FRANKFURT—Global demand for robots shows no signs of stopping. A recent report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) claims that a record 381,000 units were shipped globally in 2017. That’s a 30 percent increase over 2016.
“Industrial robots are a crucial part of the progress of manufacturing industry,” says Junji Tsuda, president of IFR. “Robots evolve with many cutting-edge technologies such as machine vision, easy-to-use programming, skill learning, failure prediction utilizing artificial intelligence, and new concepts of man-machine collaboration.”