Robot eliminates bacteria and other harmful microorganisms in Hospitals.

The 15th Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award in Robotics and Automation (IERA) goes to the “UVD Robot” by Blue Ocean Robotics. The collaborative robot autonomously drives around hospitals while emitting concentrated UV-C light to eliminate bacteria and other harmful microorganisms. As a result, hospitals can guarantee a 99.99% disinfection rate – reducing the risk for patients, staff and relatives of contracting dangerous infections.

“The UV disinfection robot by Blue Ocean Robotics shows that robotics has a limitless potential of being applied in new environments,” said Arturo Baroncelli, former President of the International Federation of Robotics which co-sponsors the IERA award. “The combination of ‘classical’ mechatronic disciplines – typical of robotics – with the know-how of medicine and pharmacy is fantastic evidence of this path of progress. The IFR is happy to recognise and support this virtual trend.”

“We are incredibly proud of winning the IERA Award 2019 for a ground-breaking product,” said Claus Risager, CEO of Blue Ocean Robotics. “Everyone can feel safe in rooms that have been disinfected by the robot. Our UVD Robot not only reduces the risk of patients contracting hospital-related infections, but also to a high extent visitors and hospital staff.” Blue Ocean Robotics is a Danish manufacturer of service robots for the healthcare, hospitality, construction and agricultural sectors based in Odense. The UV disinfection robot is sold by its subsidiary, UVD Robots.

UVD Robot disinfects all contact surfaces autonomously
Infections acquired in hospitals cause significant costs in the healthcare sector: In the EU, these costs amount to 7 billion euros. The source of infections can be other patients or staff and even equipment or the hospital environment. The UVD Robot drives around and positions itself autonomously in relation to its surroundings. The machine treats surfaces in a hospital ward with light from several angles and up close. The robot disinfects all contact surfaces, stopping at predefined hotspots that require a longer time of exposure. The UV disinfection robot does not replace the manual cleaning process – it is designed as a complimentary activity and always works in enclosed spaces.

Collaborative robot contains number of safety features
As exposure of UV-C light toward humans should be avoided, the robot contains a number of safety features: for example, a tablet which is placed on the door of the patient room acts as a motion sensor – it automatically disengages the UV-C light if someone wants to enter the room.

The technology has been developed in cooperation with leading hospitals in Scandinavia. First sales have been made in the Middle East and Asia. In future, the robot can also be applied to other environments requiring diligent disinfection such as food production or laboratories.

IERA Award honours collaboration of science and industry
The IERA Award is one of the world’s most prestigious awards in robotics. It honours the collaboration between science and industry in the production of robots and is jointly awarded by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE/RAS), the world’s largest technical professional organization.

Video of UV Disinfection Robot

Please find a video of IERA Award Winner “UV Disinfection Robot” here

About IFR 
The International Federation of Robotics represents more than 50 robotics companies, research organizations and national robot associations from over twenty countries and was founded in 1987 as a non-profit organization: www.ifr.org

European Union´s industrial robot sales up 12%

Installations of industrial robots in the United Kingdom fell by  3 percent to 2,306 units in 2018. In the previous year, robot sales in the UK had risen by 31 percent. The European Union´s recent sales numbers are still positive – up 12 percent. This is according to the preliminary results of the World Robotics Report 2019, published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

In terms of robot density by region, Europe has the highest level worldwide, with 106 industrial robots per 10,000 employees installed in the manufacturing industry – Germany (3rd), Sweden (5th), Denmark (6th), Belgium (9th) and Italy (10th) all make the top-10. The UK ranks 22nd worldwide with a density of 85 units, which is equivalent to the global average. China overtook the UK in 2017 and is currently ranked 21st with 97 units.

