The new World Robotics report recorded 553,052 industrial robot installations in factories around the world – a growth rate of 5% in 2022, year-on-year. By region, 73% of all newly deployed robots were installed in Asia, 15% in Europe and 10% in the Americas.
“The world record of 500,000 units was exceeded for the second year in succession,” says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “In 2023 the industrial robot market is expected to grow by 7% to more than 590,000 units worldwide.”
China is by far the world´s largest market. In 2022, annual installations of 290,258 units replaced the previous record of 2021 by growth of 5%. This latest gain is remarkable since it even tops the 2021 result that was a 57% jump compared to 2020. To serve this dynamic market, domestic and international robot suppliers have established production plants in China and continuously increased capacity. On average, annual robot installations have grown by 13% each year (2017-2022).
Robot installations in Japan were up by 9% to 50,413 units, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of 49,908 units in 2019. The peak level remains at 55,240 units in 2018. The country ranks second to China in size of market for industrial robots. Annual installations gained 2% on average per year (2017-2022). Japan is the world´s predominant robot manufacturing country with a market share of 46% of the global robot production.
The market in the Republic of Korea rose by 1% – installations reached 31,716 units in 2022. This was the second year of marginal growth, following four years of declining installation figures. The Republic of Korea remains the fourth largest robot market in the world, following the United States, Japan, and China.
The European Union remains the world´s second largest market (70,781 units; +5%) in 2022. Germany is one of the top five adopters worldwide with a market share of 36% within the EU. Germany´s installations went down by 1% to 25,636 units. Italy follows with a market share of 16% within the EU – installations grew by 8% to 11,475 units. The third largest EU market, France, recorded a regional market share of 10% and gained 13%, installing 7,380 units in 2022.
In the post-Brexit United Kingdom, industrial robot installations were up by 3% to 2,534 units in 2022. This is less than a tenth of Germany´s sales.
In the Americas, installations were up 8% to 56,053 units in 2022, surpassing the 2018 peak level (55,212 units). The United States, the largest regional market, accounted for 71% of the installations in the Americas in 2022. Robot installations were up by 10% to 39,576 units. This was just shy of the peak level of 40,373 units achieved in 2018. The main growth driver was the automotive industry that displayed surging installations by +47% (14,472 units). The share of the automotive industry has now grown back to 37%, followed by the metal and machinery industry (3,900 units) and the electrical/electronics industry (3,732 units).
The two other major markets are Mexico – here installations grew by 13% (6,000 units) – and Canada, where demand dropped by 24% (3,223 units). This was the result of lower demand from the automotive industry – the strongest adopter.
Brazil is an important production site for motor vehicles and automotive parts: The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) reports an output of 2.4 million vehicles in 2022. This shows the huge potential for automation in the country. Annual installation counts grew rather slowly with cyclical ups and downs. In 2022, 1,858 robots were installed. This was 4% more than in the previous year.
The year 2023 will be characterized by a slowdown of the global economic growth. Robot installations in 2023 are not expected to follow this pattern. There is no indication that the overall long-term growth trend will come to an end soon: rather the contrary will be the case. The mark of 600,000 units installed per year worldwide is expected to be reached in 2024.
The 2023 EEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2023) kicks off today at the Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan. This year’s theme, “The Next Generation of Robotics,” is a call to the young and senior researchers to create a forum where the past, present, and future of robotics converge.
The program of IROS 2023 is a blend of theoretical insights and practical demonstrations, designed to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration. Among the highlights are the plenary and keynote talks by eminent personalities in the field of robotics.
Plenaries and keynotes
On the plenary front, Marcie O’Malley from Rice University will delve into the realm of robots that teach and learn with a human touch. Yuto Nakanishi of GITAI, Japan, will share his insights on the challenges of developing space robots for building a moonbase. Matt Johnson-Roberson from Carnegie Mellon University will explore the shared history and convergent future of AI and Robotics.
The keynote sessions are equally thought-provoking. On Monday, October 2nd, Sven Behnke from the University of Bonn, Germany, will discuss the transition from intuitive immersive telepresence systems to conscious service robots, while Michelle Johnson from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, will talk about the journey towards more inclusive rehabilitation robots. Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio from Yale University, USA, will also share insights on shape-shifting soft robots that adapt to changing tasks and environments.
On Tuesday, October 3rd, Kostas Alexis from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, will share experiences from the DARPA Subterranean Challenge focusing on resilient robotic autonomy. Serena Ivaldi from Inria, France, will discuss the transition from humanoids to exoskeletons, aiming at assisting and collaborating with humans. Mario Santillo from Ford Motor Company, USA, will provide a glimpse into the future of manufacturing automation.
