The sector: facts, figures and scenario

According to the “World Robotics 2010 Service Robots”, published at the end of September 2011 by the department of statistics of the IFR (International Federation of Robotics), at the end of 2009 there were 76,600 “non-manufacturing” robots for professional activities in the world, for a total value of USD 13.2 billion. Of these, 30% (23,200) were used for defence, 25% for agricultural and farming purposes (above all for milking) and 8% were “cleaning robots” and those used for medical purposes. A further 7% are used for marine applications, 6% are represented both by construction and demolition, and mobile robotic platforms for general use, 5%, are robots used in logistics and, last but not least, 4% are used for rescue and safety.

Along with robots used for professional reasons, we must also consider those used for domestic purposes, which, also at the end of 2009, were 5.6 million. Almost all of these were entertainment robots, vacuum cleaner robots (which, however, saw a decrease in sales in 2009 of 7% compared to 2008), and a small percentage of grass cutter robots (26,000 sold in 2009; and increase of 24%).

The market of robots for disabled people is still too limited to assess but, in any case, according to the IFR report, should expand considerably in the next ten years. The market for robots for personal transport, domestic safety and surveillance is also expected to increase in the near future.

Despite the economic crisis, the outlooks for the market of service robots, according to the IFR report, are also extremely interesting with regards to the four-year period 2010-2013. As of 2013, there will be about 80,000 new robots for professional use. And considering robots for personal use, 11.4 million new units will be sold by 2013, of which 6.7 domestic and 4.6 for the entertainment and leisure sector (most of these, of course, being low cost).