Robotics-as-a-service helps your business in various ways

Anyone who's familiar with cloud computing might know about software-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service, and other "as-a-service" delivery models. But they might be not be aware of the latest iteration: robotics-as-a-service (RaaS).

RaaS also leverages the cloud, and makes it possible for organizations to integrate robots and embedded devices into the web and cloud computing environments. This capability will become increasingly important as robots become more common in work environments such as warehouses, distribution centers, and stores.

With RaaS, data captured by artificial intelligent robots — such as customer preferences or inventory status — can be stored on a cloud-based system and retrieved as needed by human workers. This type of service can provide even more value if a company is operating a fleet of hundreds of robots, each performing a variety of tasks.

The RaaS provider could handle maintenance of the robots as well as integration between the robots and databases used across the enterprise. The advantages of this model, much like with cloud services in general, can include cost savings, easier management and scalability, and greater flexibility.

Currently the term "robotics-as-a service" is used to describe two separate robotics approaches, said Dan Kara, practice director for innovative AI robotics at research firm ABI Research.

First there is RaaS as a technical method. Often referred to as "Cloud service humanoid robots," it includes internet-connected robots using cloud based, pay-as-you-go, computational and data storage resources.

RaaS is also the term applied to business models where robotics systems are rented on a monthly or quarterly basis, with often with technical support, real-time monitoring, and other services included.

Technical- and business-oriented RaaS approaches are often combined, Kara said.

The emergence of RaaS reflects the broader move to services-based models in technology.

"The general trend among many technology providers is a long-term migration away from selling products to selling services beyond the usual incremental revenue from support, maintenance and upgrades charges," Kara said. "Services are recurrent revenue, and are looked on favorably by both technology providers and the investment community. Like the technology sector at large, suppliers of commercial service robot have adopted robotics-as-a-service business models and this trend is accelerating."

Both users of robotics technologies and robotics suppliers benefit from RaaS business arrangements, Kara said. "Service-oriented solutions are not uncommon in the robotics sector, where the high cost of platforms and risk aversion to new technologies and applications can impede growth," he said.

In addition, for some types of robotic systems a business model that relies on hardware sales is untenable, even if there are charges for maintenance, upgrades, customization and so on. There are also technical reasons for the RaaS approach, Kara said. For example, the computational resources available for a given advanced AI robot might be inadequate for the task at hand. In this case, a cloud robotics approach might be suitable.

Robotics companies that employ a RaaS business model typically offer emerging technologies whose value proposition and total cost of ownership are largely unknown. Kara said.

Representative companies employing a RaaS business model include PrecisionHawk (drone-based surveying for agriculture), Sanbot (Robot for home, enterprises, retail, hospitality, healthcare and education), Aethon (mobile robots for healthcare logistics), InTouch Health (mobile robotic telepresence), and Liquid Robotics (unmanned underwater vehicles).

Baymax service robot to be real in our daily life

“Hello, my name is Baymax and I am your personal healthcare assistant. I will understand that you need health care at the voice of ‘Ouch’.” This is the scene that comes out in Big Hero 6. Each watcher of this movie wants the scene to come true in our daily life.

Intelligent service robot sees great prospect

Compared to industrial robots, in a standardized workflow, service robots need to interact with people or more complex environments, and therefore need to be more intelligent than industrial robots. This kind of intelligent robots must have a certain degree of autonomy and give response to the command and other information.

From the current market situation, the reason why intelligent service robot can flourish contains policy support, human cost increase, the aging of the social population, the rise of artificial intelligence technology and other aspects are indispensable factors.

On the one hand, China has issued "Made-in-China 2025", "Development Plan for the Robotics Industry (2016-2020)" and other programmatic documents, creating the outlets for the development of the robot industry; On the other hand, the data show that in 2016 the average annual wage of urban non-private employees increased by 6.7%, labor cost growing higher and higher. 

