Brussels, 11/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Tuesday 10 June that, between 2007 and 2010, the European Union will double its investment to almost €400 million in support of European robotics research.
It was at AUTOMATICA 2008, one of the leading international trade fairs in robotics and automation, held in Munich in Germany, that the Commission announced this policy to boost European robotics. “This ambitious programme aims to forge stronger links between academia and industry, and plans to fund a widespread experimentation by academic researchers and industry,” allowing European laboratories to use industrial-strength robots in large scale experimentation, the Commission says in a press release. The European Commission also calls on the industry to intensify its efforts in producing critical components in Europe, such as gears, in order to face competition from Asia and avoid strategic dependencies on other regions of the world. “There is a clear window of opportunity for automation industries in Europe - in particular robotics - not just to maintain leadership, but to grow further and to move higher up the value chain,” said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. “To achieve this, the industry has to intensify its efforts in several areas,” she added. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) estimates the current world market for industrial robots at about €4 billion and forecasts a 4.2% year on year increase until 2010. Service robots that operate outside the manufacturing domain offer opportunities for new applications and market expansion: according to the IFR, growth in this market is expected to reach between 10% and 15% per year between now and 2010 and the number of professional service robots will grow from 40,000 in 2006 to 75,000 in 2010. Service robots are used in many sectors, e.g. for the distribution of goods, for cleaning vehicles, in agriculture and in medical applications. The European Union today enjoys a strong position in industrial robots for automation: about one third of all industrial robots are produced in Europe. The Commission says that it is only through automation that manufacturing will be maintained in higher wage regions such as Europe. Automation also plays a key role in ensuring a sustainable production and minimizing wasteful use of resources, and will also help Europe's ageing society by compensating for a declining labour force. (B.C./transl.rt)