Robotics is a growing industry and it's not going to slow down anytime soon. Twenty-one research reports forecast double-digit growth for robotics! Furthermore, there's a growing number of industries that have been embracing robotics, such as healthcare, agriculture, automotive, military, and manufacturing.
BCG (Boston Consulting Group) is conservatively projecting that the market will reach $87 billion by 2025; Tractica, incorporating the robotic and AI elements of the emerging self-driving industry, is forecasting the market will reach $237 billion by 2022.
Factors like the aging population and shortages of healthcare workers are driving the demand for assistive technology robots. Companies like KUKA(healthcare subsidiary Swisslog) are specializing in robots for healthcare applications.
Typical applications of industrial robots include welding, painting, ironing, assembly, pick and place, palletizing, product inspection, and testing, all accomplished with high endurance, speed, and precision.
Top 5 countries using industrial robots in 2018
- China — 154,000 industrial robots. China is responsible for 36% of total industrial robotics installations, with about 154,000 units.
- Japan — 55,000 industrial robots.
- U.S. — 40,300 industrial robots.
- Republic of Korea — 38,000 industrial robots.
- Germany — 27,000 industrial robots.
Generally, humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, however, many modern humanoid robots are only based on the human body only from the waist up." - lucarobotics.com. One of the first "true" humanoid robots was the 1927 "Herbert Televox" created by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co.
In the year 2020, an estimated
1.64 million industrial robots were in operation worldwide according to International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
Estimated worldwide annual supply of industrial robots (in units):
| Year | supply |
|---|
| 2015 | 253,748 |
| 2016 | 294,312 |
| 2017 | 381,335 |
| 2018 | 422,271 |
The number of operating units in Japan was close to 300,000, which was about 23% of the global market share. Japan leads the world in the field of robotics with highly competitive research, development and applied technologies.
Over the past decade, the global sales volume of industrial robots tripled, peaking at around 422,000 units in 2018, before declining by 12 percent to around 373,000 units in 2019.
The number of robots currently in the global workforce, 2.25 million, has multiplied threefold over the past 20 years, doubling since 2010.
The robot uses motion sensors to make sure it moves just the right amount. An industrial robot with six joints closely resembles a human arm -- it has the equivalent of a shoulder, an elbow and a wrist. Typically, the shoulder is mounted to a stationary base structure rather than to a movable body.
Personal and Domestic Service RobotsThe total number of service robots for personal and domestic use increased by 34% to more than 23.2 million units sold in 2019. The value was up 20% to 5.7 billion U.S. dollars.
7 Top Robotics Stocks for Investors
- Which top robotics stocks to consider?
- ABB (NYSE:ABB)
- AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)
- Brooks Automation (NASDAQ:BRKS)
- Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)
- iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT)
- Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK)
- Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER)
The use of robots has more than doubled in the last 20 years in most advanced economies. The top users of industrial robots in 2017 were China, Japan and South Korea, using nearly 50% of the world's stock of robots.
Standing 8.46 m (27 ft 9 in) tall, 4.27 m (14 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft 1 in) wide, Sakakibara Kikai's beast named MONONOFU (meaning "samurai warrior" in Japanese) holds a Guinness World Records title for the largest humanoid vehicle.
Best colleges / Universities to study Robotics Engineering:
- Carnegie-Mellon University- USA.
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor- USA.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology-USA.
- University of Southern California- USA.
- University of Central Lancashire- UK.
- University of Oxford- UK.
- University of Gothenburg- Sweden.
Below are four publicly traded companies that develop robots or implement them in some aspect of their business practices.
- iRobot.
- Boston Dynamics.
- Oceaneering International.
- Amazon Robotics.
- AeroVironment.
- Boeing.
- Raytheon.
- Accuracy.
World's Top 10 Industrial Robot Manufacturers
- Midea Group (KUKA)
- The Fanuc Corporation.
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
- Epson Robots.
- Stäubli.
- Nachi Fujikoshi Corporation.
- Comau.
- Omron Adept Technology Inc.
Robotics and the increasing use of automation represent one of the most exciting investment avenues for stock buyers in the coming decades. The makers of robotics and automation systems understand that there is a growing need to improve the efficiency of production in several sectors of the overall economy.
