The future of the robotics market: intelligence and mobility
Over the next ten years, the global robotics market volume will grow 6-10 times. It will dominate the segment of robots for professional services, with more than double sales of industrial and logistics robots. These data are provided by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the study “Prospects for robotics 2030: how intelligence and mobility will shape the future”. Robotics is a very diverse industrial sector and its future is difficult to predict. Its growth potential is high, this can be stated unequivocally. However, market participants producing industrial automation equipment and software must be mobile and aggressive enough to take advantage of all the new strategic and technological directions that will be important in the next ten years. Small and start-ups will drive innovation in promising segments, generate high profits, and resize the robotics industry. The global robotics market by 2030 will grow from the current $25 billion to $160-260 billion, experts predict in The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) paper.
At the same time, the market share of robots that provide professional services can reach 170 billion dollars. Sales of industrial and logistics robots will amount to about 80,000 million dollars. Today, the robotics industry is represented by more than 500 companies that produce products in four main categories: conventional industrial robots and collaborative robots or cobots , robots for stationary professional services, for example, with medical and agricultural applications, robots for professional mobile services, professional cleaning, construction, underwater activities, and self-guided vehicles for transporting large and small loads on logistics or assembly lines. According to BCG experts, seven major trends will define and shape the robotics market in the next decade.
Mastery of professional services robots
Sales of robots for professional services ($90 billion to $170 billion) will more than double sales of conventional and logistics robots.
Changing consumer preferences and social trends
This trend will increase the demand for advanced robotic solutions. On the one hand, increased consumer demand for faster delivery of personalized products will lead to an increase in the ability of robots to personalize production and logistics. On the other hand, an aging population will increase demand for mobile service robots to help with personal hygiene, exercise, food delivery and more. The growing public interest in recycling will require robots to perform complex dismantling and sorting tasks.
Robots will take low-wage jobs
The replacement of people with robots will cause a shortage of manual workers and an increase in wages in countries with traditionally low wages.
Advanced technologies will improve human-robot interaction
Disruptive technologies in the areas of intelligence, communications, and machine control will expand the capabilities of robots and simplify their interaction with humans. For example, AI will allow robots to deal with unexpected situations. Swarm Intelligence will increase the flexibility of mobile sharing robots. Imaging systems will improve offline checks.
5G communication technology will increase the working range of the robot. As all these technologies are introduced, many customers will choose modular systems consisting of a core, peripheral controllers, machine vision software, and artificial intelligence for intelligent and autonomous actions instead of purchasing basic robotic systems. They will be easy to implement and will be able to independently solve a certain range of tasks. The convergence of IT, which manages data, and OT, which manages operating machines, will accelerate the development of intelligent robotic systems and simplify their connection to complex manufacturing plants. Already today, dozens of startups are focused on working in specific niches in these cutting-edge areas.
Robots will be able to learn
Simulation tools used today allow robots to be trained to solve current problems. However, these methods do not provide the ability to enable them to respond to unexpected events in a flexible and intelligent manner. The results of a study conducted by the non-profit artificial intelligence analysis center OpenAI made it possible to create the first application that includes a humanoid robotic arm. You can solve Rubik’s cube problems completely, without human intervention. The robotic capabilities that will emerge from these technologies will be especially valuable in single-lot, custom manufacturing processes.
Semi-autonomous mobile machines in pre-mapped environments
By 2030, Tier 3 autonomous vehicles will account for approximately 8% of new car sales. These vehicles drive themselves on relatively good roads and in clear weather conditions, transferring control to the driver the moment they encounter a difficult situation. Level 4 auto navigation is completely autonomous and has a backup system that can shut down the machine in rare unexpected situations, but does not require human intervention. According to BCG experts, Level 4 capabilities will be enhanced by 2030. There will be autonomously controlled mobile machines in certain sandboxes: hotel room service robots, last-mile delivery robots.
Asian robotics companies will grab a competitive market share
The Korean, Chinese and Japanese robotics companies that emerged in the last decade and now occupy a small market share will be able to grow significantly. Major Asian retailers are beginning to modernize their warehouses to meet growing demand, and the logistics will require a large volume of robotic equipment .