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ABB says its robotics story began in 1974 with “the sale of the IRB 6, the world's first commercial fully electric robot.” In 2024, 50 years later, ABB's robotics portfolio will be more powerful than ever with new industrial robotic arms, collaborative robotic arms and autonomous mobile robots.
ABB will be celebrating 50 years of robotics innovation throughout 2024. Marc Segura, President of ABB Robotics, is helping achieve this by identifying the following three drivers for robot-centric AI solutions for 2024 and beyond:
Editor's note: The following text is republished with permission from ABB.
“Next year will see even greater interest in the critical role of AI,” Segura said. “From mobile robots and collaborative robots to enabling new robotic applications in new fields and creating new opportunities for people to learn and develop, new frontiers in AI are redefining the future of industrial robotics.”
![ABB industrial robotic arm performs inspection tasks](https://www.therobotreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/abb-robotics-innovation.jpg)
ABB's 3DQI quality inspection cell can detect defects less than half the width of a human hair. | Credit: ABB
1. AI will drive new levels of autonomy in robotics applications.
Accelerating advances in AI are redefining what is possible with industrial robotics. AI is improving everything from robots' grip, selection and placement capabilities to their ability to navigate and map dynamic environments. From mobile robots to collaborative robots, AI is giving robots unprecedented levels of speed, accuracy, and payload-carrying capacity, allowing them to accomplish more tasks in environments such as flexible factories, warehouses, distribution centers, and laboratories.
“AI-enabled mobile robots can transform fields such as individual manufacturing, logistics and laboratories,” Segura said. “For example, robots equipped with ABB’s new Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology feature advanced mapping and navigation technologies, giving them new levels of autonomy while significantly reducing the infrastructure required for previous generations of guided robots. “This paves the way for the transition from linear production lines to dynamic networks, creating significant efficiencies and freeing up workers to do more rewarding work by taking on more tedious, dirty and dangerous tasks.”
2. AI will see robots enter new fields
The potential offered by AI-enabled robotics has implications far beyond manufacturing. By 2024, these technologies are expected to bring significant efficiency gains to more dynamic environments such as healthcare, life sciences, and retail. Another example is the construction industry, where AI-powered robotics can make a significant contribution to boosting growth while also improving productivity, safety, and sustainable construction practices.
“The construction industry is a great example of a sector where AI-based robots will prove to be transformational, delivering real value by solving many of the challenges facing the industry today, including labor shortages, safety concerns, and stagnant productivity,” Segura said. “The enhanced perception and decision-making capabilities provided by AI, combined with advances in collaborative robots, can be deployed safely alongside workers. These advancements will also enable robots to perform key tasks such as bricklaying, modular assembly and 3D printing with greater precision and speed, while reducing emissions such as mixing concrete on site and reducing the need to transport materials between locations. You can contribute to more sustainable construction. “On-site assembly allows transport over long distances.”
3. AI will provide new opportunities for education and robotics work.
Advances in AI and robotics are important for training and education, closing the automation skills gap and making robotics more accessible to more people and businesses. With AI making programming easier through readthrough and natural language, education can shift from simply teaching programming skills to more of a way for robots to help humans more effectively. This transition will make robots more accessible and accessible to more people, alleviating labor and skills shortages while opening up new job prospects.
“The lack of personnel with the necessary skills to program and support robots has long been a barrier to the adoption of robotic automation, especially in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies,” Segura said. “As advances in generative AI lower the barriers to automation and expand the focus of education beyond programming, we will see these challenges gradually overcome. “The development of AI-based natural language programming, which allows workers to verbally instruct robots to perform tasks, will create new dynamics in human-robot interaction.”