And they all have 3DEXPERIENCE in common.
Dassault Systèmes has sponsored this post.
Industrial and service robots are one of the fastest growing markets in manufacturing and logistics industries. Factories, assembly and production lines, warehouse automation of distribution centers as well as new fields such as medical, construction and agriculture/farming can all benefit from robots. Some of these robots are collaborative, meaning they can safely work around humans in manufacturing, medical or domestic settings. Eager to help are many startups—and funding for startups, unlike funding for technology in general, is on the increase.
To get their robot technology to market faster, startups are finding advantages by using an interdisciplinary design/manufacturing platform. With the proper platform, small startups can access the same tools as larger companies.
These days, teams may be separated physically, but with an innovative and collaborative platform on the cloud they can still work together. With the right solutions, small and agile teams can race ahead, using simulation instead of iterating with traditional (and time-wasting) prototypes and testing.
With software solutions, a virtual robot can be seen in realistic 3D, its performance validated on a virtual production line, which helps the startup in selling their robot technology.
Below we will look at market growth and opportunities for startups and examples of companies already tapping into new markets using solutions from Dassault Systèmes, such as the cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
Industrial Robots on the Rise
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reported that on a global scale, electronics and automotive industries were leading in annual robot installations in the last few years. The metal and machinery, plastic and chemical products industries trailed next. The market also saw strong growth in all regions, including Asia/Australia, Europe and the Americas for industrial robots within that time. The IFC also reported that China was in the lead with 51 percent for annual installations of industrial robots, then Japan with 21 percent and the U.S. with 14 percent in 2021. The largest markets overall were with China leading, then Japan and then the U.S. in 2021.
The top three applications with the most annual installations of industrial robots were in handling, welding and assembling between 2019-2021, they reported.
The need for industrial robots continues to grow to meet demands in new market. The need for industrial robots continues to grow to meet demands in new markets like logistics, farming and construction, to address rising and expensive labor costs and labor shortages. This means a new field of complex applications needs to be solved by robots with some help of AI.
Opportunity Knocks
The industrial robotic industry has come a long way from static robot arms used in automotive manufacturing facilities. While the automotive industry will likely continue to be a leader in its use of robotics, growth in industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and agriculture need different types of robots, such as mobile and collaborative robots.
One type of robot showing great potential are collaborative robots or “cobots” designed to work around humans. Cobots are relatively new to the scene, and are appealing to manufacturers because they are relatively lower in cost than other robot types and are more versatile. Not only can they be found in industrial settings, but collaborative robots are also showing up in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and energy fields.
The IFR reported that collaborative robots steadily grew their market share from 2017 to 2021. And according to Automation.com, collaborative robots will account for over 10 percent of total industrial robot sales by 2026.
Tenacious Trendsetters Tap into New Markets
Perhaps robots could front a Tenacious D cover band in the future but right now you are more likely to find them working alongside people or alone in a lab. Meet Kevin, the brainchild of Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, IPA, a research development organization based in Germany. Kevin is a collaborative mobile robot that can work in a laboratory with or without the presence of people. He was named after Kevin in the movie Home Alone since he can work without adult supervision.
The goal of Fraunhofer IPA was to change the way automation can be done in laboratories, with robots like Kevin to automate repetitive tasks and relieve the strain on laboratory workers so that they can concentrate on more important work like research and diagnostics, and to keep them from coming in nights or weekends.
For example, Kevin can be used to transport consumables and samples in the lab between a device that is already in place, instead of setting up systems that are expensive and inflexible. Unlike other lab automation systems, Kevin is unique because it is trainable and flexible.
Features and functionality of robots like Kevin have the ability to work safely alongside humans and include an omnidirectional drive system that allows Kevin to move in any direction without turning, the ability to read barcodes and has sense plates with the gripper, automated charge management and more.
To bring their vision to life, the company took Kevin to the 3DEXPERIENCE lab. They turned to Dassault Systèmes to help them achieve their vision and create interactive marketing assets from their designs.
Fraunhofer IPA is now marketing robots like Kevin and currently has customers in pharmaceuticals using them.
Watch the video below to see Kevin in action and hear from Tobias Brode, Head of Business Unit Medical Engineering and Biotechnology at Fraunhofer IPA, who explains Kevin’s features and benefits.
Another cutting-edge trendsetter is sewts (pronounced suits), a company that innovatively makes software and robots for clothing manufacturing and industrial laundry businesses. The German-based startup makes robots powered by artificial intelligence that have human-like perception skills, which can work with fiber-based materials such as textiles, yarn and deformable materials like cloth for processes including sewing and laundry handling. For example, their VELUM system spreads out and ensures laundry doesn’t have any wrinkles before feeding it into folding machines, which would typically require a person to do. The system is ideal for companies that launder large volumes of laundry.
The company aims to simplify complex and demanding manual labor, address labor shortages and make sure their products have a sustainable impact on the environment. Making this company even more impressive is their design process which has created a virtual twin and material simulation. The company develops specialized finite element (FE) simulations to reproduce the behavior of textiles. These simulations open up new possibilities in the development of smart algorithms, says the company. The simulations are used to generate synthetic training data for AI engineering, leading to dramatically shorter development cycles.
They’ve adopted many solutions from Dassault Systèmes including CATIA, SIMULIA and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The fast-growing startup needed to cope with increasing demand for clearly defined processes in product development, so they opted for the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. In addition, technical requirements for the company’s solutions became more and more complex when it came to linking mechanical, electrical and software engineering. The company used the platform to manage all that data and protect its intellectual property.
“3DEXPERIENCE on the cloud enables us to digitalize and master our product development and free up valuable time for innovative thinking,” said Tim Doerks, co-Founder of sewts.
Discover how sewts faced challenges and succeeded in the robotics industry on this podcast.
Get on Cloud 9
Robotics companies continue to thrive to make their dreams a reality. Take Burro, a Philadelphia-based robotics company that is addressing the decline in farm workers with its automated systems for farmwork—for example, on berry farms. The company provides solutions for the agriculture industry and just raised $10.9 million in 2021. The company develops robots that can work outdoors and do the strenuous work people no longer want to do.
What if you could make up for the lack of field experience with valuable and up-to-date data from your robots in operation, with the ability to create a virtual twin? The 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud can support robotics startups by providing detailed data of the robots running in action to improve the robots’ performance and develop predictive maintenance practices. In addition, Dassault SysteÌ€mes offers 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace, a resource with on-demand access to industrial service providers, including PartSupply, an online library of standard and reusable parts.
To learn more about robot development on 3DEXPERIENCE and the cloud, visit Dassault Systèmes.
