China is the largest robotics market in the world right now after selling 87,000 units in 2016, according to the International Federation of Robotics. And as a result, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology expects China will need 200,000 skilled workers by 2020 to operate the growing number of robots.
To help meet this workforce need, Chinese robot manufacturer HIT Robot Group this month released a robotics tutorial application called Haidu Academy where individuals can gain industrial robot operating skills.
“We offer an educational platform for people to find value and improve their skills,” vice president Zhang Mingwe said in a press release. “We also want to create a place where our industrial robot peers will be able to promote their brands and products.”
The new application, which trains operators on a variety of robot brands, is the latest in the company’s efforts to provide education in industrial robots; through its educational system, HRG provides self-study tutorials, learning systems and physical training schools in several cities.
In addition, HRG is striving to develop the industrial robot operational workforce through partnerships with other companies and academic institutions, running robotics competitions and developing new educational approaches to learning industrial robots like training programs and educational resources.
For example, HRG worked with ABB in 2016 to hold an industrial robot stimulation competition for college students and with Fanuc this year to host a one-week training and competition program for robotics professionals.
“We will continue to explore new business development opportunities with our partners who have interest to invest in the Chinese market,” Zhang said.
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