“The United Kingdom has been adding robot automation at a lower rate than our main competitors in all manufacturing sectors outside of automotive,” says Mike Wilson, Chairman of the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA). “Over many years, the UK has attracted workers from other countries, with businesses preferring to hire people rather than invest in capital equipment. The consequences of the Brexit vote and subsequent political developments are leading to reduced labour availability as the many workers who have come over from Eastern Europe are starting to return home. As a result, businesses have to ensure that they use their workforce effectively and find alternative ways of performing tasks for which they have a shortage of staff – robot automation being an obvious solution.”

What the experts at the IFR World Robotics Roundtable say 
“Robot adoption is central to driving productivity growth and every nation should want faster productivity growth”, says Dr. Robert Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), USA at the recent IFR CEO Roundtable 2019 in Chicago, where international experts discussed the global robotics and AI race.

Artificial Intelligence 
“Robots play a major role in manufacturing,” says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “There are so many projects. Everybody is engaged in enhancing the capability of robots. We can apply robots in many areas – so everybody will be a winner. When it comes to AI the developer community is very open and they share the basic logic globally. There is a race for implementation. This implementation has a very close connection with robotics engineering which makes the difference. When it comes to AI for robotics, still Japan and Europe will be the major players for robot applications.”

Focus on implementation
“We need to focus more on the implementation side,” says Dr. Byron Clayton, CEO, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, USA. “The US government needs to follow international examples who are putting money and effort in policy towards the implementation and deployment side of high technology and getting it to the factory floor.”

Industrial robot installations in the UK increased for the third year in a row to around 2,300 units. This is an increase of 31 percent (2016-2017, IFR World Robotics Report).  Asked about the workplace of the future, UK employees want robots to take over the unhealthy (83 percent), hazardous (77 percent) or monotonous (72 percent) jobs. These are the findings of the automatica trend index. In the UK, 1,000 employees were interviewed by a market research institute on behalf of automatica, the world’s leading trade fair for robotics and automation.

The majority of workers in the UK not only want robots to take over the dirty, dull and dangerous work: About 70 percent think that robots give people the chance to learn more qualified work and create more opportunities for education and training.  Asked about the level of maturity, 40 percent of working people report, that training for the digital world has already been successfully established by their employer. But only 6 percent think such initiatives have reached a level of excellence.

Human-robot teams
At the same time, people welcome the idea to join forces at the workplace of the future by working in human-robot teams.
68 percent think that working hand in hand with robots without safety fences will improve manufacturing. The reason for that:  Human talents such as judgement and fine motor skills will be combined with those of robots e.g. force and precision.

UK to become more competitive
70 percent say that human-machine collaboration will make UK companies more competitive. 52 percent say that digitization and robotics will bring back jobs that were previously located abroad. A strong impact will come from reducing costs in production (73 percent) and providing better quality for products and services (68 percent).

The latest data of the International Federation of Robotics show, that robot density in the United Kingdom matches the global average of 85 industrial robots per 10,000 employees installed in the manufacturing industry. This ranks the country 15th in Europe and 22nd in the world

automatica Trend Index 2018
For the automatica Trend Index 2018, a total of 7,000 employees were interviewed in a representative survey of the population
(7 x N=1,000 in UK, USA, GER, FR, IT, CN, JP)

About automatica
automatica is an international trade fair for robotics and automation and the central meeting point for manufacturers and users of integrated assembly solutions, robotics, industrial machine vision and professional service robotics.

INDIA – industrial robot sales surged

• Automotive +27 percent
• General Industry +46 percent

Sales of industrial robots in India reached a new record of 3,412 new units installed in 2017. That is an increase of 30 percent compared to the previous year (2016: 2,627 units). Between 2012 and 2017 India saw a compound annual sales growth rate (CAGR) of 18 percent. These are the initial findings of the World Robotics Report 2018, published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

Broken down by industry, India´s automotive sector is the main end user with a share of  62 percent of the total supply in 2017. Sales rose by 27 percent compared to the previous year.

India´s automotive industry announces expansion
“The automotive industry will remain the main driver of the increasing number of robot installations in India,” says Junji Tsuda, president of the International Federation of Robotics. “Numerous new projects have been announced by international and domestic car manufacturers striving to expand production capacities. Moreover, OEMs increasingly require local supply of automotive parts.”
 

