German firm Kuka to introduce Consumer Robots
Kuka, A German firm
which is one of the world’s top manufacturers of industrial
robots, is now exploring the world of consumer robotics. The change is
being pushed by its new parent company, which is Chinese home appliance maker
Midea as Midea is not doing any automation or robotics therefore, Kuka is doing
automation for Midea.
Annual Shipments of Multipurpose Industrial Robots in
Europe (Number of Units)
|
Country
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
|
Central/Eastern
Europe
|
6,136
|
7,758
|
9,900
|
11,750
|
13,900
|
17,500
|
|
France
|
3,045
|
4,232
|
4,700
|
4,500
|
5,000
|
6,000
|
|
Germany
|
19,945
|
20,039
|
21,000
|
21,500
|
23,500
|
25,000
|
|
Italy
|
6,657
|
6,465
|
7,100
|
7,000
|
7,500
|
8,500
|
|
Spain
|
3,766
|
3,919
|
4,300
|
4,600
|
5,100
|
6,500
|
|
United
Kingdom
|
1,645
|
1,787
|
1,900
|
2,000
|
2,300
|
2,500
|
|
Others
Europe
|
8,879
|
11,843
|
12,300
|
12,600
|
13,450
|
16,600
|
Source: IFR
Germany is among
the fifth largest robot
market in the world. In year 2016, number of robots sold slightly increased
and reach to 20,039 units which was 19,945 units in 2015. The five major
markets constitute 74% of total sales volume in 2016 which includes China,the Republic of
Korea, Japan, the United States, and Germany.
Consumer robots are
used for domestic and personal use mainly in the areas like lawn-mowing robots,
vacuum and floor cleaning, leisure and entertainment robots which includes hobby
systems, toy robots, research and education.
Figure 1: Unit Sold of Service Robots for Household Use, 2015-2017
& 2018F - 2020F
The Chinese firm Midea
makes wide range of home products like washing machines, fridges, ovens, air
con systems, etc., and bought Kuka for USD5.24 billion. Midea is looking for complex
robot assistants with tasks like looking after the elderly. Kuka’s expertise in
automating the heavy-duty physical tasks will help Midea as such Robots are
under development in many countries, including Japan, who are facing the
challenge of looking after aging population.
Kuka’s interests is
evolving around manufacturing smaller robots which work side by side with
people which include its iiwa range (“intelligent industrial work assistant”)
which are designed to provide factory workers “a third hand.”
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