U.N.: Robot use to surge sevenfold by 2007

[phantom power]

(This could be a growth industry for our sagging economy, if we play it right)

Oct. 20, 2004 | GENEVA (AP) -- The use of robots around the home to mow lawns, vacuum floors and manage other chores is set to surge sevenfold by 2007 as more consumers snap up smart machines, the United Nations said.

That boom coincides with record orders for industrial robots, said the U.N.'s annual World Robotics Survey, released Wednesday.

"Our biggest hurdle right now is skepticism," Angle said. But "we are just at a point where robots are becoming affordable ... and some of them can actually do real work."

UNECE said household robots could soon edge their industrial counterparts, which have dominated the figures since the U.N. body first began counting in 1990.

Taking the global average, a robot sold in 2003 cost a quarter of what a robot with the same performance cost in 1990, the study found.

It said that by 2007, world industrial robot numbers will likely reach at least 1 million.

Most industrial robots are used on assembly lines, chiefly in the auto industry. But increasingly, companies are using them for other tasks, the study said.

There are now some 21,000 "service robots" in use, carrying out tasks such as milking cows, handling toxic waste and even assisting in operating theaters. The number is set to reach a total of 75,000 by 2007, the study said.
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2004/10/20/robots/index.html