Industry, Logistics & Shipping

Global robot market ‘likely to hit $188bn by 2020’

The robotics industry has grown at an annual rate of 17 per cent, and the worldwide market is expected to reach $188 billion by 2020, says a report released by LG, a leading global electronics company.

Robots were designed to perform difficult and hard laborious work, or to carry out dangerous tasks, such as: disposal of radioactive materials, mine detection, or even for industries that require concentration, accuracy and fatigue such as assembly of car parts.

Military robots are one of the most important types of robots used these days as its distinguished with its high technological ability to perform high risk tasks. The robot has also increased the ability of surgeons to perform operations that are difficult for humans to do, such as open heart surgery, rectal surgery, prostate, as well as throat cancer surgery.

The market for surgical robots worldwide is at $11.4 billion, with an expected increase of 22.2 per cent by the year 2020.

This growth was driven by the technical development in the various aspects of daily life and the expansion of the uses of robots, as well as its acceptance in the market, which have promoted industrial development in this domain.

The use of robots had entered many areas where they are used in industrial production and military purposes, recreation and tourism and also used for social purposes or as they are  known: social robot, so that it can do housework and act as a personal assistant for its ability to communicate with people and assimilate their conversation and communicate with them, and in the near future Robot can help the elders in any tasks they want to do, take care of children, follow them and other kinds of tasks.

The latest development in artificial intelligence of robotics has transformed the lives of many societies in Japan, China and a number of Western countries. Robots can perform tasks based on the decisions they make, thus enhancing efficiency and strengthening the relationship between human and machine. Today, the robot can do many household functions such as running the air conditioner or changing the speed of circulation of the dryer once verbal commands are issued, by linking to various smart home appliances, which means upgrading the concept of smart home.

Nowadays, robot is no longer just a data-packed machine, but rather designed to interact with the user's body language. Today, the robot can make gestures with its structure and draw the appropriate representation on its screen in a quick response generated based on user expressions. The robot is designed to be able to monitor activities that take place inside the house, such as departure or the return of a member of the household and his or her going to bed and other activities. The robot can distinguish the members of the house from its own camera, which can be programmed to use a different greeting for each member of the household.

The market for smart industries is being witnessed by many companies, some of which have entered this field after the successes achieved through this technological industry. However, advantages remain for the leading companies in this field that have gradually developed their industries over the past years.

Among these companies is LG Electronics, which has surpassed its ecosystem solutions, and taken the lead with the "Airport Guide Robot" that will act as a smart assistant to provide travellers with information to answer their questions in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

The latest robot provides detailed flight information, such as the arrival time of the plane and the boarding gate, simply by scanning the passenger's ticket, as well as provide information about the weather in the city to which he or she will travel. The robot also helps guide travellers to the places they want to get inside the airport, knowing how far and how long they need to walk.

The robot can also accompany travellers whom are stranded or late to reach their gates, or who want to reach any other location within the airport.

The airport cleaning robot offered by LG is a huge robotic broom equipped with a large drum to collect dirt, with multiple braches and motors to clean the various surfaces. The Airport Cleaning Robot is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and multiple cameras to ensure safe and efficient performance even at the busiest airports.

 LG robots are equipped with many advanced sensors and fender sensors similar to the airport cleaning robots’ sensors to identify its location and locate obstacles in front of it, such as trees and fence. The robot delivers the best performance on the lawn mower with a fast-moving blade that bring out the beauty of the garden grass in a few minutes. – TradeArabia News Service