16 of the Top Robot Companies on Our Radar in 2021. They’re Creating a Brave New World

These robotics companies demonstrate that the advances in smart machines in 2021 come in many flavors from manufacturing to surgery.

Rob Spiegel

July 15, 2021

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Annual installations of industrial robots more than tripled within 10 years (2010-2019) reaching 381 thousand units in factories around the world.

According to the International Federation of Robots, the top trends in industrial robots during 2021 include:

Robots That Learn New Tricks

Artificial intelligence software in combination with vision and other sensing systems, allow robots to master difficult tasks. One such task is bin picking, which in the past was only feasible for a human hand.

Robots That Work in Smart Factories

The automotive industry pioneered smart factory solutions utilizing industrial robots throughout assembly lines that have dominated traditional automobile production for more than 100 years. The future belongs to the networked interaction of robots and autonomous guided vehicles — or rather autonomous mobile robots.

Robots That Enter New Markets

The connectivity breakthroughs contribute to increased robot adoption in manufacturing sectors that have only recently turned to automation, such as food and beverage, textiles, wood products, and plastics.

Robots That Reduce Carbon Footprint

Investments in modern robot technology will also be driven by the requirement for a smaller carbon footprint. Modern robots are energy-efficient, thus directly reducing the energy consumption of production. 

Related:Handing Production to the Robots? It’s Getting Cheap and Easy

Robots That Secure Supply Chains

The pandemic situation has made the weakness of globalized supply chains visible. Robotic automation offers productivity, flexibility, and security.

Take a look at our list of robotic companies you should know.

Rob Spiegel has covered manufacturing for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include automation, supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cybersecurity. For 10 years, he was the owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.

About the Author

Rob Spiegel

Rob Spiegel serves as a senior editor for Design News. He started with Design News in 2002 as a freelancer covering sustainability issues, including the transistion in electronic components to RoHS compliance. Rob was hired by Design News as senior editor in 2011 to cover automation, manufacturing, 3D printing, robotics, AI, and more.

Prior to his work with Design News, Rob worked as a senior editor for Electronic News and Ecommerce Business. He served as contributing editolr to Automation World for eight years, and he has contributed to Supply Chain Management Review, Logistics Management, Ecommerce Times, and many other trade publications. He is the author of six books on small business and internet commerce, inclluding Net Strategy: Charting the Digital Course for Your Company's Growth.

He has been published in magazines that range from Rolling Stone to True Confessions.

Rob has won a number of awards for his technolloghy coverage, including a Maggy Award for a Design News article on the Jeep Cherokee hacking, and a Launch Team award for Ecommerce Business. Rob has also won awards for his leadership postions in the American Marketing Association and SouthWest Writers.

Before covering technology, Rob spent 10 years as publisher and owner of Chile Pepper Magazine, a national consumer food publication. He has published hundreds of poems and scores of short stories in national publications.

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