Industrial robots have dominated assembly lines for many years now. These machines have for long been task-specific, designed with limitations in regard to executing multiple tasks. What’s more, ancient industrial robots were bulky and unappealing.
However, major advancements in the late 20th century have revolutionized the manufacturing industry as well as the medium and low skilled labor industry both in developed and developing countries. Today, robotics is transforming global economies on a broader scale unlike in the past.
Currently, modern industrial robots for sale are used in different sectors such as schools, hospitals, offices, warehouses, recreational areas, and even homes. While many people have been excited about the popularity of robots, others have been worrying about losing their jobs.
Reasons for Rapid Advancement of Robotics
The robotics industry has continued to evolve over the years. Universal Robots experts attribute this growth to various factors which include;
- Open source development
- A drop in sensor prices
- Combination of different technologies and
- Hasty prototyping
Here is a detailed illustration of the above-mentioned reasons
Open Source Development
The robotic operating system (ROS) was first introduced to the market in 2009 at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers during the International Conference on Robotics and Automation. ROS is the preliminary standard operating systems for the development of robotics. What’s more, it’s open source, free, and flexible.
This means that robotic developers don’t have to struggle with developing an operating system from scratch. There are numerous open source users in personal computing. However, since proprietary operating environments such as windows attained scale first, open source options have consistently been utilized as an alternative.
This is not the case with robotics where open source is widely used. This has caused a myriad of crowd assisted development.
Sensors
The increasing demand for mobile computing has been a driving force for the development of robotics resulting in increased advancements, price drops, and an increase in sensor technology. In the past, accelerometers were expensive, unlike today where you can easily measure acceleration using your Smartphone.
Smartphones today are advanced and many people use them not only to interface with other gadgets, but to provide guidance, choose a geographical location, and shoot amazing videos. Further, Smartphone users can use them to communicate across different areas of the spectrum.
With continued demand for robots, customers believe that manufacturers will enhance functionality robots to facilitate easy navigation on factory floors productively. The omnipresence of the internet of things gadgets is driving the industry with many experts predicting a tremendous increase in IoT connected gadgets in the next few years generating approximately $10 trillion in revenue.
Currently, sensors that are capable of recording and sending data related to torque, pressure, and position are available at reasonable prices and this has contributed to robotic evolution. Further, accessories such as infrared and lidar sensors utilized in self-guiding robots as sensing equipment are today fairly priced unlike in the past when they were unaffordable.
These have evolved in the past few years which has resulted in a major development of self-driving vehicles. You can easily purchase three-dimensional cameras, gadgets which were out of reach in the past. However, major advancements have been made in the industry in regard to algorithms in a bid to make them technology compliant and sustainable.
Technology Convergence
The huge mobile computing success has resulted in advancements in object and voice recognition, both of which are essential for robotic applications. Three-dimensional sensors are assisting robots to navigate the disorganized human realm. Big corporate companies are deliberating on adopting limited artificial intelligence within their operations.
Rapid Prototyping
The world awaits to see whether three-dimensional printers will transform where and how consumer products are manufactured. The influence of compulsive manufacturing on the development of robotics has been huge. Three-dimensional printing allows creators to navigate from a mind-bending plan to a tangible product within a short time.
Some printers in university engineering departments and makerspaces which allow metal and multi-material printing have today reduced the challenges involved in the development of robotics. Once engineers are able to develop prototype objects in their workspaces, there’s bound to be more innovation.
Finally
Robotic manufacturers are on the increase and this is a clear indication that the world has not yet seen the end of robotic innovation.
