Robotics in Business: Everything Humans Need to Know
One type of robot that existed for about half a century is the well known, one-armed robots that work in the assembly lines. These robots have been task-specific and were used for things like lifting things up or for spot welding. They weren’t the most beautiful, but they got the job done and they transformed industrial manufacturing and with it the low and medium scaled labor in much of the US and Europe. The first industrial robot to debut was the GM’s Unimate in the 1960s. Since then robots have been revolutionizing and transforming world economies.
In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of automation across a variety of fields like manufacturing, retail, and restaurants has increased significantly. Day by day more and more robots are popping up in offices, schools, warehouses, and small manufacturing centers. More and more, they are on our roads and flying overhead.
That is only a few sectors in which robots are rapidly gaining traction by improving performance and cutting down costs than previously possible. That has got a lot of people excited and a lot worried. The steady phase of development in the industry has made a lot of people raise questions.
This article will give some insight into an industry poised to hit $210 billion by 2025 (a CAGR of 26%) and the impact it will have on humans in the coming decades.
What is a robot?
This is a controversial topic that is still highly debated by professionals the world over. Is your washing machine a robot? Is a modern high-end car, which engages in thousands of processes without the driver’s knowledge a robot?
If you are looking for a proper definition of ‘robot’ this is it.
A robot is a programmable machine that physically interacts with the world around it and is capable of carrying out a complex series of actions autonomously or semi-autonomously.
Why has the field advanced so much in the last few years?
Mainly because of these 4 main reasons
- Falling sensor prices
- The convergence of disparate technologies
- Open-source development
- Rapid prototyping
Sensors
The demand for mobile computing has been a boon for robotics development, leading to falling prices, rapid advances, and the miniaturization of sensor technology. For example, previously accelerometers used to cost hundreds of dollars. But now even smartphones have multiple accelerometers.
The ubiquity of IoT is another driver. By 2025 there will be 100 billion Internet of Things connected devices generating revenue of $10 trillion. For the first time in history sensors that sense pressure, temperature, torque, and location are dirt cheap driving forward the development of robots as never before.
Prices of lidar and infrared sensors used in self-guiding robots have plummeted 90% paving the way for the development of more and more self-guiding robots.
Technology Convergence
Just as it brought sensor prices plummeting, the enormous success of mobile computing has spurred advances in voice and object recognition, which have clear applications in robotics. Companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon are at the forefront of this technological revolution.
The year-over-year increase in computing power and the arrival of cloud and IoT technology has made it even easier. When we put it all together it is obvious that the technology needed for the development of robotics has matured in the last few years.
Open-source development
In 2009, Robotic Operating System (ROS) was introduced at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). ROS is a free and open-source OS used in robotics development. It was introduced so that developers will not need to develop OS from scratch ever again.
Open Robotics, under whose stewardship ROS falls, has also unveiled a robotics simulator called Gazebo which allows engineers to test robots in virtual reality without risking hardware. One would ask how has ROS and Gazebo impacted the development of robots. The following would clarify the question
Of the 23 teams competing in the vaunted DARPA Robotics Challenge, 18 utilized robots running on ROS, and 14 used Gazebo to test their humanoid competitors in virtual environments.
And to add to that in 2015, $150 million in VC funding went to companies developing robots that run on ROS.
Rapid prototyping
According to Robotics Tomorrow, the development of 3D printing has given the opportunity for creators to go from a mind-bending concept to a solid product in a matter of hours. It has significantly lowered the barrier for entry to robotics. Need proof? Just check out the number of robotics projects that are live on Kickstarter right now.
When engineers can make prototype components at their workbench, innovation follows !!!
Impact from COVID-19
Although COVID-19 was a big no-no for many industries, for robotics it was completely the opposite. In a way, COVID-19 was the ignition needed for the robotics industry.
If the seeds of a robotic revolution have been sprouting for over a decade, going back to research lab Willow Garage and the groundbreaking robotics research that began coming out of DARPA contests in the early-2000s, COVID-19 may prove to be an accelerant.
Due to the massive shutdowns and layoffs during the pandemic, trust and focus towards robotics has been increased in the eyes of investors and businesses. The effect of this will be evident in the following years to come.
Robots take jobs. Are the fears justified?
Doom and gloom argument
Very educated people on the subject have given very opposing ideas on the above question. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research focused on the increased usage of industrial robots and found that there were direct negative effects from robots on unemployment. A very common argument people make is that jobs lost to robots are not adequately replaced by new opportunities brought by robots.
The fear is real because giants like Bill Gates have voiced support for a robot tax — a levy for the work done by robots. It would replace the income tax lost by the government when humans lose jobs because of robots.
A report by Price Waterhouse Cooper shows us that up to 38% of US jobs will be lost by 2030 owing to automation. The risk seems to be high in sectors like transportation, manufacturing but lower in sectors like health. But it is just a matter of time till improved robots enter these less affected sectors.
It’s not that clear cut
On the other hand, many people argue that although automation has resulted in regional job losses there has been a net job increase. To support this theory International Federation of Robotics issued a study that looked at robotics use in China, Brazil, Japan, and India. As robot use accelerated in those countries, unemployment fell. Some of the new jobs created were training, consulting, integration, and deployment-related to robotics.
Although there are many views and opinions on this topic it is hard to come to any conclusion right now. Technology is ever-growing and it is hard to predict. In the following years, increasing use of robots may or may not have adverse effects on humans. We will just have to wait and see!!
