Robots Leap Forward

The robotics industry continues to register one advance after another. Now we have reached critical mass in key areas. Today we have better software, motor control systems, chips, programming, and artificial intelligence.

All these high-tech advancements add up to a new generation of robots that can perform highly complex jobs.

Now, even low-cost Chinese workers who steal jobs from Americans face pressure from this new generation of "workerbots."  The Race Against The Machine is not just an American or "First World" issue anymore.

Just ask the workers at Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., a firm based in Taiwan that makes products for companies such as Apple.  Foxconn's robots will replace roughly half the firm's 1.2 million workers in China. Anyone who follows high tech needs to watch this trend as it unfolds over the next three to five years.

The Foxconn program is one of the most ambitious roll-out of robots ever tried. No one has gone from 10,000 robots to 1 million in such a short period of time.  Even that understates the sheer scale of Foxconn's move. Consider statistics from the International Federation of Robotics.

According to this robotics trade group, only about 1 million industrial robots are now in use around the world. Foxconn's move alone will double the number as it works to automate its factories.

Just that fact shows you how far robots have come in a short time. Gone are the days when a bot did only a few very simple tasks on the shop floor.

Today's robots can actually beat humans in highly complex jobs - some of which are found in the modern operating room.  The DaVinci surgical robot for instance has been involved with tens of thousands of  surgical procedures.

Restoration Robotics ARTAS System

The American FDA has even recently approved using robots to restore hair for balding men --Restoration Robotics is marketing the ARTAS system that harvests follicles from one part of a man's body to re-grow the hair on his head.  The ARTAS system features imaging software that finds healthy hair and a robotic arm that removes it.  It isn't cheap. In early January, the The New York Times said the surgery lasts four to eight hours and costs $12,000 to $15,000.

Investment journalist Michael Robinsion is bullish on the robotics sector because of developments like this and the continued progression of companies like iRobot.  The company has just filed its 100th patent application, demonstrating a clear innovation development model.  More than 7.5 million iRobot home robots have been sold, revolutionizing the way people clean their homes. The company has also delivered more than 4,500 life-saving robots to military and civil defense forces worldwide.

Clearly robotics implementation is increasing on an exponential curve.  According to Robinson, even though iRobot's stock got hammered on fear of defense cuts, don't ignore the robotics field. Even though robots first came into use decades ago, they're just now hitting their stride.

"We are in the very early stages of an exciting new industry - one that will yield lots of chances to find investments that take advantage of these breakthroughs."