Innovation Files: Where Tech Meets Public Policy

The Evolution of Robotics and Prospects for Maximizing Adoption, With Rian Whitton

Oct 18, 2021

26:38

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Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Mobile Manipulation in Agriculture

04:03

Robotics - Is There Room for Innovation?

03:42

Is There a Robot Tax?

02:15

Introduction

2min

Industrial Robots - What's Different?

5min

Mobile Manipulation in Agriculture

4min

Robotics - Is There Room for Innovation?

4min

How Robots Are Being Adopted?

6min

Is There a Robot Tax?

2min

Robotics - What Should Governments Do to Maximise the Installation of Robotic?

4min

The first industrial robots appeared in the early 1960s and were initially optimized for production lines. These days, innovation in robotics is progressing rapidly as sophisticated localization and mapping enables improved robotic mobility, and as new levels of flexible manipulation allow robots to perform more specialized tasks. Rob and Jackie sat down recently with Rian Whitton, a strategic technologies analyst at ABI Research, to discuss the evolution of robotics and the prospects for accelerating productivity gains.

Related:

Robert D. Atkinson, “In Defense of Robots,” National Review, April 2017.
Robert D. Atkinson, “Robotics and the Future of Production and Work” (ITIF, October 2019).
Robert D. Atkinson, “The Case Against Taxing Robots” (ITIF, April 2019).