Humanoid Robots Expected to Work in Industrial Companies’ Production Halls Soon

Humanoid robots, robots designed to resemble humans, are expected to be implemented in the production halls of industrial companies, with serial production anticipated as early as next year. This is an estimate from a market analysis titled ‘Humanoid Robots in Operations’ conducted by the consulting firm Horváth. Thanks to accelerated technological advancement, humanoid robots are expected to be so advanced by 2030 that they will be able to compensate for the shortage of workers in production, which is increasingly facing this issue.

So far, the industry has mainly used so-called “articulated robots” for welding, painting, and assembly tasks, while collaborative robots (cobots) have been used, among other things, for product quality control. Humanoid robots are already being used in the automotive industry as part of a pilot project, and their improvement is expected to focus on speed of movement, flexibility, and increasingly fine motor skills.

– Our analysis has shown that in the near future, humanoid robots have the potential to take over more than 50% of primarily manual tasks in a production environment. By implementing them in production, industries could bridge the ongoing problem of worker shortages for repetitive, physically demanding jobs and thus help relieve employees. Although it initially requires significant investments, this technology is expected to contribute to increased productivity, reduced costs, and foster innovation in the workplace – explained Maria Boldor from the consulting firm Horváth.

Although pilot projects are underway, many industries already see potential in utilizing this technology and are beginning to consider the possibilities of implementing humanoid robots in their strategy and identifying possible fields of application. It is expected that with the development of technology, the range of tasks that robots will be able to perform will increase, which should significantly enhance the long-term return on investment for companies.

At this moment, the acquisition costs of humanoid robots are significantly higher than those of other industrial robots, as shown by the analysis from the consulting firm Horváth, but once serial production begins, a reduction in costs is expected, they announced.