People in Robotics

‘We want them to come back to the robot community in Odense’, say both Christian Schlette and Morten Nielsen in this Rocking robots videoreport from ERF 2023. This major European robotics event was hosted last week in Denmark, receiving over 1,200 participants from academia, government and business.

In recent years, the working world has undergone significant transformation due to digitalization, skills shortages, and sustainability, presenting companies with an increasing number of challenges. The work attitude of the upcoming generation of employees is also changing and influencing the labor market: young talents have a new understanding of work and associated demands for their workplace. To remain attractive to well-educated applicants in the long term, companies must continuously realign themselves.

The future of robotics is intelligent machines, working together with and augmenting the skills of humans. Marco van der Hoeven reports on the trends at ERF 2023, which is hosted this week at Odense , Denmark.

Yesterday Teradyne CEO Greg Smith addressed the audience at ERF 2023 in a keynote, highlighting the role robotics companies Universal Robots and MiR, both acquired by Teradyne in recent years, play in the strategy of the US-based technology company. With currently 11 million cobots that could be sold, the potential market for cobots is around $500 billion.

Marie Bjerre, the Danish Minister for Digital Government and Gender Equality, was the first keynote speaker at the European Robotics Forum held in Odense, Denmark. In her speech, the minister highlighted the rapid pace of technological advancement and the crucial role played by the robotics and artificial intelligence industries in transforming the way we live and work.

At the beginning of the European Robotic Forum 2023 the mayor of Odense, Peter Rahbæk Juel, highlighted the impact the robotics industry has had on his community. At a reception in Odense City Hall he said that the robotics cluster gives employment to 4,600 people, and already comprises an ecosystem of 130 companies.

The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) announced two longtime industry leaders as the winners of the 2023 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards, the world’s most prestigious robotics honor.

The healthcare sector has been using robots for years. The care robot has become a mature tool in healthcare, which is also being taken seriously by government and insurers. This is illustrated by the rapidly growing popularity of care robot Maatje at home and abroad, a platform being developed by the Dutch company Smartrobot Solutions.

European Robotics Forum 2023, which will take place next week in Odense, Denmark, is fast approaching a record number of 1,000 participants. As the ODEON venue is not big enough to host all the extra sessions next to the main event, the Concert Hall (Koncerthuset0 next door will be used as well.

The adoption of robots and automation technologies in businesses is at an all-time high, driven by macro forces like labor shortages. However, most businesses do not have a documented automation strategy in place, leading to missed opportunities and slow adoption beyond initial investments, according to research published by Søren Pap-Tolstrup, CEO of independent advisors Gain & Co.