 
General industry is catching up
A clear sign that the general industry is catching up with the automotive sector can be seen by the sales numbers of industrial robots in e.g. the plastics and rubber industry, the metal industry and the electrical and electronics industry, which increased by 46 percent in 2017.

“The general industry will further invest in production capacities and modernization to serve this growing consumer market,” says IFR President Junji Tsuda. “Consequently, further acceleration of the growth in robot sales is expected between 2018 and 2021.”

India´s robot success story started in 2009 – robot density still low
India is one of the strongest growing economies among emerging Asian markets. Since 2009, the number of robot installations has been growing rapidly. In 2017, India ranked No. 14 in terms of the global annual supply, immediately behind Thailand and Spain. As far as the operational stock is concerned, India ranked thirteenth after Canada, Spain and Singapore. 

India´s automation potential is best illustrated by it’s rather low robot density figure: 85 industrial robots per 10,000 employees in the automotive industry is less than a quarter of that in Indonesia (378 units) and far away from China (505 units).

The automation of production is accelerating around the world: 74 robot units per 10,000 employees is the new average of global robot density in the manufacturing industries (2015: 66 units). By regions, the average robot density in Europe is 99 units, in the Americas 84 and in Asia 63 units.

The top 10 most automated countries in the world are: South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, USA, Italy, Belgium and Taiwan. This is according to the 2017 World Robot Statistics, issued by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

“Robot density is an excellent standard for comparison in order to take into account the differences in the automation degree of the manufacturing industry in various countries,” says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “As a result of the high volume of robot installations in Asia in recent years, the region has the highest growth rate. Between 2010 and 2016, the average annual growth rate of robot density in Asia was 9 percent,in the Americas 7 percent and in Europe 5 percent.”

Asia
The development of robot density in China was the most dynamic in the world. Due to the significant growth of robot installations, particularly between 2013 and 2016, the density rate rose from 25 units in 2013 to 68 units in 2016. Today, China’s robot density ranks 23 worldwide. And the government intends to forge ahead and make it into the world’s top 10 most intensively automated nations by 2020. By then, its robot density is targeted to rise to 150 units.

Furthermore, the aim is to sell a total of 100,000 domestically produced industrial robots by 2020 (2017: 27,000 units from Chinese robot suppliers, 60,000 from foreign robot suppliers).

Worldwide, the Republic of Korea has by far the highest robot density in the manufacturing industry – a position the country has held since 2010. The country’s robot density exceeds the global average by a good eight-fold (631 units). This high growth rate is the result of continued installations of a high volume of robots particularly in the electrical/electronics industry and in the automotive industry.

Singapore follows in second place with a rate of 488 robots per 10,000 employees in 2016.
About 90 percent of robots are installed in the electronics industry in Singapore.

Japan ranked fourth in the world: In 2016, 303 robots were installed per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry – following Germany ranking 3rd (309 units). Japan is the world´s predominant industrial robot manufacturer: The production capacity of Japanese suppliers reached 153,000 units in 2016 – the highest level ever recorded. Today, Japan´s manufacturers deliver 52 percent of the global supply.

North America
Robot density in the United States increased significantly to 189 robots in 2016 – the country ranks seventh in the world. Since 2010, the necessary modernization of domestic production facilities has boosted robot sales in the United States. The main driver of this growth was the ongoing trend to automate production in order to strengthen American industries on the global market and to keep manufacturing at home, and in some cases, to bring back manufacturing that had previously been sent overseas. The automotive industry still leads as the main customer of industrial robots with about 52 percent of total sales in 2016. Robot sales in the United States will continue to increase between 2017 and 2020 by at least 15 percent onaverage per year.

Robot density in Canada has been on the rise and reached 145 units in 2016 (ranking 13 worldwide). Growth was mainly driven by installations in the automotive industry.

