i3 - July/August 2020 - 12

Tech

By Murray Slovick

A T EC H TO WATC H

COVID-19 Provides a Big
Opportunity for Robotics

But the pandemic changed everything. Consider:
● Robotic drop-offs may become the norm when
people are required to limit their contact
with other people. Having a package
dropped at the door by a sterile
machine is now desirable.
According to research by consulting
firm Bain & Company about 3% or
4% of grocery spending in the U.S.
was online before the pandemic, but
that has risen to 10% to 15%.
● To mitigate future global supply
chain risks, U.S. manufacturers are
expected to increase in-house manufacturing
through automation and robotics rather than
outsourcing. Supply chain infrastructure will
focus on improving resiliency via robotic material handling, preparation and delivery.
● Companies are using robots to increase social
distancing and reduce staff that physically needs
to come to work. Robots are also being used to
perform roles workers cannot do at home.
● And finally, technology can protect humans.
Robots, after all, can't get viruses (with the
exception of the software variety).
In this context the idea of relying on robotics,
is advantageous. Post-COVID-19, the global
industrial robotics market is expected to grow
from U.S. $44.6 billion in 2020 to U.S. $73 billion by 2025 according to ResearchAndMarkets.
com. That's a CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period.
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JULY/AUGUST 2020

i3_0720_12_Tech_ATechToWatch.indd 12

THE NEW NORMAL
Switching from Selfdriving Cars to Trucks
During the coronavirus
crisis, self-driving truck
developer TuSimple's 40
18-wheel semis were
delivering muchneeded freight, mail
and food between
Phoenix and El Paso,
Texas, hauling for UPS,
the U.S. Postal Services
and Berkshire
Hathaway's
McLane, which
distributes
grocery and
non-food to
convenience
stores,
wholesale
clubs, drug
stores and
military bases.
Elsewhere,
Locomation has partnered with trucking
and transportation
logistics company
Wilson Logistics to
move cargo on selfdriving trucks between
Oregon and Idaho.
With Locomation's
Autonomous Relay
Convoy (ARC) technology one driver can pilot
a lead truck equipped
with technology augmentation while a following truck operates
in tandem through a
fully autonomous system. The result: an estimated 33% reduction
in operating cost per

mile and 8% reduction
in fuel expense.
Restaurants
and Hotels
In a post-COVID world,
robot waiters may greet
and serve you at restaurants, ensuring that
social distancing rules
are followed. Robots
can free up human staff
who are busy taking
orders. Robot duties
will include serving
drinks and dishes and
returning used cutlery.
Robotic interaction in
hotels could facilitate
more socially distanced
models of operation to
enable a safer and
faster reopening and
recovery. For example,
robots at the check in
desk can create room
keys and obtain registration information.
Robotic Cleaners
As pandemic restrictions ease, a robotic
workforce can keep our
offices clean as workers
safely return to their
desks. Researchers
from Nanyang
Technological
University, Singapore
have developed a
semi-autonomous
robot that can disinfect large surfaces
quickly. Called
XDBOT (eXtreme
Disinfection robot) it

can be wirelessly controlled via a laptop or
tablet, removing the
need for cleaners to be
in contact with potentially contaminated surfaces. Instead of a
conventional pressurespray nozzle, it uses an
electrostatic-charged
nozzle to ensure a wider
spread of the disinfectant. XDBOT navigates
semi-autonomously
using LIDAR and highdefinition cameras,
while its arm is controlled by a human
operator. It can disinfect a surface area of up
to four times that of
manual cleaning.
The coronavirus has
provided robotics
developers with the
opportunity to show
what can be achieved
with these machines.

Top to Bottom: Serge Mouraret/Alamy Stock Photo, Courtesy of Locomation, Courtesy of NTU Singapore.

efore the COVID-19 pandemic
some people were concerned
about the rise of robots
because of reports like the 2017
McKinsey study on the future of labor,
which predicted a third of workers in
the U.S. and between 400 and 800
million people worldwide would be
replaced by automation by 2030.

Top: A robotic waiter.
Left: Self-driving trucks.
Bottom: A robotic cleaner.

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

7/10/20 7:20 PM

i3 - July/August 2020

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