The gap between laboratory robotics and deployed systems is closing faster than most people realise. Here is where it is actually happening — across eight sectors, right now.
The image of industrial robotics — cage-enclosed, dangerous, strictly separated from human workers — is being replaced. A new generation of cobots is designed to work alongside people, sensing their proximity and adapting their force accordingly.
The Da Vinci system required a surgeon at the console for every movement. The latest generation of autonomous surgical platforms can perform portions of soft tissue procedures independently, making decisions in real time based on what the sensor array sees.
Exoskeletons and assistive systems for neurological recovery — coming Q2 2025.
When the signal from Earth takes up to 20 minutes to reach Mars and another 20 to return, you cannot teleoperate a rover in real time. Every planetary robot must be capable of autonomous decision-making — and the engineering constraints this creates are extraordinary.
The machines that repair satellites in orbit — coming Q3 2025.
Strawberries are irregular, delicate, partially hidden by foliage, and need to be assessed for ripeness before being picked. Solving this problem has required advances in computer vision, soft gripper design, and real-time decision-making that are pushing the entire field forward.
Robotic pollinators and what they say about ecosystem collapse — coming Q2 2025.