Gone are the days when robots were just a part of the science-fiction movie world. They invaded our real world to be our toys, to begin with, and now have gone far into it due to the latest technological advancements. They are in our offices, science labs, and hospitals.

You can see robots everywhere now. From automobiles to electronics, they have taken over the world. Even for a simple check about Spectrum service area I ask Siri to look it up for me (although it is not exactly a robot, but a CHATBOT, which is a kind of robot). Siri found it in seconds. 

Lets see what further advancements and trends we can expect from these amazing tech creatures in 2020.

Robots as House Members

Yes, robotic vacuum cleaners are a thing, we know. We have also seen robotic toys in several homes to keep the pets entertained. But is it going to go further than that? Are they going to become an essential part of every household? There are lots of companies and startups to make sure that they do. Some companies are designing robots to take care of the elderly. They can give them medicine on time, take care of their basic eating necessities, and play soothing music for them too. Those designed for taking care of pets can feed them, follow them around, play with them to keep them entertained while their human parents are away. And this is just the beginning. 

The data collection of real-life scenarios to integrate into robots is underway, and the time is not far away when we will be able to see them moving around as freely as our family members. 

Ikea’s project, the first commercial robot kitchen assistant will be available next year too. How it would be received by people, we can’t say, but it is surely going to be a break-through.

Robot Delivery Boys

Talking about deliveries, man, are they expensive! This break-through is going to solve so many problems for all the online businesses and customers. The delivery of the product is the most expensive part of the delivery process, in most parts of the world. It is challenging to deliver the product in perfect condition, despite the weather conditions, the delicacy, or the distance. 

Robots designed to work indoors are no more fiction. They can work indoors, and carry out several functions like packing and stocking products. They can deliver the products to the designated places inside the offices in no time. There are robotic services like Nuro, designed by Google engineers, which deliver fresh groceries and food to the allocated areas. Nuro is also handling the world’s first autonomous taxi deliveries in the parts of Phoenix, Arizona.

Collaborative Robots- Cobots

No, these are not going to steal your jobs. In fact, they have been designed to work alongside you at the workplace. They not only provide useful advice but can also do the heavy muscle work for you if needed. 

There are environments and places which are hostile and unsafe for humans to work in. With the advancements taking huge leaps, soon the businesses will estimate that it is cost-effective and safe to deploy robots instead of humans at certain positions. You can take the example of Amazon warehouses, where robots help with the packaging in the areas where it becomes unbearably hot for humans to work. That time is not far when we will have to go through paying the “robot taxes”, as proposed by different politicians on various business forums. Human-robot working relationships would form an altogether different field of study.

Edge Computing

Nothing can work better for edge computing than robots. They can built sensors in the automated systems, even in the extremes, and can make the “machines meeting the real world” dream into a reality. 

In the upcoming year, we can expect a lot of advancements in the smart sensors sector. We would be able to see sensors with in-built artificial intelligence. Sending the information to the cloud or to the centralized servers for processing won’t be a requirement anymore. If you have the data, it can be acted upon immediately. 

China’s first open-source edge computing platform, OpenEdge, will allow developers to source their manufactured robots with AI. This will greatly minimize the need to use CPU, or bandwidth required to function with cloud infrastructure. This will surely make it possible to see smarter robots in our homes and workplaces.