Spain is building the world

[Tietar]

These Robot Babies Are So Realistic, We're Struggling To Work Out What Is Real

With advances across the robotics industry, the last year has seen innovative machines that can weed your garden, park your car, perform brain surgery, and even pretend to be your girlfriend.

But now we’ve got a nominee for the most realistic robot to date - a newborn baby.



Spanish company Babyclon revealed their new animatronic baby at a trade show in Bilbao at the weekend, and are already sending ripples through the industry because of their astoundingly realistic look.

The (somewhat eerie) babies are the first of their kind in the world, catering to groups of collectors who highly value the dolls realistic looks and their ability to do baby-like things such as breath and suck a dummy.

They are also able to feed and then go to the toilet at regular intervals.

Made from platinum medical silicone, a flexible and elastic material, highly resilient for long-term ownership. And because the silicone contains very little oil, it will last much longer than competitors, according to the brand.





http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entr...b0e84514ee55ad

https://www.facebook.com/babyclon/vi...7807725807614/

[Tietar]

Latest results: Commission to invest € 100 million to help 69 small businesses bring their innovation on the market

69 small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) from 21 countries have been selected for funding in the latest round of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2. The total amount to be distributed between the SMEs working on 64 projects is €99.963 million. In this phase of the SME instrument, each project will receive up to €2.5 million (€5 million for health projects) to finance innovation activities.

Spanish SMEs were the most successful with 15 companies selected for funding. They were followed by 10 companies from Italy and 5 projects from Sweden and Denmark. Most projects are in the field of ICT (12 projects) and transport (10 projects) followed by 9 projects in the field of health.



The European Commission received 1 222 project proposals by 6 April 2017, the second cut-off date for Phase 2 in 2017. Since the launch of the programme on 1st January 2014, 710 SMEs have been selected for funding under Phase 2.

Funding under Phase 2 of the instrument allows companies to invest in innovation activities such as demonstration, testing, piloting, scaling up and miniaturisation, in addition to developing a mature business plan for their product. The companies will also benefit from 12 days of business coaching. Most projects are proposed by a single SME but some companies team-up to elaborate a project.

The next cut-off for Phase 2 is on 18/10/2017.

https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/news/l...eir-innovation




Spain and italy the first , where is the Germanic ingenuity?

[Tietar]

Train in Saudi Arabian desert reaches record 330 km/hr

The high-speed Spanish Talgo train commissioned by the Saudi Arabian government to connect Mecca with Medina has reached a record speed of 330 km/hr in initial testing.



The most ambitious train project in the world is being completed by the public-private Spanish consortium Al Shoula Group with an investment of 6.6 billion euros from the Saudi Arabian government.

The Talgo 350 Haramain train, which has been outfitted with 30 technological additions in order to handle the extremes of temperature and sand in the desert, reached record speed on the 275 km stretch between Medina and Kaec.

The speed of 330 km is 30 km higher than what was set forth for commercial use, according to the Al Shoula Group.



Currently 70% of the 450 km line that will connect Medina with Mecca is already complete.

By the end of July, the train is expected to arrive in the city of Jeddah on the shores of the Red Sea.

The line will be inaugurated by the end of the year, three months earlier than planned, and will open to the public in March 2018, sources said.(ANSAmed).

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/n...html?idPhoto=1

[Lessenech]

My father has done business with Sacyr, the first consortium you listed. Not people you would like to be proud of, while they are mostly punctual in paying their providers, the final results of their works are always overbudgeted in my experience.

http://www.publico.es/politica/senor...s-grandes.html

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias...rticulo-467324

[Tietar]

My father has done business with Sacyr, the first consortium you listed. Not people you would like to be proud of, while they are mostly punctual in paying their providers, the final results of their works are always overbudgeted in my experience.

Multinational companies hide a lot of shit, and Spanish companies is no exception.

Https://www.theguardian.com/business...sions-cheating

Http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bu...-a7809886.html

Https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-scandal-grows

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-mcd...candals-2015-4

In Spain the construction companies are hated, they are guilty of all the evils due to the real estate bubble, for the extreme left the 35 largest companies in the stock index are the great enemy.

[Jehan]

Train in Saudi Arabian desert reaches record 330 km/hr

Things didn't go well for this project. Huge problem with wind and sand.

[Tietar]

Things didn't go well for this project. Huge problem with wind and sand.

the sand always invades, the only solution is to create barriers and remove it, the engineers are working on different solutions. A high speed train in the desert has never been made.

The sand has been leading for several months to the technicians of the consortium led by Renfe, Adif, Ineco, Copasa, OHL, Talgo and Cobra (ACS) and more specifically desert storms that carry hundreds of tons of sand bury the rails and leave Unused the layout.

Spanish companies have studied different formulas to find the final solution: building some sections on an elevated platform, combining walls of one and a half meters high with excavated trenches, to protect the layout and placement of vegetal barriers at the margins of the roads to Retain large masses of sand. But it seems that the problem has almost been solved with the use of wind turbines, similar to windmills that are clearing the sand of the track.

The High Speed ​​line was due to enter into service on 1 January 2017. In the face of difficulties, the Riyadh government agreed to extend the period in 14 months, until the first half of 2018.

Although another problem has arisen because sandstorms render catenaries unusable, the power lines are raised on poles throughout the route that supplies electricity to the AVE trains. This time, the technicians of the consortium Al Shoula can not find a formula to protect such a vulnerable structure in the 450 kilometers of route. And so in May the Saudi government blocked all payments, pending the resolution of the technical problem.

http://www.pressdigital.es/texto-dia...eros-espanoles

[Melki]

the sand always invades, the only solution is to create barriers and remove it, the engineers are working on different solutions. A high speed train in the desert has never been made.

Just face it, You can't match Alstom.

[Cristiano viejo]

ACS will construct a skytrain and without a driver at the airport of Los Angeles by 1.570 millions of euros



The consortium led by ACS and its subsidiary Hochtief has been selected as recommended for the award of a railway project of public-private partnership for modernization on a large scale in Los Angeles International Airport, with a value of construction of 1,570 million euros. The railway project in partnership includes the design, financing, construction and operation for 25 years of a transportation system automated of passengers by train, located 15 to 20 meters of height.

According to the release, the route of approximately 3.6 kilometers long, on which even until nine trains will travel at the same time, "will improve in the future the passengers access to the terminals of the second largest airport in the United States".

Commercial closure and financial closure are planned for April 2018 and June 2018, respectively, and it is expected that the construction is completed at the beginning of 2023.

According ACS, this is one of the projects of infrastructures in concession that its teams have identified for the period 2018-2021 in its key markets (U.S., Australia, Canada and Europe), and highlights, in its opinion, its "privileged position" to take advantage of the growth of investment in roads, railways and equipment public, using the public-private partnership model.

The ACS group participates in different projects of railway around the world, including the new high-speed train between Los Angeles and San Francisco (USA) for $1,200 billion (966 million euros).

The construction group also highlighted its extensive experience at airports, including the award the last year of the project for the expansion of the Denver International Airport through the companies Flatiron and Turner (of the Hochtief group), by value of 563 million euros.

http://www.abc.es/economia/abci-cons...1_noticia.html

[Berlko2]

No wonder why Spain is one of the leading countries on infrastructure quality. I think it has the 2nd largest high-speed rail network (after China). I've been to Spain several times and even the tiniest town was connected through highways or good quality roads.

What I noticed is that Spaniards tend to complain all the time, even claiming that they are not a first world country, but my impression of Spain (mainly Catalonia, Madrid and the Basque Country) is that the country is highly developed.