Areas Poised for Growth in the Robotics and Automation Era

At this point, AI is seemingly everywhere. Whether it's via chatbots or enhanced hardware, you can see AI in anything from hologram communication to dog collars. But one of AI’s most prominent relatives is robotics. Robotics is an area that AtomTech is increasingly invested in, which is evident in our number of current openings for robot programmers. And it’s an area that the industry is interested in at large. Throughout 2023, robotics funding reached around $12.1 billion. As the market moves further into 2024, let’s examine some of the fields driving its growth.

Warehouses and Logistics

If November funding points to any trends to come, it’s that self-driving software and hardware, industrial automation products, and space operations innovations are some of the top fields gaining traction. But logistics are also projected to fuel robotic integration. According to a piece for Tech Briefs, “Interact Analysis put the projected CAGR for collaborative robot (cobot) shipments at 46 percent for 2023-2027.”

Similarly, warehouses are another significant component in the robotics trajectory. In its recent supply chain study, Gartner concluded that mobile robots are expected to outpace drones in today’s warehouses. This may be due in part to the ongoing personnel shortages impacting many of these settings. In its 2023 warehouse automation statistics, Vecna Robotics concluded that the overall landscape was 10% to 25% understaffed. However, the integration of automation and robotics can help alleviate this stress. Therefore, warehouses have the opportunity to continue to serve as a testing ground for robotics.

Manufacturing

Considering its role in logistics and warehouse, the robotics industry is also unsurprisingly positioned to further impact manufacturing. As pointed out by Anders Billesø Beck in Tech Briefs, AI-backed robotics have the potential to “perform more complex and diverse functions,” and act as “the glue that binds users to their mechanical counterparts.” Furthermore, the wider automation field that robotics are a part of is predicted to enhance the IT/OT integration and data collection that comes with the new generation of connected facilities. It’s likely that operators will only double down on the productivity perks such tech offers.

Sources:

●      “The best robots and AI innovations we've seen at CES 2024 so far” - Sabrina Ortiz, ZDNet
https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-robots-and-ai-innovations-at-ces-2024/

●      “Robotics investments reach $418M in November 2023” - Dan Kara, The Robot Report
https://www.therobotreport.com/robotics-investments-reach-418m-in-november-2023/

●      “AI’s Practical Impact on Warehouse Robotics” - Daniel Theobald, Spiceworks
https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/guest-article/ais-practical-impact-on-warehouse-robotics/

●      “4 Predictions for 2024: AI Set to Supercharge Robotic Automation” - Anders Billesø Beck, Tech Briefs
https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/49770-4-predictions-for-2024-ai-set-to-supercharge-robotic-automation

●      “Gartner helping plot future of warehouse robotics” - Sean Ashcroft, Supply Chain Digital
https://supplychaindigital.com/articles/gartner-helping-plot-future-of-warehouse-robotics

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