Quebec Robotics - Connexcité
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Robotics has progressed significantly in the past 50 years. Starting with the first industrial robot in 1961, robots are now leaving factories and being used in other applications due to enabling technologies and changing demographics. The document discusses how robotics has become a national priority and how Quebec is well-positioned to capitalize on growing robotics markets due to its technical expertise.
![Robotics in 2011 Samuel Bouchard President, Robotiq [email_address] Robotiq.com RV ConnexCité, Montréal October 4th, 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkdwarf/6015766288/sizes/l/in/photostream/](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/bouchard-samuel-connexciteengtranslation-111024111335-phpapp01/85/quebec-robotics-connexcit-1-320.jpg)
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Quebec Robotics - Connexcité
- 1. Robotics in 2011 Samuel Bouchard President, Robotiq [email_address] Robotiq.com RV ConnexCité, Montréal October 4th, 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkdwarf/6015766288/sizes/l/in/photostream/
- 2. 50 years ago… 1st industrial robot: Unimate Unimation founders: Joseph Engelberger and George Devol
- 4. Robots leave the factory
- 6. Demography Enabling technologies Education Why here, now? http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/a-sweet-innocence-artist http://3scape.com/pic/6608/Baby-baboon-riding-piggyback-with-mom
- 7. Robotics: National Priority http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/us/politics/25obama.html?_r=1
- 8. And in Quebec? Technical know-how Markets
- 9. linkd.in/robotQC Connect the Quebec robotics people
Editor's Notes
- I’m Samuel Bouchard, president of Robotiq, a company that makes industrial robotic hands. This presentation was done on October 4th, 2011 at Connexcité, an event presented by the City of Montréal that aims at mixing different industries. For this evening, I had 5 minutes to set the table for a group of roboticists and other people interested in the field. The topic was: What’s happening in robotics in the province of Quebec and what are the opportunities out there? So let’s start by setting the table with a beautiful chocolate cake.
- Because, robotics is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year. Actually, it's the 50th anniversary of the commercialization of robots. Thus in 1961, the robot Unimate that you see in the picture to the left, made its debut at GM. And industrial robots have evolved ever since to have arms that are bigger, smaller, faster, more accurate, cheaper, etc. All this evolution has gone through many economic cycles to arrive in 2008 with 1M industrial robots in operation worldwide. Not so bad, but as a history, not so exciting either... And definitely not as exciting as the coming years for robotics.
- I just wanted to show you this number to explain my surprise, when I saw earlier this year on the Robot Report that a Chinese company that manufactures, among other things Apple and Dell computers, aims to install a million robots in 3 years. Foxconn wants to install in 3 years as many robots as the total number of industrial robots currently in operation worldwide, wow!
- And robots have for awhile now emerged from factories to create real commercial successes in what is called Service Robotics. Here you see the Da Vinci robot from Intuitive Surgical. This robot can increase the ability of physicians to perform non-invasive surgeries. The company had revenues of $ 1.4 billion in 2010 and now employs nearly 2000 people.
- Here are some other examples of robots or robotic integration into commercial products: - autonomous tractor -robotic window washer -surveillance or combat drone -Lego robotics game kit -adaptive cruise control is available on many car models, which leads one to believe that some day soon cars which are completely Google autonomous will be commonplace. These are just a few examples among many, that highlight the renaissance which is happening in robotics and which can only accelerate.
- The exponential growth that robotics will be experiencing is caused by three main factors: An aging population in all industrialised countries that will put enormous pressure on increasing productivity. The critical mass of trained people in robotics. We now have technical degrees in robotics at all level and people are using robotics since they were as young as 5 or 6 years old, we have an example here tonight with the First robotics demo. The fact that robotics can integrate a wide range of technologies that are made robust and inexpensive by industries such as telecommunications, video games and the Internet.
- Robotics is such an opportunity that several countries have made robotics a national priority. Obama made an announcement earlier this year. Some countries make even more important investments in robotics, notably South Korea, Japan and Europe. At all places, there is a clear emphasis on technological commercialization.
- To explain what is happening in robotics in Quebec, I'll tell you about what I saw at IROS last week at a major academic conference in the field. We were the only manufacturer from Quebec to exhibit. There was another Quebec robot, which is sold by Adept, an American company, the amphibious robot from McGill. I would have liked to see Kinova or Robotics Design present their work at the conference. I saw several researchers who are working in Quebec that were presenting their work. And other Quebeckers who now work in the Silicon Valley an important hub for robotics. All this is very representative of robotics in Quebec. We have an enormous technical expertise, but few significant commercial successes in robotics to date. In terms of robotic use, our record is not very favorable either. It's been several years now that more robotics are sold in countries that one could think are not as industrialised, like Mexico and Brazil, than are sold in Canada. And it's not the province of Quebec, that sells the most robotics in this country.
- The reason why I responded so enthusiastically to the invitation of the City of Montreal tonight is that I believe this is a step towards the achievement of two great desire I have for robotics in Quebec. First, that companies and organizations embrace robotics as a tool to increase productivity. Second, to hopefully see significant new commercial players emerge in robotics. The first step in all this is to get to know one another and to talk to one another. I invite you to do so now: If you are interested to see what is happening in Quebec robotics, come join us on the linkedin group, whose link is shown on the screen.