How do you see the robotics space evolving?

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In 2021, the largest number of sales of any kind of technology was in industrial robotics. That was the third year running, so even pre-pandemic, industrial robotics was still the biggest seller. I foresee that will continue for at least another two years, even more so because we now have the Diligent Robotics and Boston Dynamics of the world. Boston Dynamics’ Spot is now coming into Canada and the US in much larger capacities. Those are robots that are not stationary; the mobile robots are the ones that are taking over that market space.

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We’ll see more and more applications. When the robots first came out, they were huge, bulky and not particularly agile. Now you're seeing a very different scale and quality. Universal Robots has a ballet dancer who teaches the robots to dance to make them mobile. She did her PhD in quantum physics and visits because they're trying to change the way we think about these things.

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The pandemic introduced many new problems, particularly on the supply chain front. I'm sure there will be plenty of innovation coming out to address supply chain issues because it's a major problem. In terms of non-stationary robotics, drones have so many potential use cases, like delivering medicine or even food supplies. And there are plenty of companies like DroneDeploy that are already doing this. I have seen partnerships in towns where they're using drones to make certain kinds of deliveries.

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Robotics is a technology that will get adopted very quickly in many sectors.  It is a boon if it is used judiciously and thoughtfully.  It should be used in places where it would be very difficult or close to impossible for humans to do it.  Examples are in high precision industries, close monitoring where humans would get tired very quickly or be less attentive, high danger to human lives like fire control and extinguishing.  Cleaning highly polluted areas.  Some examples that I can think of

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Although it has taken more time than anticipated for robots to have mainstream relevant impact, the future holds a lot more promise given technology advancements. Robotics will play a big part in areas like Inspection (for health & safety needs), Healthcare (diagnosis and resolution), Military (surveillance), Exploration (inaccessible places) etc. Efficiency improvements with repetitive tasks will become even more widespread going forward. One thing is for certain - people will skills in robotics will be in demand!

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I see the robotics space evolving to collaboration as opposed to full on replacement of work forces.  Early it was feared that workers would be replaced by robots but I think now we have reached a point where many realize the answer isn't to replace but to augment.  There are applications where robots working with humans can help streamline, enhance and improve the way we work today and I believe that is the direction we are going to continue to head down for some time.