By the end of 2016, China's population aged 65 and above has accounted for as much as 10.8%. Thus, the society requires intelligent care robot for the elderly to improve efficiency and save costs, to narrow the huge demand gap in the pension, rehabilitation, care, companions and other aspects of large elderly population. These are creating new opportunities to boost the development of intelligent service robot.

Meanwhile, with the third rise of artificial intelligence, the voice recognition and facial recognition, which are considered as the core factors of intelligent service robot, goes into the new development stage, to improve the simulation degree greatly.

Under the energization of these factors, intelligent service robot welcomes the emerging development. According the data prediction from IDC, the commercial service robot in health care, retail, public service and traffic in the global world is expected to reach $17 billion and that may reach up to RMB trillion in China.

Service robot is expanding to more industries

With the development of service robot, robotics professionals start a new talk about the future relation of robot and human beings. Kaifu Lee from Sinovation Ventures considers that, “In the future 10 years, 90% workers of translator, journalist, assistant, security, driver, sales person, dealer, accountant and nanny will be overtaken by robots.”

At present, intelligent service robot began to be gradually applied in the catering, medical, shopping, logistics and other industries, has taken the first step to replace or assist labor. While the development of robotics in healthcare bears the brunt of the market. According to research firm GCiS in 2016, data show that China's medical robot market value is 791 million yuan, with growth of 34.4% compared with last year. And by 2021, the value of medical robotics is expected to grow to at least 2.2 billion. 

Commercial service robot to reach $17 billion in the world by 2020

The "China Robot Industry Development Report” was just issued by the robot industry research of China Institute of Electronics on August 30th, 2017.

According to the report, at present, the Chinese robot market has entered a period of rapid growth. In 2017, the domestic robot market is expected to reach $ 6.28 billion, and the average growth rate during 2012-2017 is 28%. Among them, industrial robots make up 4.22 billion US dollars, intelligent service robots make up 1.32 billion US dollars, and the other are special robots, around 740 million US dollars.

Among them, the Chinese home service robot, medical service robot and public service robot respectively present 530 million US dollars, 410 million US dollars and 380 million US dollars; home service robot market growth is relatively leading.

By 2020, the rapid development of emerging robots applied in new scenarios such as parking robots and retail service robots used in supermarkets or shopping malls will make the market size exceed $ 2.9 billion.

Behind the growth of China's service robot industry, the core is the increase in aging population which causes the increases of human costs. In addition, policy and capital support, the development of artificial intelligence technology has also boosted the growth of the service robot market.

With the acceleration of population aging, the huge manpower demand in pension, medical, education and other aspects creates the rapid expansion of intelligent service robot, especially the care robot for elderly. As of the end of 2016, China's population aged over 60 has reached 230 million, accounting for 16.7% of the total population.

At present, China's intelligence level of service robot has been rapidly improved, shoulder to shoulder with the first international echelon. The report pointed out that China's number of patent applications in the field of artificial intelligence and the United States are in the same order of magnitude, especially the increase in computer vision, intelligent voice applications and other application. This gave birth to a number of innovative start-ups. At the same time, China has made some progress in innovative AI robotics such as multi-model human-computer interaction technology, bionic materials and structure, modular self-reconfiguration technology and so on.

China's service robot industry has not yet shape stably. Facing a good market development opportunities, high-frequency demand intelligent service robots become the main investment direction. In recent years, some enterprises that use robots go into robot industry by performing independent research and development, investment and acquisition and other means. And through the comprehensive application of artificial intelligence technology to build intelligent service robots, a great number of innovative entrepreneurial enterprises Dji, Ecovacs, Sanbot service robot, i robots and other enterprises have been recognized by the market.

IFA 2017: China manufacturers boosting service robots to the world

BERLIN — Chinese manufacturers are fast establishing themselves in the up-and-coming service robot industry, known to be the domain of Japanese rivals.

At the IFA consumer electronics trade show currently underway here, about 90% of the companies featuring intelligent service robots hail from China. One of them is Shenzhen's Qihan Technology, which unveiled the Sanbot Nano home companion robot for the first time at the expo.

