AMR experts weigh in on global challenges and opportunities for the industry - The Robot Report

The article discusses the current state and future prospects of the autonomous mobile robot (AMR) industry, highlighting both challenges and opportunities. Despite a recent $800 million downward revision in market forecasts by Interact Analysis due to geopolitical, economic, and industry-specific issues, the demand for AMRs is expected to grow driven by global labor shortages. Experts from Ati Motors, InOrbit, and ABB Robotics emphasize that across various industries and regions, finding workers for repetitive, mundane tasks is increasingly difficult, a trend exacerbated by aging workforces and reduced immigration. This universal labor challenge is pushing companies to adopt AMRs beyond traditional, highly repetitive applications to a wider array of workflows. The integration of advanced AI technologies, particularly large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, is seen as a key enabler for scaling AMR deployments. These AI advancements simplify human-robot interaction by allowing robots to understand spoken instructions and gestures without specialized programming, and improve operational efficiency through continuous learning, predictive maintenance, and smarter