Author: Techtime

Elbit Systems Presents Autonomous Mortar System

Posted on by Techtime

Elbit Systems will present its latest version of the Spear mortar system, Spear MK2, at the International Land Warfare and Logistics Conference in Latrun, Israel (May 16-18). The Spear MK2 is a 120 mm fully autonomous modular mortar system. The upgraded system provides situational awareness, wider area coverage, quick deployment and has autonomous or manual activation requiring only two-three crew members. The mortar system is deployed and operational within only sixty seconds, equipped with a command and control system providing battlefield management and situational awareness capabilities, fire missions’ prioritization and monitoring of personnel assignments.

Attack Result forecast

SPEAR MK2 is a fully autonomous, vehicle-mounted 120mm soft recoil mortar system for high-mobility platforms. It and is being used extensively by the US Army, NATO and the Israel Defense Force. It consists of a Control and Command system, enabling the mortar system to be operated autonomously and aimed without the need for external reference points. The company said it can be integrated with a variety of battle management systems (BMS) and includes technical fire management, scheduled fire plans, a prioritization target process and an attack result forecast.

Smart operation

The system also manages ammunition, personnel, assignments and serial number equipment reports.Targeting information is relayed to the fire control system (FCS) which computes the ballistic data and orders the electric drive system (EDS) to position the mortar barrel to the exact azimuth and elevation. The mortar fire control system (MFCS) receives feedback from the north finding system (NFS) and inclination gauge units (IGU). The the system also  generates a comprehensive tactical picture that includes both friendly and enemy forces along with additional battlefield elements, enabling accurate threat analysis and an attack result forecast.

SolarEdge terminated the agreement with flex Hungary

Posted on by Techtime

SolarEdge Technologies has decided to halt the production line of its Solar Inverters in flex Hungary, and transfer the line to another manufacturing services provider. Techtime has learned that the change will affect a special designed robotic production line operated by flex. SolarEdge is trying to further automate its production lines in order to achieve better yield and lower costs. The company develops the production process and utilizes tailored made production tools built for its specific needs. flex operates this kind of line in its production plant in Hungary.

Inverter for Solar Module

Lior Handelsman, Co-founder and VP of Marketing & Product Strategy in SolarEdge Technologies, told Techtime that SolarEdge will move its equipment from flex plant to another manufacturing services provider in Central Europe. This change will not affect its relationships with Jabil, that operates production lines for SolarEdge in Europe and China.

In a SEC filing from May 10, the company refers to the production agreement change: “We depend on two contract manufacturers. We have recently entered into an agreement with an additioinal  contract manufacturer and are in the process of ramping up manufacturing with the new manufacturer. During this ramp up period we will mainly rely on one contract manufacturer”, means Jabil.

Maximizing power generation

SolarEdge Technologies provides an intelligent inverter solution designed to maximize power generation at the individual photovoltaic (“PV”) module level while lowering the cost of energy produced by the solar PV system. The Company’s products consist mainly of power optimizers to maximize energy throughput from each solar panel and module, inverters which invert direct current (DC) from the PV module to alternating current (AC) and a cloud-based monitoring platform to monitor and manage the solar PV systems.

Better than expected quarterly results

SolarEdge’s revenues for the first quarter of 2017 totalled $115.1 million, and net income was $14.2 million. During the quarter it shipped approximately 455 Megawatts (AC) of inverters to customers. “In a quarter where the PV market is exhibiting decline in the United States, we have increased our revenues, profitability and cash flow,” said Guy Sella, Founder, Chairman and CEO of SolarEdge. “Much of this is attributed to increased sales in Europe and our growing worldwide geographic spread.” Following the report, SolarEdge price in NASDAQ jumped from about $15.8 to about $17.8, and it market value reached to approximately $727 million.

SolarEdge’s Robotic prodution line:

Check-Cap and GE Healthcare produced X-Ray source for ingestible capsule

Posted on by Techtime

Miniature X-ray source –  small enough to work from inside an ingestible capsule, and strong enough to detect cancer – that was the challenge Check-Cap Ltd. and  GE Healthcare had to overcome. This week they announced it was done. The healthcare giant and the Israeli small clinical-stage company reported they have successfully achieved the initial milestone in their collaboration to develop high-volume, X-ray capsule manufacturing capabilities. Specifically, X-ray sources produced at GE Healthcare using a customized manufacturing method passed all  tests required to ensure compliance with the revolutionary C-Scan monitoring system.

