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An era of cloud robotics was inevitable, as cloud computing and robotics technology developed in their respective ways, adopted by both enterprise and consumer alike. While the concept may appear difficult to grasp — both cloud computing and robotics can seem like futuristic tech best left to science fiction — the work in cloud robotics is making significant headway, and comprehending it is easier with a parallel drawn to the internet of things.
In a broad sense, the world is witnessing all manner of objects and people become connected to the internet, robotics as a specific sector of technology included. Recent research from Frost & Sullivan analyzes the growth of introducing cloud computing to robotics, and determines that the new work in making robots web-connected has the potential to drastically mold the future of the industry. Cloud robotics essentially means using the internet to augment a robot’s capabilities, and to offload many of its processes so that it runs more efficiently and consumes less power.
In a nutshell, that is the goal of cloud computing overall: to provide services on demand, offload processing from legacy infrastructure to alleviate time and power consumption. When brought to robotics, cloud will do the same thing that businesses have now found: integrating cloud-based technologies can make operations run more smoothly. Frost & Sullivan’s research notes that eventually the development of cloud robotics will drive down the cost of manufacturing. The firm quotes Technical Insights Research Analyst Debarun Guha Thakurta:
As cloud robotics moves beyond its nascent stage, numerous applications of these technologies will come to the fore. For the moment, healthcare, transportation, consumer robotics and manufacturing are areas that can benefit from the use of shared resources and the elimination of the need to manage or update robotics software.
Indeed, healthcare and transportation are two industries that come to mind when thinking of using robots to improve systems. Self-driving cars are no longer a technology of the future, and mobile health technology is being increasingly adopted by healthcare systems, patients, and doctors. And, of course, drones might be one of the most hot-button robotic items outside of ones that employ artificial intelligence. The introduction of cloud technologies into robotics across multiple industries has the power to make robot development easier, quicker, less expensive, less power-consuming, and all around a smoother process. What is not known is how many of the robotics currently in development will be harnessed to improve those industries.