The roughly 70cm Sanbot Nano can understand voice commands and be directed to sing, order pizza or change the TV channel. The automaton also comes with an onboard camera allowing the owner to monitor the house remotely via smartphone. The advanced AI robot for home will hit stores in October, aimed to English-speaking countries & areas. 

Compatriot Hangzhou Amy Robotics revealed details of software that lets users of the Amy A1 robot program various customer service functions. The skill set includes guiding customers to rooms and taking orders at restaurants. Amy Robotics says its robot can help control rising labor costs in China. The company is also ramping up business in Western nations and the Middle East.

Shanghai PartnerX Robotics is putting out miniature programmable robots for education that kids can put together themselves. They come with a simple programming language for controlling movements.

Chinese companies are pouring resources into artificial intelligence robotics as demand for labor-saving techniques climbs amid a graying population and rising wages. The government has also encouraged the growth of the robotics industry, making it a part of its Made in China 2025 initiative.

Many observers say that the quality of Chinese-made robots is still a work in progress. But the speed at which mainland companies are acquiring technological expertise is reportedly exceeding expectations. Chinese appliance giant Midea Group bought German industrial robot maker Kuka just last year. 

For advanced service robots, the global market is expected to double to $20 billion in 2022, according to Indian corporate intelligence firm Market Research Future.

IDC Survey about Implementing Robots in Healthcare

What are main drivers for robot deployment among healthcare providers today?

According to IDC Survey 2017, the main drivers for robot deployment among healthcare providers surveyed were identified at hospitals with 200+ beds. These organizations were driven to deploy advanced medical robotics in 2017 as the top organizational priority area for technology investments, ahead of cloud and mobility. The main drivers included improving productivity and efficiency, improving repeatability and consistency of processes, increasing operations capacity, increasing operational agility and flexibility, reducing labor costs, and increasing speed of operations.

What are the typical use cases for robots among healthcare providers today?

Most use cases for robots today according to IDC (2017) were identified at hospitals with 200+ beds where advanced AI robots could accurately handle time-consuming tasks, reduce labor, and prevent errors. These were primarily in stocking functions (e.g. packing medications, delivery of goods, and packing sterile supplies) and increasingly seen in surgery, home care assistance, and disinfection.

What are the primary reasons for implementing robots in healthcare … safety, economics?

The primary reasons for implementing robots in healthcare appeared to be a result of an increasing perception, appreciation, and realization of robots as able to deliver value in healthcare operations. This was mostly through automating manual and laborious tasks, but also increasingly through the adoption of robotics in healthcare for clinical applications and emergent use cases.

What do you expect in future use cases to look like?

According to IDC (2017) emergent and future use cases for robots in hospitals with 200+ beds were identified as mostly as developments and adoption for automated packing functions, but also as an emergent increase for application in surgery and disinfection, patient lifting, greeting patients, and remote monitoring.

What influences a robot investment decision?

According to IDC (2017) the decision to invest in an artificial intelligence robotics was greatly influenced by vendor attributes. The top attributes were identified as cost, quality and reliability, as well as vendor global reach, local presence, and knowledge. An appealing feature of the robot investment decision was the majority of hospitals surveyed reported an annual maintenance cost per robot amounting to less than 30,000 (USD) and a medium-term outlook for realizing ROI on the investment decision.

Why is robotics gaining traction among hospitals?

According to IDC (2017) robots are gaining traction in hospitals as a result of the main business priorities for hospitals with 200+ beds being to improve the operational value chain along the lines of quality, experience, flexibility, capacity, scale, and costs.

Intelligent robot to help more for human lawyers

Intelligent robot is able to offer more than 10,000 query services per day, while human lawyers offer 20 times per day at most; intelligent robot can answer the analysis report with 1000 words while human lawyer answer 10 words during the same time; robot can react to query within one minute, but human lawyer can only offer service with fragmented time.

QIHAN Technology’s Sanbot intelligent litigation service robots have been introduced by numerous courts, police stations, and law offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and more. And the litigation services of these advanced humanoid robots got greater approves than human lawyers in quantity, quality and appraises aspects.

