ABB Robotics added cell robots to its portfolio when it acquired ASTI in 2021. | Supply: ABB Robotics
Autonomous cell robots, or AMRs, have grown from a distinct segment expertise to an more and more widespread a part of warehouses previously 10 years. However now, the AMR {industry} is going through some challenges.
In July, Work together Evaluation lowered its forecast for the AMR {industry} by $800 million. The market analysis agency cited a fancy mixture of geopolitical, financial, and industry-specific challenges.
On the similar time, international labor challenges open the door for AMRs to be deployed at a good bigger scale within the coming years.
Saurabh Chandra, founder and CEO of Ati Motors; Florian Pestoni, co-founder and CEO of InOrbit; and Vaithy Kandasamy, international AMR portfolio supervisor at ABB Robotics, shared insights with The Robotic Report on the place the market is headed.
Finish customers face related challenges world wide
Around the globe, and throughout industries, it’s changing into an increasing number of tough to seek out folks to do mundane, repetitive duties. With headquarters within the U.S. and India, Ati Motors has accomplished work in Mexico and throughout Asia, giving Chandra a very international perspective. As well as, the corporate does most of its work in manufacturing, a comparatively new {industry} for AMRs.
“Manufacturing has globalized nicely over the previous 50 to 100 years, and there’s plenty of finest follow sharing amongst producers. Many of the manufacturing environments are very related the world over,” he stated. “One other factor I anticipated to be completely different was the starvation for this sort of automation. Surprisingly, it’s the identical all over the place, regardless of labor prices.”
Regardless of the nation or value of labor, it’s tough to seek out folks for manufacturing roles. “It’s a worldwide phenomenon that the youthful era doesn’t need to do eight hours of senseless work,” stated Chandra. “I believe repeating the identical movement 100 occasions shouldn’t be one thing people have been designed to do.”
InOrbit works intently with finish customers in a variety of industries to assist them optimize their operations with its software program, and Pestoni has seen the same development.
“A variety of the top customers we speak to are going through related challenges, no matter what {industry} they’re in,” he noticed. “A variety of them have labor scarcity challenges, particularly within the type of duties which can be perhaps extra repetitive and fewer thrilling. It’s more durable to draw folks to these sorts of jobs.”
As extra international locations are seeing shrinking and getting older workforces, and immigration slows, Pestoni stated this downside isn’t going away anytime quickly.
“Earlier than, [users] might need solely used robots in important duties that have been super-repetitive and very well-defined,” he stated. “These are the traditional functions of commercial robots, like in automotive. Now, they’re pondering they want that [automation] for a lot of extra workflows.”
AI presents new AMR alternatives
Applied sciences that make AMRs simpler to deploy, service, and work with can be essential for large-scale deployments. Because of this Ati Motors and ABB are working to combine the newest AI applied sciences into their robots.
“LLMs [large language models] and generative AI are revolutionizing human-robot interplay without having for specialised packages,” defined Kandasamy. “Robotic programs can work together with people utilizing easy spoken directions and even by recognizing a hand gesture. The system can study repeatedly by itself to optimize the fleet efficiency and productiveness.”
“Unpredictable or complicated environments will be higher solved with enhanced decision-making by AI, particularly LLMs,” he added. “It will probably additionally allow smarter selections equivalent to fleet/mission administration, fault diagnostics, predictive upkeep, and so on. This democratizes entry to automation, eradicating the necessity for superior technical abilities and accelerating adoption throughout new sectors.”
However generative AI isn’t simply useful for the human interplay facet of issues. Bodily AI can be changing into an vital matter in robotics.
“AI is enhancing every part from AMRs’ skill to choose, place, and deal with bigger payloads, in addition to their skill to map and navigate by means of dynamic environments,” Kandasamy stated. “AI is giving robots unprecedented ranges of velocity, accuracy, and payload carrying skill, enabling them to tackle extra duties in settings like versatile factories, warehouses, logistics facilities, and laboratories.”
“AMRs geared up with ABB’s new AI-powered visible SLAM expertise have superior mapping and navigation abilities, granting new ranges of autonomy, whereas significantly decreasing the infrastructure wanted by earlier generations of guided robots,” he asserted. “AI-enabled functionalities equivalent to object recognition, stacking, free navigation, and so on., can additional improve flexibility and productiveness. This paves the best way for a shift from linear manufacturing traces to dynamic networks, creating important efficiencies and taking up extra uninteresting, soiled, and harmful duties to allow employees to take up extra rewarding jobs.”
Editor’s notice: RoboBusiness 2025, which can be on Oct. 15 and 16 in Santa Clara, Calif., will embody the Bodily AI Discussion board, a brand new session observe devoted to bodily AI. Registration is now open.
Uncertainty round tariffs causes concern
Rising U.S. and international tariffs have been one of many elements that Work together Evaluation cited in downgrading its cell robotic market forecast. The agency’s International Financial Coverage Uncertainty (GEPU) Index hit an all-time excessive of 430 in January 2025. This degree of uncertainty exceeded these of the 2008 monetary disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within the meantime, many corporations are adopting a “wait-and-see” strategy, delaying strategic investments in warehouse automation and infrastructure. This can be a development Ati Motors’ Chandra has seen firsthand.
“It’s not a lot the tariffs, however the uncertainty, which is attending to folks,” he stated. “That typically turns into an element within the intent getting delayed. Individuals say, ‘Why don’t we let this settle and take a look at it subsequent quarter?’”
Chandra stated he believes that when tariff ranges are finalized, the AMR market will enhance. “I believe we’re attending to a degree the place the uncertainty, hopefully, will cut back. Though the tariffs are excessive, they’re uniformly excessive for nearly everyone,” he stated.
ABB is taking a longer-term take a look at the problem.
“If there’s a higher-tariff state of affairs for a protracted time, international AMR gamers could think about a neighborhood manufacturing footprint for the U.S. market,” Kandasamy stated. “There can nonetheless be value challenges because of some key imported parts. If the general AMR answer value will increase, it must be compensated for by quicker commissioning to keep up the engaging ROI [return-on-investment] ranges. Total, the U.S. AMR market is sizable in addition to vital for international gamers.”
AMR tech matures as new markets beckon
The AMR market is maturing, and the robotics {industry} has solved a lot of its core expertise issues, in response to Chandra. It’s now transferring on to fixing “second-tier” points.
“Change administration and adoption within the giant manufacturing giants, and doing that final inch of automation,” he stated. “That turns into tough, as a result of it turns into customized. That is tough to productize.”
“We’re actually pondering, ‘Can we construct smallish, peripheral merchandise which will be dragged and dropped into numerous deployments, quite than you construct them from scratch all over the place?’” Chandra continued.
ABB is seeking to new industries for deployment alternatives. Kandasamy highlighted automotive, manufacturing, logistics, e-commerce, and warehousing as extra established markets.
“Extra adaptation will be anticipated in electronics; stock administration; and repair sectors equivalent to resorts, eating places, and healthcare,” Kandasamy stated. “New AMR functions in clear room, chilly room, hygiene, and dangerous environments require particular design issues and extra certifications. Promising clean-room functions, which require contamination-free automation, embody semiconductor, battery cell manufacturing, and medical laboratories.”
Regardless of challenges within the {industry}, InOrbit’s Pestoni stated curiosity in AMRs is up. “I believe what has modified, particularly not too long ago, [is] there’s extra urge for food to undertake and to undertake quicker. It’s in additional locations, so I believe it’s a extremely thrilling time to be in robotics,” he stated.
