Can The U.S. Come From Behind In The Robot Race?

From drone warfare to self-checkout lines at the grocery store, the change is clear. Sales of automated industrial "robots" rose 15% year-over-year in 2015, to reach an annual record of 253,748 units, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Those units were valued at $11 billion, 9% more than the year before. That lifted the total installed base, worldwide, to 1.6 million industrial bots, a number that the IFR projects will reach 2.6 million in 2019. For investors, it smells like opportunity.