The inaugural InnoEX, co-organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC, promoted Hong Kong’s strengths in innovation and tech.
In the fair’s technology foresight seminar Under 30 – Tech Trends Symposium for the Next Generation, industry experts analysed robot technology and how automation will shape the development of future technology.
Intelligent robotic arm
Mr Roy Lim, CEO of Robocore Technology, was born into a family of robot makers, which founded Tung Hing Automation, distributor of industrial robotic arms of international brands such as Mitsubishi Electric Automation for decades. As artificial intelligence (AI) development matured, he established a start-up to bring robotic arms from large factories to small and medium-sized businesses, including brewing coffee for restaurants, making pizzas and hamburgers, helping other young people start their own businesses, and bringing technology into more businesses.
“I realise the importance of robotic arms in daily life. In the past, robots could only operate in designated places but the new generation can move around. For example, users can command a robotic arm via a computer to make deliveries.”
Mr Lim later discovered that extending the robot outdoors would further improve production efficiency and save costs. “We set up a fully automatic robot for an online pizza shop in the United States.”
The robotic arms can make pizzas and deliver them to customers in vans with built-in ovens. The GPS-assisted navigation system can design the delivery route and put the dough in the oven seven minutes before arrival, to make sure customers enjoy freshly baked pizzas.
Supply chain innovation
Geek Plus International Hong Kong and Taiwan Business Development Director Billy Siu said the logistics industry has benefited from warehouse robots.
He said robotic solutions could achieve Goods-to-Person delivery. “This not only greatly reduces human labour, but also makes the logistics process safer and more accurate, increasing logistics efficiency by two to three times. We can also make good use of smart technology for inventory.”
ChatGPT learning fast
Mr Bruce Huang, Vice President of R&D at Cloudminds Technology, said the latest version of ChatGPT can correct its own mistakes. “If ChatGPT is a three-year-old child, ChatGPT 4 is a seven- to 10-year-old child. The system can also learn from its own mistakes, and ChatGPT already has at least 10 functions, such as answering questions, providing advice, and performing calculations.”
Omnipotent AI
Ms Maria Tang, Corporate Vice President of AMD, pointed out that AI and automation technologies are integrating into industries around the world, such as electric vehicles, smart city and mobile communications. “AI development is still at an initial stage now. It will be everywhere in the future.”
Ms Tang said no single processor could handle all AI projects, and different solutions are required to cut electricity use.
Hyper-automation
Dr T John Koo, Director of Cyber-Physical Systems of Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, said innovation and technology ushered in four major development trends in the world, including smart world, productivity revolution, personal data collection and privacy, and new business and monetization opportunities created by emerging key technologies.
“The definition of 'hyper-automation' refers to a business-driven and regulated approach to organise and use automation to quickly identify and review the processes of various businesses, which involves much advanced technologies, tools and platforms for coordination. For example, the logistics industry and the banking industry all rely on information technology.”
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