In a gleaming Singapore factory, robot arms zip across an assembly line, orchestrating the sort of choreographed ballet only possible with millisecond timing. Yet, as they race to mount microchips onto circuit boards, the faintest vibration threatens to knock each part out of alignment - forcing a slower pace, or worse, a costly halt. This relentless push for faster, smarter production sets the stage for a defining challenge in automation.
In an era defined by smart factories and rapid technological change, manufacturers across the globe face mounting pressure to produce more – with greater accuracy and at faster speeds than ever before. Yet, achieving both speed and precision in automation remains elusive, with most advancements demanding trade-offs between these essential qualities.
This core tension, known as the speed-precision dilemma, stands at the centre of Southeast Asia’s manufacturing transformation and underpins Singapore’s strategic pursuit of Industry 4.0.
Major initiatives such as Singapore’s Smart Nation programme and Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) have made semiconductor manufacturing high-precision activities central to both economic strategy and job creation. With this sector a key strategic growth cluster for the nation, maintaining global competitiveness depends on the ability to integrate smart automation without sacrificing accuracy or throughput.
But manufacturers here face high-value requirements and significant space constraints. Even a micron’s deviation in assembly can result in costly rework, whether producing medical devices or micro-electronics. On top of precision and space limitations, Singapore’s manufacturers contend with tight labour markets, rising energy costs, and the constant threat of regional competitors climbing up the value chain. Talent gaps, particularly in advanced robotics and AI. mean that retraining and upskilling workforces is as vital as investing in new technology. These pressures force firms to innovate continually and trialling new solutions.
Singapore epitomises the speed-precision dilemma: despite robust government support for Industry 4.0, manufacturers still contend with the fundamental trade‑off between faster cycle times and microscopic precision. Understanding the roots of this challenge reveals why solving it has become so critical to the next phase of industrial competitiveness.
Understanding the persistent speed-precision dilemma
To pursue productivity gains, manufacturers increase robot speed and acceleration. Yet with speed comes vibration – in the robot arms and support bases. This residual vibration can erase much of the cycle time gains, as processes must pause and wait for errors to settle. Further, sensor and camera vibration can also increase the possibility of errors in detected data, leading to poor product quality. In Singapore’s high-tech sectors, such as wafer bonding, excess vibration leads to costly misalignment and yield loss, making this more than a theoretical challenge.
Adding to the problem is the fact that traditional fixes like adjusting inertia or adding mass tend to slow acceleration and add complexity. Even with extra equipment, the fundamental trade-off persists: speed limits accuracy, and affordable solutions often struggle to deliver both. Singapore’s high costs for land and labour increase the urgency for compact, efficient factories – but incremental tweaks alone no longer meet rising Industry 4.0 expectations.
See also: Why worry about automation?
A quartz-driven breakthrough in sensing
Quartz crystals, long revered for their role in precision watchmaking, are now enabling a new era of accuracy in robotics. Through advances in manufacturing, engineers have harnessed quartz’s unique properties to push the boundaries of control and motion in automation.
Incidentally, Epson developed the world’s first analogue quartz watch. The precision that quartz brings to watches and clocks is well-known, but the frequency precision of quartz is not widely used. Epson saw a key use for it: combining a quartz crystal with our proprietary micro-electromechanical system processing technology to develop our own gyro sensor. Unlike conventional sensors, which are often too bulky for delicate robotic arms, Epson’s innovation is approximately one hundredth the size, allowing it to be placed right at the tip of the robot arm without adding significant mass or inertia.
What sets these sensors apart is their ability to provide real-time feedback, using noise-cancelling principles to counteract unwanted vibration during rapid movement. This means robots are now able to deliver micron-level precision at high speeds, reducing cycle times and elevating product quality beyond what traditional methods can achieve.
Because these sensors measure angular velocity exactly at the arm tip rather than inferring from motor activity, controllers can make more accurate adjustments, even as payloads or speeds vary. This breakthrough empowers manufacturers to adopt smaller, more agile robots capable of handling heavier tasks with less complexity – an especially important advantage for SMEs in Singapore, where space and capital efficiency are at a premium.
This focus aligns squarely with Singapore’s Manufacturing 2030 vision, which aims to boost sector output by 50 percent within the decade, as well as the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI), which supports the widespread adoption and effective integration of such advanced technologies.
A compelling local example of deploying Epson’s ultra-compact gyro sensors, comes from Pocket Technology, an electronics-sector packing solutions provider. The company introduced compact SCARA robots equipped with vibration-cancelling tech in Singapore’s tight, city-based factory space. This approach required no major reconfiguration in their industrial space and offered productivity gains to SMEs without substantial capital investment.
Such cases highlight how innovations in vibration sensing are democratising high-quality automation, extending the benefits of robotic precision and agility beyond large-scale manufacturers to the wider ecosystem of smaller players powering Asia’s industrial growth.
Towards human-like dexterity
Quartz-based technology is opening new frontiers in robotics. The piezoelectric force sensors, already present in select SCARA and 6-axis models, now allow robots to detect and finely adjust assembly forces, which are critical for tasks like aligning gears, tightening microscopic screws or inserting parts into minuscule gaps.
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Combined with sophisticated control algorithms, these sensors enable robots to perform composite tasks – contacting, profiling, pressing and matching surfaces – with near-human adaptability. This not only elevates the standard for precision work but also extends automation into areas previously too complex or delicate for machines.
Precision as an enabler for progress
As Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia region accelerate manufacturing modernisation, the need for automation that is both agile and precise will only grow. Quartz-based sensing exemplifies the convergence of mechatronics and materials science, providing a practical path towards robots that operate faster, make smarter decisions, and truly bridge the gap between speed and precision.
This evolution allows industries to do more with less: less space, less waste, and far less compromise between performance and productivity.
Vivekanand Patil is the senior regional manager of Robotics at Epson Southeast Asia
