The Robotics Summit & Expo emphasizes the design and development of commercially viable robotics and intelligent systems products – wholly new products and services that are to be used outside of laboratory environments and sold at a profit.

Dedicated tracks provide technical professionals with the information they need to develop the next generation of commercial class robotics and intelligent systems products and services.

Technologies, Tools and Platforms Track

The development of robots and robotic technology requires the mastery of multiple disciplines – primarily software development, mechanical and electrical engineering. Robotics development is made even more difficult as it is limited by embedded and real-time constraints. But real-time concerns are only the beginning, especially as robots and robotic technology become more prevalent in the home, the workplace, in public places and on the battlefield. The next generation of robots and robotic devices must also be integrated with other systems in their environment.

Solution providers have responded to these difficulties by providing a whole host of robotics design and development tools, as well as ready-made robotic ‘platforms’, that dramatically simplify the job of designing, developing, testing and manufacturing robots and robotic products. Although robotics technology in the various types of robotics systems can differ radically from each other, their areas of commonality greatly outnumber their differences. That is, enabling technologies suitable for one class of products are appropriate and applicable for other types of as well.

Sessions in the Technologies, Tools and Platforms Track will cover the latest advances in the ‘core’ technology that are common to most classes of robots and intelligent systems:

Design and Development Track

The Robotics Summit & Expo focuses on the design and development of commercial robotic systems. Commercial viability adds additional burdens for robotics designers, engineers, business managers and more. The resultant systems must be innovative, robust in the extreme, work as advertised and yet be competitively priced.

Clearly, success requires a thorough understanding of systems, systems engineering, design goals (and the clear delineation of such), a rigorous development process and an adherence to both de jure and de facto standards whenever possible.

Topics covered in the Design and Development Track include:

• Development Tools / SDKs / Libraries
• System Integration / Programming
• Prototyping, Simulation and Testing
• Robotics Engineering Methodologies
• Bases, Frames and Cognitive Platforms
• Simulation and Testing Tools
• CAD/CAM Tools For Robotics Development

Manufacturability, Production and Distribution Track

Optimizing design, development and other engineering processes are necessity, but not sufficient, to produce commercially viable robotics systems. Issues related to supply chains, manufacturability, and fulfillment are also critical.

In some cases, systems will be offered as services, or via distributors and other partners, while in other cases, such as with consumer systems, sold through retailers. In all cases, success will first be determined by the overall market opportunity, as well as by the availability of qualified engineers and developer communities.

Sessions in the Manufacturability, Production and Distribution Track address these issues (and more) including:

• Robotics-as-a-Service
• Robotics Innovation Clusters
• Distributors and Wholesalers
• Fostering a Developer Community
• Legal Services / Protecting IP
• Selling Robotics: Retail, OEM, and VAR Options
• Global Partnering Opportunities

Developing & Deploying AMRs Track

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are one of the exciting technologies in the robotics sector. AMR deployments for warehouse and industrial operations are surging, and this growth is expected to increase for the foreseeable future. To illustrate, market research firm Interact Analysis research predicts that the number of AMR shipments will increase to over 530,000 in 2024, bringing the total number in operation to more than 1.1 million, a significant increase over the 36,000 AMRs in use at the end of 2019.

Sessions in the Developing & Deploying AMRs Track will cover the following topics:

• Sensing Technologies
• Cloud / On-device Machine Learning
• Communications/Networking
• Development Tools / SDKs / Libraries
• Simulation and Testing Tools
• Localization, Navigation and Mapping
• Batteries / Power Systems
• Safety and Interoperability
• Robotics-as-a-Service
• Installation Best Practices
• Case Studies
• Managing Fleets
• Scaling from Pilots to Fleets