Cobots: The Story of a Failed Revolution
"Cobot": between innovation and technological illusion

Robots did not revolutionize industry—at least not in the short term—but their use has become increasingly widespread, even in countries where labor costs remain competitive. China is a prime example in this regard. Known as the “world’s factory,” the country has been the leading robotics market since 2013. In 2022, more than half of the world’s robots were installed there, as indicated by reports from the IFR . While full automation is desirable and technically feasible for certain tasks, for others it is difficult to develop robotic solutions due to the complexity of the task at hand or the excessive number of interactions the machine would need...