The series continues on Wednesday, October 4th, with Moritz Bächer (Switzerland) and Morgan Pope (USA) from Disney Research discussing the design and control of expressive robotic characters. Tetsuya Ogata from Waseda University/AIST, Japan, will delve into deep predictive learning in robotics, optimizing models for adaptive perception and action. Lastly, Teresa Vidal-Calleja from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, will talk about empowering robots with continuous space and time representations.
Competitions
The competitions segment of IROS 2023 will be a space for innovation and creativity. The Functional Fashion competition invites teams to design and demonstrate robotic clothing that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is functional. The F1/10 Autonomous Racing challenges participants to build a 1:10 scaled autonomous race car and compete in minimizing lap time while avoiding crashes. The Soft Robotics Balloon Robots competition encourages the creation of locomoting and swimming soft robots using balloons as a substrate, exploring rapid design and deployment of soft robotic structures.
Technical programme & demonstrations
The technical sessions and workshops/tutorials at IROS 2023 are designed to foster a rich exchange of ideas among the attendees. These sessions will feature presentations on cutting-edge research and innovative projects from across the globe, providing a platform for researchers to share their findings, receive feedback, and engage in meaningful discussions. In additions, the demonstrations segment will bring theories to life as participants showcase their working prototypes and models, offering a tangible glimpse into the advancements in robotics.
If you are unable to participate in the conference in person, Ohmnilabs has provided three of their Ohmni telepresence robots to facilitate participation in the conference virtually. The telepresence robots will be active from October 2-4 from 9:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. EDT. You can secure a time slot in advance using this link.
The telepresence robots will allow you to:
You can check in real-time here to see if any of the robots are available throughout the day.
Watch out our blog during the following days for updates and results from the best paper awards. And enjoy IROS 2023!
Claire chatted to Sara Adela Abad Guaman from University College London about adaptable robots inspired by nature.
Sara Adela Abad Guaman is a Lecturer at University College London’s Mechanical Engineering Department. She is also the head of the Adaptable Robotics Lab. Inspired by biological organisms, Sara aims to develop robots and mechanical systems with enhanced adaptability to variable environmental conditions. Her vision is to use bioinspiration and morphological computation to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainability.
This guide to ‘colliding opposite disciplines with your research’ is intended to help students and researchers, or indeed anyone who might otherwise be looking for some ideas on how to approach research or methods for designing concepts and solutions, to broaden their thinking and approach to research. This guide is mainly focused on the disciplines of science and engineering with the idea of collaborating with other distinct disciplines. However, the overall principles remain for any multidisciplinary research.
The guide is written into three different sections;
With the assistance of this guide, it will help to open new ways of thinking about research, highlight the ‘unseen’ benefits of multidisciplinary approaches to research and how they can be extremely advantageous and can lend for an optimal delivery. It will help you to contemplate how, when, and why you should open up your research to other disciplines.
If we think of the Arts and Science then I think, for the most part, that people would think of them as opposites. People are either ‘arty’ or ‘science-y’. A large factor in this thinking may come from the fact that people are seen as left-brained or right-brained, where one side of the brain is dominant. Left-brained thinkers are said to be methodical and analytical, whereas right-brained thinkers are said to be creative or artistic. What should happen, though, if you were able to work across these two separated sides and create whilst you analyse?
Do we need to get out of this thought, that art and science don’t belong together? I would firmly argue that we do.
The acronym STEM is widely known as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. However, another acronym, possibly less well known, is STEAM. STEAM is Science, Technology, Engineering, (liberal) Arts and Mathematics. This represents all aspects of art such as drama, music, design, media and visual arts. STEM primarily focuses on scientific concepts, whilst STEAM investigates the same concepts, but does this through investigation and problem-based learning methods used in an imaginative process.
The application of the arts to science is not a new practice Leonardo DaVinci is an early example of someone using STEAM to make discoveries and explain them to several generations.
There are many advantages to applying the arts to science and engineering. For example, would increasing application of the arts to science and engineering make more young people want to do science and engineering as it looks visually more attractive and significant? Could it help them develop a love for the STEM subjects and support them to seeing it as being more relatable than a Bunsen burner in a school laboratory.
A prime, and very recent, example of STEAM being applied was the crewed Space-X launch of the Dragon capsule in 2020. This launch represents the essence of advanced technology that is both on the forefront of science and engineering development as well technological aesthetics. From the design of the sleek logos, through to the futuristic spacesuits and even continuing onto the matt black launch platform, it was clear throughout this launch that every single detail had been considered.
Some may argue that by adding this artistic touch to technology that the ‘nitty-gritty science’ of the design and aesthetic becomes lost. If something doesn’t ‘look’ complicated and complex can it really be advanced or sophisticated? Well yes! Have you ever heard the saying “when someone makes something look simple, they have spent hours perfecting it” Take for example the space suits and touch screen controls of the Dragon SpaceX launch. The suits look like they were designed for a film set of Hollywood’s renditions of Space travel. A spacesuit without oxygen inlets, pressurized helmets and fitted to individual body contours.