Bill Densel, CEO of Check-Cap, estimated that this milestone opens the way to provide capsules for future U.S. clinical trials and commercialization. Check-Cap develops the first capsule-based system for preparation-free colorectal cancer screening, called C-Scan®. Utilizing ultra-low dose X-ray and wireless communication technologies, the capsule generates information on the contours of the inside of the colon as it passes naturally.  This information is used to create a 3D map of the colon, which allows physicians to look for polyps and other abnormalities.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., with an estimated 135,000 diagnoses and 50,000 deaths in 2017 (see: statistics).  Despite compelling evidence that screening can detect colorectal cancer and precancerous polyps, nearly one-third of the recommended adult population has never been screened. The C-Scan® system is designed to improve the patient experience with screening  by eliminating many unattractive requirements, such as bowel preparation, fasting, and sedation.

This imaging technology also has the advantage of using ultra-low dose radiation due to the fact that the imaging target objects are within very close proximity to the capsule, hence a very low x-ray flux is required to obtain sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and good image quality.

In August 4, 2016 Check-Cap and  GE Healthcare had entered into an agreement to develop and validate high-volume manufacturing for X-ray source production and assembly into Check-Cap’s capsule. Upon successful completion, the parties may discuss collaboration on execution of a high-volume manufacturing facility and distribution of the Check-Cap system. Emmanuel Ligner, General Manager of Core Imaging for GE Healthcare Life Sciences, SAID: “GE Healthcare will continue its collaboration with Check-Cap using our expertise in radio-pharmaceutical and device manufacturing to bring the C-Scan system to clinicians and patients.”

SSG builds a revolutionay 200 Nano-satellites constellation

Sky and Space Global nano-satellites
Posted on by Techtime

A small startup company registered in Britain is planing to revolutionize world’s Space Communication Services by using a huge constellation of ultra small and cheap nano-satellites. Sky and Space Global is the first company to utilize nano-satellites to build a proprietary communications network.

The Company is planning to launch a constellation of 200 nano-satellites by 2020, providing full coverage of the equatorial areas of South America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. It will allow telecom operators and connectivity service providers to deliver affordable narrow-band services to remote locations.

This month the company begin the first phase of the constellation building: Last week it raised A$10 million in the Australian stock market ASX, and in the coming weeks it will launch the first 3 nano-satellites (called “Diamond” nano-satellites) on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). These will be CubeSat type 3U satellites (10 x 10 x 30 cm), and will be followed later by bigger nano-satellites.

The first three nano satellites during the integration phase
The “Three Diamonds” during the integration stage at Gomspace

According to Frost & Sullivan ” Sky and Space Global is the first company to utilize nano-satellites in a constellation format to deliver affordable, reliable, narrow-band services to users in remote locations across the equator.

“Its network of 150-200 nano-satellites will enable a varied set of service providers to deliver narrow-band [S-band] connectivity to voice and data consumers. It will be the first small-satellite operator to deploy nano-satellites to offer augmented and elementary connectivity services.”

New Paradigm in Space Services

The company was founded by three veterans from Israeli Space Industry: The CEO Meir Moalem is a former jet fighter pilot of the IAF, and served as the head of Space Systems Branch in the Israeli Air Force. The CTO Meidad Pariente was the Deputy Mission Manager of AMOS-2 satellite, Chief systems engineer of AMOS-3 and special engineering advisor for AMOS-5, launched in 2011.

Pariente was also the chief systems engineer and led a team of Israeli engineers and scientists designing the VENUS project, an Israeli-French hyperspectral satellite. The COO Maya Glickman is a satellite mission analyst, orbit designer, and satellite operating expert. She was a Senior Satellite Engineer of communications satellites with Israel Aerospace Industries and part of the AMOS-3 development team.

SSG's founders photo: Maya Glickman, Meidad Pariente and Meir Moalem
From left to right: Maya Glickman, Meidad Pariente and Meir Moalem

The nano-satellites of Sky and Space Global are built by Gomspace from Denmark, while the company deals mainly with the innovative Autonomous Management system. The company has already secured a commercial agreement for the first phase of the “three diamonds”, and had signed a launch contract with Virgin Galactic for the rest of its constellation, planned to be completed by 2020.

CEVA up 9.4% following Q1 revenues of $21.3 million

Posted on by Techtime

CEVA’s first quarter 2017 financial results reached a new record: Total revenues were $21.3 million, a 29% increase compared to the first quarter of 2016 ($16.5 million). First quarter 2017 licensing and related revenue was a record $9.5 million, an increase of 10% when compared to $8.6 million reported for the same quarter a year ago. Royalty revenue for the first quarter of 2017 was $11.8 million, an increase of 50% compared to 2016.

Gideon Wertheizer, Chief Executive Officer of CEVA, said: “It was our strongest licensing quarter in the company’s history, and it helped to deliver a fifth record revenue quarter in succession. We continue to experience strong demand for our portfolio of specialized platforms, including 5G, computer vision, deep neural networks and connectivity.”

