Ready for the Internet of Robotic Things?

IoRT is real, although it's still in the initial stages. You've likely heard of the Internet of Things (IoT). The concept, first described a few years ago in a report by ABI Research, involves the ability of intelligent devices to monitor events, fuse sensor data from various sources, use local and distributed intelligence to determine the best course of action, and then act to control or manipulate objects in the physical world. In hospitals around the world, surgeons are getting help from new robotic assistants. IoRT is real, although it's still in the initial stages, said Dan Kara, practice director of robotics at ABI. Installations are ongoing, as are product announcements from vendors, he says.