Investments in robotics R&D are growing, and it's about time

Automotive manufacturers were early adopters of robots, but now any industry that uses production processes and systems can benefit from automation. Today's robots are flexible enough to handle a wide variety of tasks. They still build cars, but they can also handle more complicated jobs, which is why stakeholders in defense, healthcare, retail, food and beverage, and electronics industries are all considering adding robots to their roster. To keep up with this growing demand, governments and private companies are investing in robotics research. A new report from Technavio predicts that the global R&D spending in the robotics industry will grow at a CAGR of more than 17 percent between 2016 and 2020.