ABI Research forecasts that the market for home care robotics systems will more than quadruple compared to 2015, reaching 5.9 billion dollar in 2025. Consumer robotics shipments are expected to increase fivefold in the same timeframe. The home care robotics market consists of a wide variety of products focused on single tasks, such as floor care, lawn care, and pool care. The vast majority of these are floor care robots, which include vacuum cleaners, floor washers, and hybrid products. Robotic vacuum cleaners still dominate the floor care robotics segment. “The days of unconnected consumer robotics products are numbered – said Philip Solis, Research Director at ABI Research -. Wi-Fi is rapidly becoming standard technology in home care robots, beginning with floor cleaners. Today, wireless connectivity merely allows robot systems to be controlled and monitored remotely, but looking forward, their connectivity, mobility, sensors, and functionality, such as machine vision, will expand their capabilities as part of the smart home”. As reported by ABI Research, this connectivity will allow home care robots to interface with smart home systems, including security systems, environmental controls, and remote services. This will in turn expand the functionality of both the smart home systems and the robots themselves, driving adoption rates for both in the process. “The overall consumer robotics industry is on the verge of a major transformation that leverages the evolution of the smartphone market, cloud-based services, and the smart home – concluded Solis -. The industry is in the midst of a long-anticipated leap from standalone robots to robots that are part of an expanded and more integrated smart home ecosystem”.
