In 2022, Virgin Hyperloop laid off roughly half its staff due to supply chain issues and COVID-related changes. Last year, it was also observed that SpaceX had built a parking lot where it previously had a Hyperloop test tunnel. Supporters of the Hyperloop are now focused on using rail lines in a hyperloop to carry freight. Although Elon Musk’s Hyperloop-focused business, The Boring Company, is still in operation, its most developed project is the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop system. The three-station system contains 1.7 miles of tunnel in which passengers are transported in Tesla vehicles.

In fall 2023, China launched its first cross-sea HSR. Building the three cross-sea bridges that carry the train from Fuzhou to Xiamen required overcoming numerous challenges. These included high waves, deep water, strong winds and earthquake risk. The rail line crosses an area where there is a great deal of seismic activity. Engineers also had to design the train and cross-sea bridges to withstand the corrosive marine environment.

In total, the railway has 84 bridges and 29 tunnels. The line connects five cities—Fuzhou, the capital city of China’s southeast Fujian Province; Putian; Quanzhou; Zhangzhou; and Xiamen, the last being a tourist destination and an economic hub. The line has cut the travel time between Fuzhou and Xiamen from 80 minutes to just under 60 minutes. The project cost approximately $7.4 billion. It tests the potential of China building a rail line to Taiwan. Taiwan, of course, has rejected the idea.

China hopes the operation of the line will result in more travel and business relationships between Fuzhou and Xiamen. One of the reasons that China engaged in this project is that Xiamen is experiencing more economic growth than other cities. China’s work on the Fuzhou-Xiamen HSR indicates that traditional concepts for HSR construction are viable and could be profitable for other countries. The extreme efforts it took to complete this project reveal that other countries can address significant engineering challenges with careful planning. 

Corrected October 13, 2013: Removed mentions of light rail. 

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A person and Optimus interact in a sorting task. Image: Tesla.

The video shows an Optimus that is more machine than human, with arms and legs that have exposed cables, actuators and joints, but hands and a face that are smooth. The robot uses vision and joint position encoders when enabling itself to learn tasks like sorting blocks by color.

A video states that the neural network for Optimus runs entirely onboard and uses only vision for inputs. In other words, it learns by seeing. The robot is able to handle real-time interaction with human beings. The video shows a person changing the position of several colored blocks on a table. Optimus responds by waiting until the person has taken their hands off the blocks to do its sorting, then moves smoothly and without hesitation to do its tasks.

Optimus is also able to take corrective actions when placing the blocks on a mat, as if reorienting the blocks so they all face the same direction. The video claims that Optimus can be trained to do new tasks, such as unsorting the blocks. In conclusion, we see Optimus engaged in a series of yoga poses. These involve balancing on one leg and extending its arms and legs in the same manner as a person would.

Engineers last got a glimpse of Optimus on March 1, 2023, Tesla Investor Day. At that time, Tesla released a video showing a working model of Optimus assembling another Optimus robot. The last time an audience saw Optimus live was on September 30, 2022, that year’s AI Day. Tesla holds the event annually to recruit AI and robotics engineers.

In 2022, Musk brought an older working model of Optimus onstage that was able to walk and wave by itself. This model weighed 161 pounds, had a 2.3kWh battery and used third-party actuators. Musk also brought a newer model onstage that had metal casing on its torso and limbs and Tesla-built actuators. This model could not walk but was able to wave.

The 2022 and 2023 videos show Tesla has made considerable progress since announcing the launch of Optimus on the first AI Day in August 2021. Tesla is currently hiring deep learning, computer vision, motion planning, controls, mechanical, and general software engineers to develop Optimus. In 2022, Musk said Optimus had twice the economic output of a person.

Optimus will be available for sale in 3 to 5 years according to a timeline updated earlier this month.

The AI behind Optimus is developed by Tesla’s Autopilot team, which also creates self-driving software in Tesla vehicles. Optimus can operate autonomously, but the current version of Autopilot for vehicles requires active driver supervision.

Tesla develops neural networks for Autopilot by capturing and analyzing views from Tesla vehicle cameras. It collects information from millions of vehicles in real time to share data for object detection and depth estimation. One question is how Tesla may be gathering and using information captured from assembly robots now on its factory floors. These robots include the Godzilla, a large robot that moves car bodies to the factory’s paint line, robots that weld chassis castings and stamped parts, and automated stations that install different components ranging from HVAC systems to seats.

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