1st Global, Unbiased Delphi Study on the Future of Robotics
Robotics, Automation and AI will change the world! But how will the future of robotics look like? Which technologies will be required to make this disruptive change happen? To answer these question, the Globals Delphi Study on the Future of Robotics, Automation and AI 2050+ will ask more than 200 international experts about their views and opinions. It will be the largest, most holistic effort in this domain. When finished, Delphi of Robotics will provide the most unique and complete dataset of expert opinions and will be an ideal, neutral, independent, unbiased foundation for international roadmapping efforts.
THE MISSION
Paint a clear picture of what Robotics, Automation and AI will be capable of in 2035, 2050 and 2070+. Provide a glimpse into a future, where automation technologies will permeate, enrich and augment many areas of our daily lives. Give insight into the evolution of necessary key technologies. Shed light on the impact of technology on society, the holistic ecosystem and its fundamental ethical questions. All by consolidating the condensed knowledge of 200+ internationally well renowned experts in the fields.
"This Study is so important! We really need to discuss the future of robotics: The technologies needed for new breakthroughs, the domains that will be disrupted by automation and ai and when all that will happen. I think my colleagues should fight for their place to answer these questions!"
— Prof. Dr. Erwin Prassler - former Vice President IEEE RAS Industrial Activities Board
Progress of Robotics 2050+ - Where are we right now?
Robotics 2050+ is an ongoing effort. It has been initiated in early 2016 and since then, much has happened. Currently, the team is finalizing the questionnaire based on the input we collected at IROS 2019 in Macau – both from the Senior Advisory Committe and many members of the robotics community. Next steps will be a test run with a small group of experts and then we are ready for rollout: until end of 2019, we want to identify at least 100 experts researching, developing and building robots and 100 people using, implementing and working with automation solutions. Stay tuned for our next update!
# of experts participated
% of questions answered
status of evaluation
Already today, Robotics and AI define a whole ecosystem. Their progress is influenced by certain enableing factors and technologies. Whereas they will increasingly affect different market domains, areas of daily life and society itself. The experts contributing to Robotics 2050+ will be asked to look into the following sectors providing their view on the role of automation in the respective fields.
Enablers
- Perception
- Control Learning
- Decision Making
- Interaction
- Action
- Autonomy
Domains
- Manufacturing
- Medical/Healthcare
- Agriculture/Food
- Field Robotics (Mining, …)
- Defense/Aerospace
- Logistics/Transport
- Government
- Consumer
- Construction
- Cradle to Cradle / Circular Economy
- Other/Catch-all
Enabling Technologies
- Sensors
- Power
- Mechanical
- Communications
- Computing
Societal Impact & Empowerment
- Ethical / Moral Implications
- Governance
- Education & Training
- Empowerment
- Enablement
- Democratization
Only a hand-selected group of internationally well renowned experts will be invited to contribute to Robotics 2050+. Momentarily, the Delphi Study will reach out to 200+ specialists - 100+ from the robotics community (researching, developing, building robots) and 100+ from other fields (applying, integrating, working with and being affected by automation solutions). For this project, ensuring gender, age, regional and cultural diversity is paramount!
These experts have already contributed* to the Delphi Study of Robotics 2050+:
- Teresa Achtenberg
- Ruzena Bajcsy
- Dominik Bösl
- Wolfram Burgard
- Raja Chatila
- Henrik I. Christensen
- Ayanna Howard
- Oussama Khatib
- Cecilia Laschi
- Lynne Parker
- Satoshi Tadokoro
- Carme Torras
- Dong-Soo Kwon
- Erwin Prassler
- Jing Xiao
*Currently, this list contains people who have contributed or supported the study. It will be updated soon.
"This study is highly relevant as it will help the Robotics and Automation Society to define its strategies and to quickly react to upcoming trends and developments."
— Prof. Dr. Wolfram Burgard, Member of the Senior Advisory Committee and President IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
The Global Delphi Study on Robotics, Automation and AI 2050+ is ongoing. Since IROS 2019, the Delphi team and the senior advisory committee have continously been working on the ratification of logic and methodology of the questionnaires, programming of the survey tool, nomination of the experts and everything to make this study a success. Despite Covid-19, the survey has already been finalized and is scheduled to be kicked off just in time for ICRA 2021.
Contact us for information and apply for the study
You want to learn more about the Delphi Study “Robotics 2050+”? You have feedback or comments? You didn’t receive an invitation to contribute and think we might have missed you when we selected the 200+ experts? Please reach out and send us a message!