The market for 'service robots' is starting to take wing. There were 1.9 million of the devices in use around the world in 2005, and demand is growing.
By Salamander Davoudi, Financial Times
March 5, 2007
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Jane works 16 hours a day. She cleans the house, mows the lawn, washes and irons the clothes and is never paid — and lives in a cupboard under the stairs.
A cautionary tale about exploited labor? No, it's the dream of an industry seeking to turn robots into the ultimate home accessory.
The global market for so-called service robots is in its infancy but growing rapidly. According to the International Federation of Robotics, there were 1.9 million service robots in private and domestic use in 2005.
Microsoft's Bill Gates has described the industry as one that "may well change the world." Honda Motor Co. predicts that less than half a century from now, everyone who has a car will have a robot.
For housework haters, it is an enticing prospect. "We are 20 years off having an ironing robot," said Mark Norman, chief executive of Merlin Systems Corp., a British robotics company developing artificial muscle technology.
South Korea's government is among those leading the charge. Having identified robotics as one of its 10 key economic drivers, it is pumping nearly $50 million into research every year over 10 years.
"The rate of growth in the [service] robotics market is somewhere between 50% and 400% a year," said Henrik Christensen, a professor at the School of Computer Science and Communication in Stockholm.
Among the many potential applications for service robots is the potential for robot servants to help look after the growing number of elderly.
Service robots already are changing how we live. The United States boasts the first publicly listed robotics company — IRobot Corp. — which has sold more than 2 million of its floor-washing robots and vacuum robots.
In Japan you can buy surveillance robots that enable users to monitor homes remotely. Honda, Toyota Motor Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi are all working on advanced robot programs.
James Dyson, the British industrial designer, developed a robotic vacuum cleaner, but it was never produced because it cost several thousand dollars and was not commercially viable.
"It was too expensive and couldn't compete with the U.S. market," said Noel Sharkey of Sheffield University.
There are a handful of well-known robotics companies in Britain, including OC Robotics, which has created a snake arm that fits into small places. Shadow Robot Co. has produced a fully dexterous hand, and Merlin Systems Corp. and R.U.Robots Ltd. have also developed advanced systems.
"The services industry is where we look to, but at the moment we sell to industry — surgery, aerospace or nuclear — because that is where the money is," said Rosalind Conkie, a design engineer at OC Robotics.
Companies that pump money into research in these areas include BAE Systems Inc. and Qinetiq Group, the defense technology and security company.
Industry observers say that a lack of high-level interest and chronic under-funding add up to a real danger that the British will be left behind commercially.
"We are in huge danger of missing the boat, like we did with industrial robotics. There is very little money over here and few resources," Norman said.
Observers say many British companies find it easier to get funding from U.S. military programs, but they run the risk of technology migrating abroad.
"By 2015 the U.S. Army expects 30% of all transport to be autonomous. The U.S. is losing 100 soldiers a month in Iraq, many due to roadside bombs. If you take away the drivers, there would no longer be the same risk," Christensen said.
But in the long run the biggest market for robots will be on the domestic, not the military, front.
"This is going to be a massive industry, probably approaching that of the computer industry," said Geoff Pegman, managing director of R.U.Robots.
