Robotics

In February 2021, The US agency DARPA awarded contracts to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and Martin Defense Group (formerly Navatek) to build demonstration versions of the new Manta Ray unmanned underwater vehicle with an energy-harvesting system to power it indefinitely, allowing the robot submarine to carry out missions lasting months or years without returning to base or refueling.

Drone sensors are critical to wider drone adoption. IDTechEx forecast that the market for drone sensors will be greater than $2.9Bn by 2031, according to their recent market research report "Drone Market and Industries: 2021-2041"

With sensors, the systems and software are a bigger business than the sensors themselves. For example, your body has primitive sensors such as eyes and fingers, but it processes the data in combination, so the whole is greater than the parts. Call it "sensor fusion", something increasingly seen in the automotive, healthcare, and robotic industries.

In 2017, after four years of setbacks and crashes, Alphabet shut its project flying solar-powered fixed-wing drones in the upper atmosphere to beam the internet to those cut-off. They have now ended their upper-atmosphere balloon version as well.

Drones are the key technology of the coming two decades. They are used in many different aspects of industry, and commercial use of this technology has never been higher.

This article analyzes the recently revealed robotaxi from Amazon-owned Zoox.

IDTechEx currently have a number of robotics-related webinars available to watch on-demand. These include presentations on robotic surgery, autonomous cars, robotics in agriculture and sensors.

Smart cities are now much more ambitious. That means new materials are their biggest enabler, with information and computer technology dropping to an important support role.

Thursday 17 December 2020 - An IDTechEx Perspective for 2020. The webinar will cover Vertical farming; Plant-based and cultured meat; Biostimulants and biopesticides; Genetic technologies in agriculture; and Agricultural robots and drones.

IDTechEx have released a brand new report, "Smart Cities Emerging Materials Markets 2021-2041" - a comprehensive analysis of multifunctional smart materials, bioplastics, structural electronics, composites, 3D printing, graphene, 2D and 3D molecules, 5G, 6G, IOT, new recycling.