The market of Adaptive Robots is booming. We are talking about “intelligent” and interconnected machines which can communicate and process the IoT data collected to make complex decisions about what to do next.

Basically, these robots can learn from all connected devices, thus increasing their efficiency. What differentiate them from traditional robots is that these latter are pre-programmed machines, usually fixed and stationary, whereas adaptive robots are mobile and consistently updated through IoT data which make them evolve and improve.  And with the development of Industry 4.0, they represent a fundamental resource for every sector, from banks to the automotive market, from manufacturing to healthcare, from agriculture to household applications.

Just to name a common case we are all concerned about: adaptive robots can monitor traffic, check vehicles movements and prevent accidents just by comparing data. And they can work side by side with humans actually integrating and supporting their work while developing further job opportunities. The SPARC project, a state owned-private partnership between the European Commission and 180 businesses and research centers conceived to boost the Old Continent leadership in the field of robotics, aims at creating  240 thousand new jobs by 2020 (Evolution of Robotics-Growth Opportunities in the Age of Industry 4.0).

The dissemination map

According to the “Adaptive Robot Market Research” report issued by Market Research Future, North America is bound to dominate the market of Adaptive Robots from 2018 to 2023, thanks to its consolidated advanced infrastructures and the fact that all industrial sectors are currently already using them, to the point that the sales of such industrial robots increased of  11% in 2017.
Europe has so far come second, considering that in 2016 the robotics market increased up to 4,5 billion Euros, followed by the Asia-Pacific area. Such forecast have also been confirmed by  IBM in their report entitled “How the Emergence of Adaptive Robotics and IoT Transforms Businesses”, which points out that, thanks to an increase in the digitalization of production processes and to the use of robots, the market should increase of 4 billion Euros per year.

With reference to the Asia-Pacific area, countries there are expected to record the highest  CAGR-Compound annual growth rate of the adaptive robots market, with China having reached an amazing +33% of new installations of industrial robots in 2018 and aiming to become the biggest market for the development and sale of such robots; Japan is expected to have robots installed in 25% of big companies and 10% of small companies, while South Korea, currently leader in industrial automation, boasts a dissemination rate which is seven times higher than the world average.

Adaptive robots: low cost and high savings

Adaptive Robots, then, are the connection between the physical world in which they operate and the intangible universe of data collected from different sources. However, the reason behind their huge success and the fact that their number is expected to record a tenfold increase is definitely their cost. The price of industrial robots is progressively decreasing and is becoming more and more affordable. Nowadays, one of these advanced machines may cost around 20 thousand Euros. And then, there come the savings: adopting Kiva robots in a few Amazon logistic centers has led to a decrease in the expenses of 20%, which means 20 million Euros which remained in the pockets of the e-commerce giant  (Amazon has changed robotics, too).

<<The Industrial Internet of Things, or Industry 4.0, is the new paradigm allowing to spot critical defects and opportunities in any business model to keep up with the market >>, said Sandro Zilli, the man in charge of the AIDR Osservatorio Innovazione e Crescita Digitale ( Innovation and Digital Growth Observatory). <<Companies which will be able to take advantage of such technologies and the benefits they bring about, will easily compensate the competitive advantage that enterprises in developed countries seem to have lost  following globalization>> (Industry 4.0: fabbriche sempre più digitali e interconnesse). A statement we definitely agree with.

In which fields would you like to have adaptive robots installed for the optimization of work and why? Tweet @agostinellialdo.

To find out more about the digital world, you may read my latest book entitled: “People Are Media” 

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