AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS
BlueBotics mini™ mobile robots in operation at ABB ’ s semiconductor manufacturing plant in Lenzburg , Switzerland .
dominant market share . Domestic suppliers delivered 44,000 units to their home market , which is an increase of 8 % compared to 2019 .
According to the IFR , global robot installations in 2020 were down 2 %, particularly impacted by the Corona pandemic . However , said the Federation , the decline in sales was more moderate than expected .
“ Order intakes by the robotics industry in 2021 gives us reason to expect strong growth in North America and Europe . Order books in the U . S ., for example , are filling up fast . In Germany , the forecast for the current year shows a strong recovery and signifies a positive turning point for the industry . Even better sales figures will be achievable if the current supply bottlenecks for key components can be quickly overcome ,” said the IFR .
The global path to climate neutrality is generating new business . To achieve ambitious climate targets , economies have started to scale renewable energies and environmental technologies to unprecedented dimensions . Robotics and automation enable companies of all sizes to produce the components needed e . g . fuel cells for hydrogen-powered cars or batteries in the transport sector and solar panels in the energy sector . The new generation of easy-to-use robotics helps to optimise performance in the production process and move manufacturing closer to regional markets at competitive cost .
“ Robotics have proved flexibility to quickly adapt production and respond to changes in demand as well as smaller batch sizes ,” added Milton Guerry . “ The benefits of increased productivity safeguards jobs by keeping companies competitive .”
Autonomous mobile robots transport pallets from the depot to the warehouse , manned hightrucks take over .
Mobility is reshaping robotics ; this has been researched by the International Federation of Robotics and published in its new paper “ A Mobile Revolution ”.
“ Mobile robots have traditionally operated in industrial settings to transport parts throughout the factory or feed machines ,” explained Milton Guerry , President of the International Federation of Robotics . “ Today , AMRs also work in applications where contact with the general public is intended . They provide information to shoppers , deliver room service orders in hotels or support police officers by patrolling city areas . IFR ´ s mobile revolution paper gives an overview of the main use cases for mobile robots and their most significant impacts .”
While researchers have worked on technologies for autonomous mobility since the 1940s , autonomous mobile robots have only become commercially viable over the last decade . This is primarily due to the availability of far more powerful and cheaper computing power . This has led to rapid developments in sensor , vision and analytics technologies which enable robots to connect in real-time to their environment . Today , Autonomous Mobile Robots show double digit growth . AMRs
navigate and perform functions autonomously in industrial and service sectors and pave the way for mobile robot adoption around the world .
“ Mobile robotics is a dynamic field of development and we expect exciting advances over the next decade ,” added Milton Guerry . These advances will take place in hardware and software . Mobile robots will become lighter and more flexible . AMRs and service robots will be able to navigate in a range of indoor and outdoor environments more easily as advances in sensors and software algorithms mean that navigation and vision become more and more precise .
Robotics research and development
Research and Development ( R & D ) of new robot technologies has become more important than ever before . Most countries invest in robotics – mainly at government level .
The new generation of easy-to-use robotics helps to optimise performance in the production process and move manufacturing closer to regional markets at competitive cost
A mobile revolution
Robot mobility is booming worldwide . Unit sales of Autonomous Mobile Robots ( AMRs ) in the logistics sector , for example , are set to increase by 31 % between 2020 and 2023 annually . At the same time , the use of AMRs in public environments will also go up rapidly – IFR predicts unit sales will grow by 40 % per year worldwide .
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