EU robotics spending “doubles
Article Type: News From: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 35, Issue 6
The EU will spend almost 400 million euro (£316 million) on research and investments in robotics over the next 2 years, the European Commission has said.
The amount – double the EU spending in recent years – is warranted for robotic automation and is essential to European manufacturing, the Commission said in a statement.
It estimated annual growth in the robotics sector at up to 15 per cent a year over the next 3 years.
It said number of service robots in the EU – that are typically used in warehouses, car washes and agriculture – will total 75,000 in 2010, up from 40,000 in 2006.
“Automation plays a key role in ensuring a sustainable production and minimising wasteful use of resources (and) contribute to help Europe’s ageing society by compensating for a declining labour force,” the commission said.
Roughly one-third of all industrial robots are produced in Europe.
The current world market for industrial robots is about €4 billion (£3.17 billion), according to the International Federation of Robotics.
