The 2018 MMA General Meeting was held on June 8 (Fri), 2018 at the Akihabara UDX Conference, Tokyo.

This year marks the 15-year milestone of MECHATROLINK since MECHATROLINK was released to the public in 2003. The 2018 MMA General Meeting started with an opening speech by the Chairman of MMA, Akira Kumagae, General Manager of the Motion Control Div. and Managing Executive Officer of Yaskawa Electric Corporation. He first expressed his appreciation for the support and cooperation of the MMA members, and then talked about recent network market trends and the MMA's approach to Industrie4.0.

After the Chairman's speech, Hironobu Shimohata, the new General Secretary, made a brief speech and delivered a report on activities in FY2017 and plans for FY2018. This was followed by the financial report and proposed budget by the secretariat. After these reports, the marketing sub-committee and PC tech sub-committee gave reports on their group activities and plans.

After the general meeting, the MMA introduced the main features of MECHATROLINK-4 and Σ-LINK II that were newly released last October. The demo unit that was first exhibited at the SCF2017 was displayed for participants to better understand the concept.

Texas Instruments Japan Limited introduced its product, MECHATROLINK-III compliant general-purpose processor, Sitara™. HIWIN MIKROSYSTEM CORP, a Taiwanese manufacturer, introduced its company profile and products along with demo displays.

Two key note speeches were delivered this year. Tadashi Kambayashi, General Manager of the Industrial Marketing Strategy Div. of ROHM Co., Ltd., first delivered a lecture on "IoT and Sensing Solutions for Manufacturing Sites". He explained sensing solutions based on ROHM's approach to the real-time visualization of current position, level, and status, giving examples of their application and actual use.

The second lecture, "AI in Japan — Incorporation of master craftsmanship and AI — ", was given by Katunobu Suzuki, President and Representative Director of XCompass Ltd. The lecture helped participants to understand about and the history and present status of AI and the optimum solutions for applications of AI in the manufacturing industry.

After the lectures, a buffet reception was held for participants to converse with each other.
As the 15th anniversary event, a magician duo "Caramel Machine" performed a magic show. The participants enjoyed the show and interacting with other participants.

This year, 181 people from 94 companies participated in the meeting. Such a large number of participants made us recognize people’s keen interest in the increasingly expanding MMA and its approach to build a Smart Factory by introducing new technologies.

The MMA will engage in activities to expand the use of MECHATROLINK globally.