During the quarter, CEVA’s customers shipped 352 million CEVA-powered chips. The company also completed 11 license agreements.: 8 agreements for CEVA DSP cores, platforms and software and 3 for CEVA connectivity IPs. Four were with first-time customers of CEVA. Target applications for customer deployment include: 5G base stations, automotive ADAS, smart surveillance cameras, smartphones, smart home appliances, and Bluetooth 4.2 and 5 connectivity for various IoT devices.

CEVA is a licensor of signal processing IP of DSP-based platforms for vision, audio, communications, LTE/LTE-A/5G baseband processing in handsets, infrastructure and machine-to-machine devices. Following the report, CEVA’s stock price in NASDAQ jumped 9.4% to 39.6 USD, which gave the company a Market Cap of $852.3 million.

Leadership Change in Siklu: Eyal Assa was appointed CEO

Posted on by Techtime

Siklu FROM Petach Tikva, Israel, has announced today the appointment of Eyal Assa as new CEO of the company. Assa replaced Itzik Ben-Bassat who have ran the company for the last seven years. Assa is a veteran executive with over 20 years of leadership experience in the telecommunications industry. Most recently held the positions of VP Customer Business Executive and VP Global Sales at Amdocs.

Prior to that he held leadership positions at Ceragon, including EVP & General Manager of their Long Haul business unit, COO Sales and VP OEM and Business Development. Prior to Ceragon, Mr. Assa served as VP R&D of Seabridge. “Eyal understands what drives success in the telecom industry, and I’m confident that with his leadership we’ll play a significant part in the 5G fixed wireless ecosystem,” said Izik Kirshenbaum, Siklu’s Co-Founder and Chairman.

Siklu delivers multi-gigabit fiber-like wireless connectivity in urban, suburban and rural areas. Operating in the millimeter wave bands, its wireless solutions are used by leading service providers, safe city and smart city projects worldwide. Unlike traditional wireless networks that use wide beams that can be easily intercepted, Siklu radios leverage narrow beams in the 60-80 GHz millimeter wave spectrum to transmit information across security networks, providing interference free and secured communication infrastructure, best used for mission critical deployments.

Beamforming for 5G Speeds

Siklu is a strong participant in the fast growing 5G fixed wireless access market, which will rely to a great extent on the millimeter wave spectrum. 5G fixed wireless access is a major telecommunications infrastructure upgrade and the first step on the way to ubiquitous 5G speeds. Assa’s extensive experience heading growth in the telecommunications market makes him uniquely qualified to lead Siklu in the growing market for millimeter wave solutions.

In March 30, Siklu unveiled its revolutionary MultiHaul™, a point-to-multi point millimeter wave wireless solution for the physical security market. The new solution allows mass delivery of 5G fixed wireless access to the home.  The system takes advantage of Siklu’s beamforming technology to auto-align links, creating a true plug & play system.

Weak quarter for Orbotech: 5.8% drop in profit

Posted on by Techtime

Orbotech from Yavne, Israel, reported today revenues of $187.6 million in the fist quarter of 2017. It is about a $3 million down compared to $190.4 million in the first quarter of 2017, and far more than the $215.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. GAAP net income in the first quarter of 2017 was $14.9 million, down 5.8% fron the $15.8 million in the first quarter of 2016. For the second quarter of the year Orbotech forecast revenues in the range of $200-$210 million – better than $196 million in q2 2016.

2017 should pose growth

Asher Levy, Chief Executive Officer of Orbotech, said the results for the first quarter of 2017 reflect a solid start to the year, “and are marked by particularly strong execution in our PCB division.   We anticipate that our 2017 results will be more backend loaded than previous years, and we expect to post revenue growth and ongoing profitability improvement during the year.” He mentioned growth opportunities in advanced smartphones, automotive applications and flex OLED screens.

In the Company’s Production Solutions for Electronics Industry segment: Revenues from semiconductor device business were $52.5 million, compares to $72.5 million in the first quarter of 2016. Revenues from the Printed Circuit Board business were $77.5 million, compares to $68.0 million last year. Revenues from the Flat Panel Display business were $53.4 million, compares to $44.7 million in the first quarter of 2016. The Company had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $222.3 million, and debt of $88.5 million. During the first quarter of 2017, the Company utilized cash from operations of $9.2 million.

Orbotech grows with china

Asher Levy noted one more growth engine: “Plans for additional panel fabrication capacity by Chinese FPD manufacturers.” According to a new report made by ResearchInChina, the Chinese automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment market reached $1.28 billion in 2016, an 18.4% rise over the previous year and 20.1% of global AOI market, and is expected to present a CAGR of 9.6% during 2016-2021. Chinese AOI equipment market remains dominated by foreign players represented mainly by Orbotech (Israel), Screen (Japan), and Koh Young Technology (South Korea)