Mexico is predominantly a production hub for car manufacturers and automotive parts suppliers that export to the United States and increasingly to South America. The automotive industry in Mexico is by far the main robot customer with a share of 81 percent in 2016. Robot density is at 33 units, which is still far below the world average of 74 units, ranking 31st  on the global scale.

Europe
Europe´s most automated country is Germany – ranking 3 rd  worldwide with 309 units. The annual supply and the operational stock of industrial robots in 2016 had a share of 36 percent and 41 percent respectively of total robot sales in Europe. Between 2018 and 2020, the annual supply in Germany will continue to grow by at least 5 percent on average per year due to the increasing demand for robots in the general industry and in the automotive industry.

France has a robot density of 132 units (ranking 18 th  in the world), which is well above the global average of 74 robots – but relatively weak compared to other EU countries. EU members like Sweden (223 units), Denmark (211 units), Italy (185 units) and Spain (160 units) enjoy a much higher degree of automation using industrial robots in the manufacturing segment. But under the new government, France is in the process of regaining competitiveness in its manufacturing sectors. This may, to a certain extent, promote installations of new robots in the next few years. In 2017, the number of robot installations in France is expected to increase by about 10 percent. Between 2018 and 2020, an average annual growth rate between 5 and 10 percent is likely.

As the only G7 country – the UK has a robot density below the world average of 74 units with 71 units, ranking 22nd. The general industry is highly in need of necessary investment in order to modernize and increase productivity. The low robot density rate  is indicative of this fact. Despite the decision to leave the EU, there are currently many suggested investment plans for capacity expansion and modernization of foreign and local automotive companies. It is not evident though whether companies will hold back investments due to uncertainties concerning customs duties.

The eastern European countries Slovenia (137 units, ranking 16th  in the world) and Slovakia (135 units, ranking 17th  worldwide), both have a robot density that is above Switzerland’s (128 units, ranking 19th in the world). The Czech Republic is ranking 20th  on the global scale with 101 units. Robot supplies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia mainly depend on the automotive industry’s demand. Slovenia is the most successful among the Balkan countries with 60 percent of the total robot supply used mainly for the automotive industry (387 units, 33 percent more than in 2015).

Japan exported a total of nearly 115,000 industrial robots – value of about US$ 2.7 billion.

Japan is the world´s predominant industrial robot manufacturer: The production capacity of the Japanese suppliers has reached 153,000 units in 2016 – the highest level ever recorded. Today, Japan´s manufacturers deliver 52 percent of the global supply. These are results published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) ahead of the International Robot Exhibition (iREX) in Tokyo – November 29th – December 2nd 2017.

“Japan is a highly robotized country where even robots are assembled by robots”, said Joe Gemma, President of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). “The statistics show that automation strongly boosts exports and  domestic investments as well  – robot sales in Japan increased by 10 percent to about 39,000 units in 2016 – reaching the highest level in the last ten years.”

Japan´s high export rate
Japan exported a total of nearly 115,000 industrial robots in 2016 with a value of 309 billion yen (about US$ 2.7 billion). This is by far the highest export volume for one year. The export rate increased from 72 percent to 75 percent (2011-2016). North America, China, the Republic of Korea and Europe were target export destinations. The Japanese imports of robots were extremely low, only about 1 percent of installations. Thus, foreign robot suppliers did not achieve a high sales volume in Japan. The home market has strongly recovered since the financial crisis in 2009 and reached 39,000 units, the highest level since 2006 (37,000 units).

Car- and electrical/electronics industry dominate
The automotive industry is the largest destination market for industrial robots in Japan with a share of 36 percent of the total supply.
Car manufacturers bought 48 percent more industrial robots than in 2015 (2016: 5,711 units). Japanese car suppliers are leading in the production of hybrid cars and will increase investments in automated driving technologies. The development of new materials which reduce weight and save energy will also foster investments in robot automation. However, the ongoing reduction of production capacities in Japan will impact domestic demand for robots. Investments abroad, on the other hand, will continue to increase. The Japanese car companies have been increasingly expanding production facilities overseas, particularly in China, as well as other Asian countries and in the United States and Mexico.

