By the end of the third fiscal quarter of 2011, Pleasanton, Calif.-based Adept Technology Inc. is expected to ship and recognize as revenue more than $600,000 in bookings from Golden Spring Internet of Things Inc., a Chinese partner in Beijing, for its Python linear modules robots.

Adept’s robots are designed into multiple models of Golden Spring’s fully automated RFID manufacturing equipment, including smart label flip-chip bonders, welding machines, high-precision pick-and-place machines, and high-throughput implanters/embedders. Golden Spring, which went public in China in early October 2011, has seen its equipment widely deployed throughout China for applications such as the Chinese National ID card and driver license program and for manufacturing tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

“From our perspective, Golden Spring was many years ahead of other Chinese companies in their use of advanced motion control and vision-guidance technologies,” says Hai Chang, managing director, Asia operations for Adept, who also noted that his company has been working with Golden Spring for more than 10 years in the development and installation of about 100 machines that use Adept’s equipment.

According to IDTechEx, a research firm covering RFID and other technologies, the global RFID business has grown about 500 percent in the last 10 years, with continued strong growth expected into the next decade. A major growth area for the technology is item-level tracking using RFID tags in the apparel industry, baggage handling, and contactless ticketing and payment applications.