Service Robots

In 2007, the IFR Statistical Department carried out a market survey of service robots for the 8th time. A questionnaire was sent to more than 180 companies worldwide, asking for data on accumulated sales up to the end of 2006, sales in 2006, and projections for 2007-2010. Data was reported according to the classification shown in table VII.1 below. It should be noted that this classification has been slightly revised compared to previous years' surveys. In total, about 200 companies have now been identified as producers/developers of service robots (see table VII.2, placed at the end of the present chapter). The overall result of the survey is shown in section VII.2 below. Detailed information about the application areas of service robots is given in section VII.3. The analysis for each application area is organized under the following headings (where applicable): (i) Types of operations carried out by the robots (ii) Level of distribution (iii) Cost/benefit analysis, particular attributes, and major restraints on further diffusion (iv) Major producers As the amount of information available differs considerably between application areas, some headings might contain only a few pieces of information or even be empty.