Home invasion fuels robot explosion

In the first six months of the year, there was a 26 percent jump in demand for robots as more of the machines were employed in industry and in homes.

According to a new report from the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Federation of Robotics, 80,000 robots were sold globally between January and June. “These figures indicate that a strong recovery is in sight,” the report said, noting that the global robot market contracted by 12 percent last year.

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The biggest use for robots today remains in industry, with about 770,000 out of 1.4 million active robots in the world currently used for manufacturing. Half of the planet’s industrial robots are in Japan, 230,000 are in the EU and just 104,000 are in North America, the survey said. However, in two years there will be about 875,000 units in use globally, with 333,000 in Japan, 303,000 in the European Union and 135,000 in North America, according to the World Robotics survey.

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Other interesting commentary in the study included a prediction that service-oriented and household robots will soon become more commonplace and that sales of these kinds of machines are on the way up. “They will not only clean our floors, mow our lawns and guard our homes but they will also assist old and handicapped people with sophisticated interactive equipment, carry out surgery, inspect pipes and sites that are hazardous to people, fight fire and bombs and be used in many other applications,” the report said.

In 2002, sales of “domestic robots,” which mainly include automated lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners, jumped to 33,000 from 20,000 the year before. By 2006, there will be as many as 400,000 vacuum-cleaning robots in service globally and 125,000 smart lawnmowers.

In terms of entertainment, sales of robotic toys, like Sony’s AIBO dog, should reach 1.5 million by 2006, or almost three times the current 550,000 level.