Collaborative robot market growing

Collaborative robot sales are projected to increase dramatically and account for over a third of all robot sales by 2025, according to a report by the International Federation of Robots (IFR).

By Robotic Industries Association (RIA) February 24, 2018

While the collaborative robots market is relatively new, it’s poised for huge growth over the next several years. Collaborative robots—robots capable of safely working alongside human workers—are becoming more sophisticated and more useful inside and outside of factory settings. Many of the world’s largest robotics companies are introducing collaborative robot models in addition to their industrial robot models in an effort to grab a stake in the expected market growth.

According to a recent report by the International Federation of Robots (IFR), along with Loup Ventures, global robotics spending will reach $13 billion in 2025.

Currently, collaborative robots only make up about 3% of all robot sales. This number is expected to jump to 34% in 2025. There are quite a few applications where collaborative robots are being deployed: packing, quality testing, material handling, machine tending, assembly, welding, and others. Among these, the material handling segment is expected to experience the largest growth in collaborative robot installments.

Collaborative robot sales, as a portion of overall robot sales, are expected to dramatically increase in the next 7 years, revealing their productivity potential in a wide variety of settings. There are a number of different factors driving this incredible growth.

Growth factors in collaborative robot market

One of the main factors contributing to the increasing adoption of collaborative robots is their constantly lowering price tag. With many collaborative robots available for under $45K, these robots are becoming viable outside the factory setting too. No matter the setting, the low price tag makes automation investment easier and easier to justify.

The other major factor in the growth of collaborative robots is the advancing capabilities of edge computing. Basically, collaborative robots are becoming quicker and easier to program, reducing implementation time and initial automation investment levels. Some robots don’t even require programming knowledge at all, which increases their flexibility and improves their overall return on automation investment.

Collaborative robots are advancing in capability while becoming cheaper and more widely available. These two factors are major contributors to the explosive market growth ahead.

This article originally appeared on the Robotics Online Blog. Robotic Industries Association (RIA) is a part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

Original content can be found at www.robotics.org.