To the layman, these may simply look like pleasant visuals. Though, to the trained eye and relevantly knowledgeable mind the pure fact that these two components of the flight look so streamline and simplistic not only nods to but reinforces that all aspects of the flight was saturated in superior engineering from hundreds of magnificent minds. That is the beauty of STEAM.
There are several advantages to multidisciplinary research. Now more than before, there has been focus on research becoming more multidisciplinary. As the world is in the fourth industry revolution (Industry 4) and with constant and significant advances in technology and AI there is increased necessity for research to meet complex and substantial scientific and engineering global challenges. Consider, a real-world problem, either one you know something about or one you are researching. Completing all aspects of this issue and its application you will notice that, repeatedly, it cannot be confined to one single discipline.
A multidisciplinary environment in research allows for different theories, methodologies, modes of thinking (convergent, divergent and lateral) and perspectives to come together for one common goal and purpose. The beauty of multidisciplinary research sits within this divergence of thinking, approaches, and theories which provides a much broader context to create innovate and bespoke discoveries and solutions.
In research, it can often be the case that students or academics end up working in quite a niche area of research, which of course has great advantages of its own as one can become a leading expert in a particular field. However, when a specific piece of research is presented that needs expert knowledge and experience from another field or discipline it can be difficult for an individual to become skilled or versed enough (often within pressing timelines) to lead on that area of the work. Here, a multidisciplinary environment/team will allow for contributions and skilled knowledge from other disciplines to have input without all researchers having to masters each other’s skills and knowledge but to only understand.
Often, an effective way to further show value and demonstrate a concept is to lead by example…
Consider the discipline of robotics. A robot represents a wide array of disciplines.
In a true multidisciplinary approach, there is great research capability in designing and building new robotic systems, that offers the ability to apply bespoke robotic based solutions to a range of applications.
In the case of social and healthcare robotics. Here, robotics represents aspects of electrical/mechanical engineering, material science, psychology, and medicine. In these environments, robots are much more than circuitry and AI. Other disciplines come from the end user requirements, the operational environments, and bespoke requirements/purposes.
Design in robotics is something that is often overlooked. However, it is extremely important in the creation of robotic solutions for both end users and client requirements. The physical appearance of a robot can affect presumptions and expectations of how a robotic system should or will perform.
Aesthetics, more than one is conscious of, influences aspects of our lives, and the decisions we make. The collaboration of the arts/design and robotics can be particularly effective towards increasing trust in robots. Establishing human-robot interaction (HRI) trust is especially pertinent where robots are being used in individual personal and healthcare roles.
For several years, it has been recognised and understood that trust is a crucial aspect of effective human-robot interaction for social robots as it closes the discipline gap between human psychology and artificial intelligence (AI).
A robot’s physical appearance can positively or negatively affect a human’s interaction with a robot. Just as humans can make decision upon first meeting someone, a human can make a similar decision based on the first impression when interacting with a robot for the first time. As a result, co-design improves the engagement and the quality of the interaction between (multidisciplinary) researchers and the end user. In the cases of healthcare or surgical robotics, it should be instinctive for a researcher to involve a person from a medical background, such as surgeons and/or medical device developers, to co-create a robotic solution fitting to the healthcare issue. To create ‘sightless’ to the knowledge and experience of the real life reality and important key issues that must be considered and adopted would be developing from a position of being completely ignorant to the challenge and effective solution.
Sustainability is a major current area of research, sustainability for the world and sustainability for technology research and development. Considering sustainability in robotic technology development the factors that should be considered, for example, are the choice & quantity of materials, the possibility of using recycled materials (e.g. in soft robotics) and effective design to limit single use robotics, or inefficient processes. This research is a topic of a truly multidisciplinary nature. How can this be considered or deciphered? It can be broken down in the resulting way;
A multidisciplinary research environment may be outside of your established or traditional research approaches or considerations. If so, there may be several questions that immediately come to mind about working in these types of collaborations. Such as how do you put together a multidisciplinary research group? Will the terminology and language across our disciplines be the same? How will other disciplines approach the problem – ‘will there be too many cooks’?
It is common that with change, new methodologies and approaches to working (especially if you are set in a certain way of doing things over many years), for there to be some initial challenges and a period of adaptation.
If you are interested to work in or create a multidisciplinary team here are some tips for developing this research approach.
Recognise that there are certain points to consider such as,
Lastly, do not let these considerations stop or hinder your ideas of working in a multidisciplinary environment. There is so much to learn in these types of research teams, and it is always interesting, it is guaranteed. There is no research quite like the output form a team that is not confined into one discipline.
So, the next time you are designing, creating, or innovating, consider; am I letting off enough STEAM and are worlds colliding?
This work by Dr Karen Donaldson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence 4.0.
