Properly aligned: NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid, and Waymo’s newest autonomous vehicle. What breakthroughs await us at the intersection of space exploration, robotics, and autonomous vehicles?
As 2024 recedes into the past, we’re gearing up to tackle one of the most exciting robotics trends of the year once more. Despite a year marked by exciting innovations and technological advancements, the industry struggled with decreased investment and sluggish sales.
Our Top 5 Tendencies for 2024:
Humans’ dominance of the information landscape persists.
The most significant narrative of 2024, without a doubt, revolved around the proliferation of robots. However, this year wasn’t marked by flashy headlines; instead, it was characterized by meaningful, tangible advancements in technology.
Agility Robotics’ Digit remains a pioneer in the home automation space. In June, we discovered an issue at one of our Spanx facilities located in Georgia.
Schaeffler AG invested in a minority stake in Agility and Digit robotics companies to deploy their technology across its global manufacturing facilities in November. The marked primary pay-for-play applications of humanoid robots.
Can AI systems effectively target their primary clients? While the identity of the initial purchaser remains undisclosed, BMW Group has temporarily suspended production at its Spartanburg, S.C., manufacturing facility to deal with quality issues affecting fitted sheet-metal components on its assembly lines for two weeks beginning October 2. The corporation secured a Sequence B round of $675 million in February, making it one of the largest funding rounds of the year.
Recently, we’ve observed a multitude of humanoid robots hitting the market in the past year. Most significantly, NASA successfully debuted an electric-powered model of its Atlas humanoid robot, marking a major milestone in the development of autonomous systems. Despite Atlas’s impressive capabilities, its hydraulic actuation design hindered its practical application as a research challenge.
This marks the corporation’s inaugural foray into the burgeoning field of humanoid robotics. Thus far, Boston Dynamics has successfully demonstrated its robotic capabilities in manufacturing massive automotive components.
Recent developments in the realm of humanoid robotics have seen various entities embracing cutting-edge advancements from esteemed organizations such as EngineAI’s, Pudu Robotics’, 1X’s, LimX’s, Unitree Robotics’, Sanctuary AI’s, and Mentee Robotics’ prototypes.
Throughout this year, we’ve witnessed numerous breakthroughs in Tesla’s Optimus robotic technology. At a prominent event in October, Optimus, a highly recognizable humanoid robot, made headlines by showcasing its versatility as it skillfully mixed cocktails and socialized with attendees at Tesla’s gathering.
Later, several shops reportedly found that the robots had been manipulated by people, rather than functioning independently.
Basis fashions achieve traction
Advances in artificial intelligence, particularly deep learning-based solutions, have been gaining significant momentum within the robotics industry this year, with both established companies and innovative startups investing heavily in the technology. NVIDIA’s Venture GR00T, an initiative analyzing foundational technologies, tools, and innovations to accelerate the development of humanoid robots, was showcased at GTC 2024.
The researchers designed a novel mannequin to enable robots to comprehend pure language and mimic actions by mimicking human behavior.
Skild AI emerged from stealth in July, securing a $300 million Series A funding round. The company is developing the Skild Mind, a cutting-edge robotics model, along with a comprehensive platform and a dedicated platform for safety and inspection.
As a next step, Bodily Intelligence is poised to accelerate the development of AI capabilities for a diverse range of robots. The corporation stated that its generalist coverage will enable robots to be more straightforward to programme and employ. Its initial exhibits featured robots executing tasks such as folding laundry, constructing packing crates, and adaptively positioning items within containers.
Amazon has also further invested in developing its fashion offerings. Covariant’s founders, along with roughly 25% of its employees, have secured a non-exclusive licence to leverage the company’s proprietary robotic platform technology.
Amazon’s innovative efforts have yielded two distinct initiatives: the “Covariant Mind,” touted as a ubiquitous AI platform, and the Amazon AGI SF Lab, dedicated to cultivating groundbreaking technologies that harmonize with both the virtual and physical realms to create practical AI applications.
Robotic sales stall in North America in 2024.
Although full-year robotics gross sales figures for 2024 are unavailable, the first nine months do not inspire optimism. According to data from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), North American companies ordered 23,034 robots worth $1.4 billion between January and September 2024, marking a 1.9% decline in units and a 2.2% drop in value compared to the same period in 2023. Robotic orders saw a significant increase in 2023 compared to the previous year, with a notable jump from 2022.
