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As everyone around the world tries to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are struggling to keep themselves healthy and the rest of us (hopefully) continue to maintain our distance. It’s a good time to remember the three Ds of robotics—dirty, dull, and dangerous. Sales of medical robots had already increased by 50% in 2018, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). But the coronavirus outbreak highlights some key use cases for mobile robotics in particular as robotic systems move in to disinfect facilities, provide surveillance, material handling, and help with deliveries. Mobile robots are so much in demand for these use cases right now—driven by a shift in understanding of what these platforms can do—that tech market advisory firm ABI Research expects the overall mobile robotics market to grow to $23 billion by 2021. “Crises shift perceptions on what is possible regarding investment and transformative action on the part of both private and government actors,” said Rian Whitton, senior analyst at ABI Research. “By the time the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, robots will be mainstreamed across a range of applications and markets.” One of the more popular uses of robotics has been deploying autonomous mobile systems to disinfect facilities. These ultraviolet disinfection (UVD) robots use UV light to kill harmful microorganisms and have been in high demand since the coronavirus outbreak. “Automating disinfection is a key part of maintaining health and safety and could be one of the major bright spots in the response to COVID-19,” Whitton said. Denmark-based UVD Robots is scaling up deployments of its robots to disinfect hospitals; U.S.-based GermFalcon is offering a similar UV disinfection solution for aircraft; and China’s TMiRob has been deploying disinfection robots in Wuhan, China. Chinese hospitals have ordered more than 2,000 UVD robots from Blue Ocean Robotics […]