?ABI Research believes that Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are making their way into mines and construction sites

Robots are making their way into another industry. Source: shutterstock.com

Modern robotics tend to be associated with either indoor environments like factories and warehouses, or in the home. But there is a multitude of other, less structured and more challenging environments where AMRs are only just beginning to proliferate. Advanced mobility enabling autonomous navigation will empower robotics vendors in construction, extraction and elsewhere. While in 2018, 28.7% of commercial robots’ shipments had some degree of autonomous navigation, in 2027, the percentage will be 79.3%, according to ABI Research’s?Robotics in Construction & Extraction?application analysis report.

For the robots to operate in challenging, hostile, and unsafe environments without human assistance, the key beneficiaries will be OEMs who choose to adopt navigation-providing operation systems (OS) from third-party providers. Specialist robot companies have a greater opportunity to attract capital due to increased interest, and with the formulation of cloud services from AWS and Google, have more opportunity than ever to develop advanced capabilities like mobile manipulation and advanced analytics. However, they will struggle to get an in-house solution off the ground without partnering with third-party providers on localization and navigation technologies. Given the complexity of localization, mapping, and navigation alone, a delegation of responsibility to third-party providers is often the best way to go. These types of partnerships are crucial as the OEMs have the industry know-how and existing infrastructure that address site-specific requirements.

SEE ALSO:?Top 10 uses for drones