Gross sales decreased by 32% in the semiconductor and photonics segment, while the automotive components division saw a decline of 21%. A3 attributed the slowing gross sales to tightened capital budgets, high interest rates, and decreased industrial output, particularly in the electric vehicle sector.
While the numbers may not have appeared visually appealing, the underlying data still held significance. For one, A3 solely tracks robotic gross sales, excluding considerations like autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and other types. The increasing prominence of these figures may signal a significant pivot away from traditional industrial robots and towards more adaptable forms of automation.
Despite a decline in sectors traditionally reliant on robotics, there has been growth in other industries. Orders surge across various categories: shopper items jumped by a whopping +60%, while and surged by +43%, and metals experienced a modest growth of +8%.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has completed its remarkable mission on Mars with a historic final flight.
A picture of Ingenuity’s damaged rotor blade following its 72nd successful flight in January? 18, 2024. | Supply: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This year, we bid farewell to one of our most delightful experiments to date. The helicopter, a historic milestone in aviation, made its inaugural flight on another planet for the very first time on January 18. NASA’s investigation revealed that during an earlier emergency landing, several of Ingenuity’s rotor blades suffered damage, effectively grounding the helicopter and preventing future flight attempts.
Ingenuity’s stay on Mars has now exceeded 1,000 solar days – equivalent to 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds – a remarkable duration that is more than 33 times longer than initially planned by NASA. To keep it running smoothly, the Ingenuity team had to devise creative ways to extend its lifespan beyond its original expiration date. While NASA’s Martian workforce enabled Ingenuity to independently select landing sites in challenging terrain on the Red Planet.
Despite its original design for spring operations, the helicopter proved remarkably resilient, tolerating harsh conditions by handling useless sensors, self-cleaning after mud storms, and functioning from 48 diverse airfields. It even executed three emergency landings and braved a challenging Marian winter, showcasing its remarkable adaptability. The helicopter successfully completed 72 missions, logging a total flight time exceeding 128 minutes while covering a distance of 11 miles (17.7 kilometres) and reaching a maximum altitude of 79 feet. (24 m).
The potential impact of Ingenuity’s technological innovations will undoubtedly be felt across numerous NASA missions to come. The humanitarian organization has already begun preparations to dispatch two additional helicopters to the affected region.
Will Waymo still reign supreme as the ultimate robotaxi champion by 2024?
By 2024, one reality stood out regarding robotaxis: Waymo’s dominance in the industry was unmistakable. For a long time, Waymo, the autonomous driving arm of Alphabet, and Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving division, seemed evenly matched in terms of expertise and deployment numbers.
In 2023, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued permits for street bumps, effectively regulating the state’s autonomous vehicle infrastructure. This development had significant implications for Cruise, which struggled to recover in 2024 before General Motors ultimately announced the suspension of its robotaxi deployment plans in December. Citing prolonged growth cycles, high prices, and an increasingly competitive market as justification for its decision.
Additionally, Waymo has primarily focused on developing its robotaxi businesses. The autonomous vehicle company launched its inaugural service in 2018 and subsequently expanded to cities including Mountain View, Chicago, and Washington D.C. By 2022, Waymo reported that it was providing over 150,000 rides per week across Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin. By 2025, the organization intends to establish operational entities in Asia and Europe.
As the year unfolds, robotaxi pioneers like Zoox and Nuro are poised to gain significant traction as they transition from pilot projects to commercially viable services. By 2024, Nuro plans to fully utilize its capabilities with zero-occupant vehicles equipped with the Nuro Driver system, while Zoox expands its operations into California and Nevada.
Chinese-language companies have witnessed a surge in popularity recently. By listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market in October, WeRide made its formal debut. The corporation anticipates a combined total of $458.5 million, comprised of proceeds from the general public offering and a concurrent private placement of $320 million.
In November, autonomous driving technology company DeepRoute.ai secured $100 million in funding through a new investment round. The corporation aims to utilize the funds to amplify partnerships with global automotive companies, pioneer autonomous taxi ventures, and support the hiring of additional AI-savvy professionals.