A lawyer called Wu Xiao told that, “Numerous-year litigation businesses bring me a feel that more and more people need litigation services. The number of lawyers is limited, while the number of people who need litigation services is increasing and the costs are higher and higher. 80% of them can’t afford a lawyer’s services.” 

“Lawyer is a traditional and serious industry and lawyers make money with their knowledge and experience,” Zhao Yao, the President of Kun Ming Bar Association, “The daily work includes litigation query, cases management, document check, negotiation, legal analysis, truth investigation, document drafting, appearing in count, etc., which need human lawyers to handle one by one.”

According to Zhao, advanced AI robots for litigation services can release the human lawyers from repetitive workload. To a lawyer, a litigation report needs 3 days and RMB3000; while to a robot, it is free and only need 3 minutes.

“The litigation service robot is not to replace the human lawyer but make them stronger,” Zhao told. Even though artificial intelligence can finish one complete legal suggestion, each case has different causes and the database can not cover all the cases. These need human lawyers to handle and fulfill the report.

What the lawyers need most is case resource, and the public litigation service platform offers the resource. The artificial intelligent robots help with human lawyers with the working efficiency so that they can handle more complex problems and advance their skills and knowledges to serve more people.

Sun Yuewen, the Director of kunming Municipal Bureau of Justice, considers that, taking the public services is the citizens’ basic right, offering public services is government’s basic responsibilities, and building the public litigation service platform is the guarantee government offer for the citizens.”

“The cooperation of intelligent service robot and human lawyers will improve the litigation service quality greatly, making citizens get more popular, accurate, immediate and effective litigation services.” Sun Yuewen concluded.

Meet Sanbot Nano – the first Alexa-powered companion robot wants to live in your smart home

Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant are perhaps best known as the attentive ears and dulcet tones inside the company’s range of products. The Alexa Voice Service (AVS), the voice-activated digital assistant, has shown up in a number of third-party devices, too.

With domestic robots striving to emerge from the pages of science fiction and take their place in our daily lives, it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that Alexa is finding its feet, so to speak, in the form of humanoids. At the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin this week, China-based Qihan is debuting the Sanbot Nano, a 2.7-foot tall artificial intelligent robot for home with Alexa serving as its ears and brain.

Founded out of Shenzhen in 2006, Qihan works on a range of products across robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis, and other related services. The company already offers the Sanbot Elf, which has seen some traction in retail, hospitality, and other public service positions, and the enterprise-focused Sanbot King Kong. But with Sanbot Nano, Qihan is pushing this advanced AI robot into the smart home with a range of Alexa-enabled integrations, including home stereo systems, thermostats, and connected fans.

Through the accompanying mobile app Q-Link, users can see what the intelligent home robot is seeing remotely, and they can also monitor all devices they have connected to the Qihan Cloud. Sanbot Nano has 50 sensors installed to help it circumvent obstacles in its path and can recognize voices and detect when a person enters the room. Through its connection with Alexa, consumers can order a pizza, ask for their fitness stats, and maybe even turn on the TV or play some music.

“The world is captivated by the emergence of robotic developments and we’re constantly challenging ourselves to make the most amazing robot experiences possible,” explained Qihan CMO Ryan Wu. “With Sanbot Elf’s breakthrough growth in the retail, hospitality, public service, and government industries, we are excited to introduce an advanced humanoid robot for the home.”

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time someone’s attempted an Alexa-powered voice-activated robot. The Omate Yumi was announced last November, but nothing seems to have come of that, with the accompanying Indiegogo funding campaign seemingly pulled. UBTech also unveiled the charming little Alexa-enabled Lynx humanoid at CES this year, with an anticipated launch of spring 2017 — but the $800 robot is still not on the market.

With a number of companies raising big money to make domestic social companion robots a reality, Qihan’s Sanbot Nano could be one of the first intelligent service robotics to introduce one that’s powered by Amazon’s AI voice smarts. The Sanbot Nano only supports English (U.S. and U.K.) and German at present.