The second part of the brief report on the status of robotics in the US, Western Europe, Korea, Japan and Australia

The Status of Robotics

Report on the WTEC International Study: Part II

BY GEORGE BEKEY AND JUNKU YUH

This article is the second part of a summary report on

the status of robotics in the United States, Western

Europe, Korea, Japan, and Australia. This report is

based on visits to over 50 laboratories in 2004 and

2005. The study was performed by the World

Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) and

supported primarily by the U.S. National

Science Foundation (NSF) and the

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA). The first

part of the report, published in

IEEE Robotics and Automation

Magazine in December

2007, concentrated on robotic

vehicles, space robotics,

and humanoid

robots. This article summarizes

the findings of

the survey in industrial,

service, and personal robots,

biological and medical

applications and

networked robots. The full

report may be accessed at

http://wtec.org/robotics and

will be published in book form

by Imperial College Press in 2008.

Industrial, Service, and Personal

Robots

Robots can be classified into different categories depending on

their function and the market needs for which they are

designed. Here, we identify two major classes of robots: industrial

robots and service robots. Within the latter class of robots,

we will divide service robots into personal service robots and

professional service robots, depending on their function and

use. According to the Robotic Industries Association, an

industrial robot is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable,

multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or

more axes that may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in

industrial automation applications. The first industrial robot,

manufactured by Unimate, was installed by General Motors in

1961. Thus, industrial robots have been around for over four

decades. According to the International Federation of

Robotics, another professional organization, a service robot is

a robot that operates semiautonomously or fully autonomously

for performing services useful to the well being of humans and

equipment, excluding manufacturing operations. Personal

robots are service robots that educate, assist, or entertain at

home. These include domestic robots that may

perform daily chores, assistive robots for

people with disabilities, and robots

that can serve as companions or

pets for entertainment.

Industrial robots account

for a US$4 billion market

with a growth rate of

around 4%. Most of the

current applications are

either in material handling

or in welding. Spot

welding and painting

operations in the automotive

industry are

almost exclusively perautoformed

by robots.

According to the United

Nations Economic Commission

for Europe (UNECE),

there are over 20,000 professional

service robots in use today valued

at an estimated US$2.4 billion. If

personal entertainment robots and domestic

robots such as vacuum cleaners are

included, this number is well over US$3.5 billion. The

UNECE estimates that the value of service robots (both professional

and personal) sold in 2005 was about US$5 billion.

Most of the industrial robotics industries are based in Japan

and Europe. This is despite the fact that the first industrial

robots were manufactured in the United States. At one time,

General Motors, Cincinnati Milacron, Westinghouse, and

General Electric made robots. Now, only Adept, a San Josebased

company, makes industrial robots in the United States.

However, there are a number of small companies developing

service robots in the United States. Companies such as iRobot

(Figure 1), Mobile Robotics, and Evolution Robotics are pioneering

new technologies.

The two largest manufacturers of industrial robots, ABB

and Kuka, are in Europe. Over 50% of ABB is focused on

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/M-RA.2007.907356 automation products, and industrial robots are a big part of

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their manufacturing automation, with an annual revenue of

US$1.5 billion. ABB spends 5% of their revenue on research

and development, with research centers all over the world. An

ABB pick-and-place robot capable of performing two complete

operations per second is shown in Figure 2. As in the

automotive and other businesses, European companies outsource

the manufacture of components (motors and sensors),

unlike Japanese companies, which emphasize vertical integration.

As in the United States, service robots are made by small

companies, which include spin-offs launched from university

research programs.

FANUC in Japan is the leading manufacturer of industrial

robots, with products ranging from computer numerical control

(CNC) machines with 1 nm Cartesian resolution and

105 degrees angular resolution to robots with 450 kg payloads

and 0.5 mm repeatability. FANUC has 17% of the industrial

robotics market in Japan, 16% in Europe, and 20% in North

America. Kawasaki and Yaskawa follow FANUC as industry

leaders. FANUC is also the leading manufacturer of CNC

machines, with Siemens as its closest competitor. A Fujitsu

household watchman robot, controllable from a cell phone, is

shown in Figure 3. Another household assistant robot, with

Internet connections and various modes for interaction with

humans, was recently announced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

under the nameWakamaru. Unlike the United States and

Europe, the service robotics industry in Japan includes big

companies such as Sony, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, and Honda. The

industry is driven by the perceived need for entertainment

robots and domestic companions and assistants. In Korea, there

are small robot companies, such as Yujin and Hanool, making

vacuum cleaner robots and household assistant robots with

Internet connections, while big companies such as Samsung

also invest in robotics.

Biological and Medical Applications

The primary purpose of robotics in biology is to achieve high

throughput in experiments related to research and development

in the life sciences. These experiments involve the delivery and

dispensation of biological samples/solutions in large numbers,

each with very small volumes, for example in DNA sequencing

(Figure 4). Another purpose of robotics for biological applications

is for effective handling and exploration of molecular and

cell biology. It is interesting to note that robotics-inspired algorithms

are being used for molecular and cellular biology.

Robotics for medical applications includes robotic surgery,

diagnostic systems and devices, and rehabilitation. The latter

includes robotic assistance to physical therapists as well as development

of prosthetic and orthotic devices.

At the present time, the United States is leading other countries

in both biological and medical applications. Among the

leading biologically oriented laboratories are those of Deirdre

Meldrum (Arizona State University, formerly with University

of Washington), Lydia Kavraki (Rice University), and Yuan

Zheng (Ohio State University) dealing with robots and

robotics-inspired algorithms for molecular and cellular biology.

The Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated

Surgical Systems and Technology at Johns Hopkins University,

supported by the NSF and directed by Russell Taylor, is a leader

in the field. Intuitive Surgical Corp., is the developer of the

Figure 1. Roomba vacuum cleaner (courtesy iRobot, Inc.).

Figure 2. ABB Flexpicker pick-and-place robot, the fastest

robot produced by ABB (courtesy ABB).

Figure 3. MARON Robotic Watchman [courtesy PFU Limited

(a subsidiary of Fujitsu)]. The sales of the MARON have been

discontinued.

MARCH 2008 IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 81

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highly successful Da Vinci robotic surgical system (Figure 5)

designed to assist surgeons with complex medical operations.

The system has been purchased by many hospitals throughout

theworld. As noted below, activity in this field is rapidly increasing

in other countries.

In Japan, researchers at Nagoya University study noncontact

cell manipulations using lasers and intravascular surgery

based on a three-dimensional reconstructed cerebral arterial

model using computed tomography images and an in vitro

model of human aorta.Waseda University is well known for its

research on legged locomotion. In recent years, Waseda

University has also been active in the research on robotic

surgery and walking-assistance devices for elderly people. For

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