Although Vietnam still does not have a real robot industry, at present, several domestic enterprises have successfully implemented a number of robot products that are well received by the market. Barriers from weak technical infrastructure, underdeveloped supporting industries, small market… do not prevent some young people from pursuing this field for a long time.

The market is expanding

After more than a year of working for a famous American robot company with an office in Vietnam, Truong Trong Toai – a bachelor of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Ho Chi Minh applied for a master’s scholarship in Korea to improve his qualifications and returned to Vietnam to establish a robot manufacturing company called Robotics 3T. Operating since 2014, Trong Toai’s company develops cost-effective industrial robots and systems, is innovative in configurations and technological solutions, and quickly responds to production automation needs. . After nearly three years of operation, many businesses have actively sought out Robotics 3T to provide solutions to solve problems and are ready to advance money for the research team. Currently, the company targets the small and medium-sized business customer segment, which is limited in the ability to invest in technology lines of big brands due to its high costs.

Table tennis robot, product of Vietnamese enterprises

Not long ago, the robot kit line developed by Vietnam Robot Co., Ltd (VNRobotics) was accepted by the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City. This product well meets the needs of learning, research and entertainment for young people (high school students, students and young researchers) thanks to its openness, allowing users to assemble and develop testing. tested various applications such as racing cars, self-propelled obstacle avoidance vehicles, remote control cars, soccer robots, etc. and was evaluated as having high application potential and competitiveness thanks to the mastery of technology. , low cost compared to imported products. According to calculations, the product costs about 30-80 USD depending on the configuration from simple to complex (foreign products cost from 60-150 USD). When mass production, the cost of the product will decrease.

VNRobotics was established in 2012 from the investment of companies and individuals who have been operating in the electronics – automation industry for a long time (including AKB Machinery Company, Logicom VN Company, and others. ), is currently an enterprise at the High-Tech Business Incubator (Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park). Targeting the automation market, VNRobotics focuses on key products including industrial robotic arms, teaching model robots, self-propelled robots, toy and assembly robots, and equipment. other automation. VNRobotics products are designed entirely in Vietnam with a localization rate of more than 90%.

Commenting on the market and development direction, a representative of VNRobotics said, currently, the demand for development kits for electronic self-learning – automation or as smart toys is increasing. However, products from foreign distributors have high prices, intelligence and complexity are not attractive, mainly for ages 10 and under. From that fact, VNRobotics will provide products with competitive prices (about 3 million VND/set) and more applicability for people aged 10-25, serving the needs of playing and finding understand electronics – automatic.

The most famous in the field of toy robot manufacturing is Tosy Company of Ho Vinh Hoang – captain of the Robocon team of Hanoi University of Science and Technology in 2003. Tosy’s products have entered the international market mainly. through toy distributors and major retail chains. In the US, Tosy has entered retail chains such as ToysUs, Walmart. Tosy also took advantage of the online sales channel quite early through Amazon and its own sales website. By 2013, Tosy had exported to 65 countries worldwide. Revenue from Tosy’s export markets accounts for about 70%.

Success comes from passion for manufacturing and understanding the market

According to a Tosy representative, to be accepted by the international market, a product must meet two important criteria: safety and originality. To meet the first criterion, Tosy has invested a large amount of money in testing products to get safety certificates. Besides the above two criteria, each country has its own characteristics. One memorable experience of Tosy was with the Brazilian market in 2011. Six months after launching the business, sales here were much slower than in other markets. After researching, Tosy discovered that the weakness was not in the product but in the packaging. Brazilians like the packaging to be yellow and blue as their national flag colors. Right after that, Tosy redesigned a new packaging model specifically for the Brazilian market according to the tastes of consumers here. As a result, sales grew rapidly. Or at home, parents often want children to learn through toys, so products for the Vietnamese market are created with a new feature: teaching English. Invest heavily in marketing, get access to

However, in order to compete with brands from countries with famous robot manufacturing technology in the world, Tosy needs another key that is more effective, which is cheap price. . According to a representative of Tosy, the average cost of a Tosy product is only 1/6 of the cost of equivalent products originating from Japan.

According to Truong Trong Toai, the domestic industrial robot manufacturing field is very potential. More and more businesses require products with high productivity to replace people. “The peculiarity of the robotics segment is that it integrates knowledge in many fields such as mechanical design, control circuits, algorithms and control software, so I spent three years just building a solid foundation in technology. Although this takes a lot of time and effort, but in the process of waiting for the complete production of the robot, it can be partially commercialized for short-term farming,” commented Trong Toai. Currently, Robotics 3T is still in the research stage, but there are about 20 high-quality technology products such as data acquisition cards, multi-axis control machines, plasma cutter height controllers, etc., which are widely distributed. domestic and exported to dozens of other countries. The director of Robotics 3T said that the company’s revenue this year is expected to reach about VND 6 billion and profit may account for half of that. All profits will be reinvested to serve research and development activities.

Source: Technologymag