After the strong growth of robots in the electrical/electronics industry in 2015 (11,659 units), a decrease of 7 percent followed in 2016. However, the electrical/electronics industry has preferred to invest in production facilities abroad. Furthermore, continued investments in robots can be expected in this sector with the increasing demand for chips, displays, sensors, batteries and other technologies around electro mobility, and industry 4.0 (connected industries).

The two most important customer groups of industrial robots in Japan – automotive and electrical/electronics – had jointly, a share of 64 percent of the total supply in 2016. Robot sales to both sectors increased by 8 percent in 2016. In all other branches, as a whole, the market increased by 14 percent.

Why service robots are booming worldwide – IFR forecasts sales up 12 percent in 2017

Sales in service robots for professional use will  increase 12 percent by the end of 2017 to a new record of 5.2 billion U.S. dollars. And the long-term forecast is positive too, with an expected average growth rate of 20 to 25 percent in the period 2018 – 2020. That is the latest projection from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

“In terms of value, the sales forecast 2018-2020 indicates a cumulative volume of around
27 billion U.S. dollars for the professional service segment”, says Gudrun Litzenberger, General Secretary of the IFR. “Robots for medical, logistics and field services are the most significant contributors.”

At the same time, the market for personal service robots which assist humans in their everyday lives is also progressing rapidly; it is projected that sales of all types of robots for domestic tasks – e.g. vacuum cleaning, lawn mowing or window cleaning – could reach an estimated value of around 11 billion U.S. dollars (2018-2020).

“Robots are clearly on the rise, in manufacturing and increasingly in everyday environments”, says Martin Hägele, IFR Service Robot Group.” The growing interest in service robotics is partly due to the variety and number of new start-ups which currently account for 29 percent of all robot companies. Further­more, large companies are increasingly investing in robotics, often through the acquisition of start-ups.”

Service robot manufacturers and start-ups by regions
European service robot manufacturers play an important role in the global market: about 290 out of the 700 registered companies supplying service robots come from Europe. North America ranks second with about 240 manufacturers and Asia third with about 130.

Further progress will rely on entrepreneurs taking up disruptive technologies and deploying them for new applications and markets. In the US, about 200 start-up companies are working on new service robots. The European Union plus Switzerland count 170 companies that are creating a new entrepreneurial culture for the service robotics industry – followed by Asia with 135 start-ups. Virtually all economies are attempting to foster a vibrant entrepreneurial environment and the service robotics industry has become one of the focus areas of their public policies.

Service robotics market overview
Robotics in professional applications has already had a significant impact in areas such as agriculture, surgery, logistics or public relations and is growing in economic importance. There is a growing demand to monitor our everyday surroundings which results in increased and difficult-to-manage workloads and data flows. To meet this demand, robots will play an even greater role in the maintenance, security and rescue markets.

Robotics in personal and domestic applications has experienced strong global growth with a limited number of mass-market products: floor cleaning robots, robo-mowers and robots for edutainment. Future product visions point to domestic robots of higher sophistication, capability and value, such as assistive robots for supporting the elderly, for helping with household chores and for entertainment.

About World Robotics Reports by IFR
The IFR Statistical Department publishes two robotics studies each year:

World Robotics – Service Robots: This unique report provides global statistics on service robots, market analyses, case studies and international research strategies on service robots.
The study is jointly prepared with our partner Fraunhofer IPA, Stuttgart.

World Robotics – Industrial Robots: This unique report provides global statistics on industrial robots in standardized tables and enables national comparisons to be made. It contains statistical data from around 40 countries broken down into areas of application, industrial sectors, types of robots and other technical and economic aspects. Production, export and import data is listed for selected countries. It also describes the trends in relation to robotic density, e.g. the number of robots per 10,000 employees in relevant sectors.