CIIE site visit offers glimpse into Jiading's automobile industry
The 7th China International Import Expo's Media Center has launched an off-site visit event, which allowed journalists to explore the highlights of various districts in Shanghai and experience regional development.
A group of domestic and overseas journalists gained firsthand insight into the achievements in Jiading District's automobile industry while touring select intelligent manufacturing innovation landmarks across the district on Wednesday.
The destinations include the first Volkswagen Group plant specifically designed and built to produce full electric MEB vehicles; and the Metabaylism Industrial Park, a comprehensive industrial complex focused on the entire automotive metaverse industry chain.
Volkswagen plant the forefront of intelligent manufacturing for new-energy vehicles
Awarded the "2021 benchmark intelligent plant in China's automobile industry," the SAIC Volkswagen MEB plant features comprehensive environmental protection, high-level automation and intelligent network connection. It is also the first Volkswagen Group factory worldwide to achieve full industrial wireless network coverage. Journalists toured the plant's showroom while listening to an introduction by factory manager Xu Zhiqin.
Intelligent Manufacturing is at the heart of new-energy vehicle production in the plant, which combines an advanced digital production concept, a new production network architecture and full use of intelligent manufacturing technologies.
More than 1400 industrial robots and a number of intelligent management systems serve to improve the automation rate of each workshop. Xu said the robots have set a solid foundation for intelligent manufacturing of new energy vehicles.
"For example, the eight Atlas measurement robots, with their high precision, can detect deviations of 0.1mm in the car body, and complete a full vehicle measurement within 7 minutes," he added.
The plant's new energy vehicle sales exceeded 110,000 units in the first 10 months of this year while October saw a record high of over 14,000 units sold, according to Xu. Meanwhile, total sales since listing three years ago have surpassed 300,000 units.
Industrial park at forefront of metaverse applications
The metaverse has opened up new possibilities for the automotive industry, and the Metabaylism Industrial Park is at the forefront of exploring the application of metaverse technology in this field.
The park has presented an automotive metaverse ecosystem through the integrated application of advanced technologies such as 5G base station construction, new energy vehicle charging piles, big data centers, AI, and industrial Internet.
Apart from the automotive industry, the industrial park is also a major player in empowering the film industry with metaverse technology, fostering the growth of digital studios.
The park's flagship metaverse virtual studio features VR, AR, and green screen technology, allowing filmmakers to make films in a hyper-realistic virtual environment.
On entering the studio, visitors are instantly immersed in a wonderland of Beijing in winter thanks to a 40-meter-long massive LED screen displaying the iconic red walls of the Forbidden City blanketed in snow. Operators can adjust various settings on the monitor, changing the weather and time, and transporting visitors to diverse locations, like a desert oasis, in seconds.
Chu Da, CEO of Versetech, an innovative high-tech company and the producer of the virtual studio, said that the metaverse-powered virtual studio, built on Unreal Engine, creates immersive, real-time filming by linking real-world and virtual cameras.
He said virtual production studios are driving the development of the global film industry, and virtual production is becoming increasingly popular in China.
"Many Netflix's TV series such as 'The Mandalorian,' have made extensive use of virtual production technology. Many domestic comics and some sci-fi scenes in the currently filming sequels to 'The Wandering Earth,' parts 2 and 3, have also employed virtual production," Chu said.