Today, many countries are feeling the effects of the manual labour shortage. The cost of manual labour continues to increase as it becomes less and less available. Speed and cost effectiveness are the main goals of most companies that operate on a massive scale, such as mail delivery services, retail operations, and agribusinesses.
Smart robots are, without a doubt, an excellent solution to a lack of man power and can get the job done at a more affordable price. But their roles are not limited to unskilled labour. Smart robots are already being used to solve IT issues, assist with medical procedures, and improve education. In these cases, robots aren’t just a replacement; they can work alongside humans in order to do what the other cannot and thus achieve a better result. The idea that robots and humans cannot coexist and collaborate is largely based on the theory that robots will eventually completely negate the need for humans. Instead, it is important to point out that robots are a human creation, and should be seen as an enhancement of human strength and ability rather than an alternative to it. If viewed in this way, humans and smart robots can be an unstoppable combination. With that said, the global smart robots market, which was valued at $2.4 billion in 2015, will reach $6.13 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 20.65%.
Vendors in the global smart robots market are divided up into 3 categories: personal service robots, smart mobile robots, and collaborative robots.
Personal Service Robots
iRobot
iRobot Corporation is an American advanced technology company founded in 1990 by three MIT graduates who designed war robots. Now incorporated in Delaware, the company builds robots such as military and police robots, such as the PackBot along with autonomous home vacuum cleaner (Roomba), the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors.
LG Electronics
LG Electronics Inc. is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, and a member of the LG Group, employing 82,000 people working in 119 local subsidiaries worldwide. LG comprises four business units: Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance & Air Solution, and Vehicle Components.
Neato Robotics
Neato Robotics is a robotics company located in Newark, California. Their product, the Neato XV-series (and as of 2014 the expanded BotVac series) robotic vacuum cleaner, began selling in 2010 for US$399.00.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. It is the world’s second largest information technology company by revenue, after Apple. Samsung has long been a major manufacturer of electronic components such as lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, chips, flash memory and hard drive devices for clients such as Apple, Sony, HTC and Nokia. In recent years, the company has diversified into consumer electronics.
Smart Mobile Robots
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, and satellites worldwide. It also provides leasing and product support services. Boeing is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers, is the second-largest defense contractor in the world based on 2013 revenue, and is the largest exporter in the United States by dollar value.
Israel Aerospace Industries
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is a globally recognized leader in the development and production of systems for the defense and commercial markets. IAI offers unique solutions for a broad spectrum of requirements in space, air, land, sea and cyber. Over the past 60 years, IAI delivered, supplied and supported advanced systems for the Israeli Ministry of Defense as well as many demanding customers worldwide.
Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.
Collaborative Robots
ABB
ABB is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people.
KUKA
As a pioneer in robotics and automation technology, KUKA Robotics is one of the leading manufacturers of robotic systems worldwide. KUKA offers a unique and wide range of industrial robots and robot systems, covering all common payload categories and robot types. The matching controllers and software for a variety of scenarios round out KUKA’s product portfolio.
Rethink Robotics
Rethink Robotics (formerly Heartland Robotics) is located in Boston, Massachusetts. Rethink Robotics is well-known for producing Baxter, a robot that is used in factories and can be “taught” new skills rather than programmed. A major theme of Rethink Robotics’ technologies is having robots that are cost effective and can collaborate with human colleagues, handling dangerous tasks so humans can focus on other tasks.
Universal Robots
Universal Robots is a Danish manufacturer of smaller flexible industrial robot arms, based in Odense. The company has 140 employees, and a network of 200 distributors in 50 countries. UR was purchased by Teradyne for US$285 million in 2015.
