Source: Smart & Digital Factory Application Lab van Sirris in Kortrijk

We often see robotic or automated cells purposed to do a single motion or a very specific application. However, with all the new technology available in the market, it is interesting to see how each separate technology can be integrated into a single versatile cell. This is what Sirris did and it is quite impressive.  

Sirris is a collective center for the technology industry in Belgium and has more than 8 sites throughout the country. Their goal is to help companies keep up with the evolution of technology, particularly with regards to automation. In fact, with a huge team of engineers, technicians and scientists, Sirris is using its laboratories, innovation centers and show rooms to develop, test and demonstrate the different applications they help develop for specific customers.

Lately they have been promoting their new (8th) location by showcasing an example of what an Industry 4.0 robotic cell might look like. This cell uses a bunch of new technology and it’s very impressive. The proposed cell highlights some of the concerns manufacturers have been having over the past 2-3 years about where automation was going next. I think we have our answer here! See the video below to learn more.

The cell

The automation process is divided into three major cells. Let’s find out what they are meant for:

• Ordered Picking: Using smart glasses and a smart watch, the user can pick (and place) the required parts in a bin. Using these devices allows the operator to verify if the right number of parts are preloaded in the tray, that the assembly line has the right number of parts during the assembly process and to do this verification of inventory in real time.
• Transition No. 1: As the tray is set on a mobile robot or AGV (automated guided vehicle), the operator simply signals that the tray has been loaded and that the robot can move to the next step in the process. Through different guiding sensors, the mobile robot can make its way to the next cell (imagine the other cell could be on the other side of the plant) and be ready for the next step.
• Assembly Cell: As the trays are filed with parts, the operator and the collaborative robots are building the assembly together. In fact, since the robot is really good at pick and place and the human is very good at manipulation, they split tasks to make the job easier and faster. Once the part is assembled, the robot places the tray on the mobile robot. It can then go to the quality testing station. Notice that the robot used is a KUKA LBR iiwa with a Robotiq 2-Finger 140 Adaptive Gripper. You also see a Universal Robots UR3 used to screw different components together.
• Transition No. 2: Once again, the final step is getting to the last quality check. Notice that sensors are used to navigate within the room and that mechanical devices are installed on both the mobile robot and the table to make the mobile robot’s position repeatable.
• Quality Check: With the help of different types of technology (software and vision systems), the company can do the final quality check. This will confirm that the product meets the requirements established by the company.

For more pictures of the showroom, follow this link.

According to Sirris:

In this way, the new lab makes the cooperation and interaction between human operator and robots more tangible and feasible to the manufacturing industry. The focus on flexible automation of assembling makes specific technology applications available to machine building and mechatronics companies. After all,  to many companies automation and robotics in particular still seem way out of reach, too futuristic for their production. Until they see the possibilities “in real life”.

In fact with few examples of real life applications of complex automation, customers and even integrators sometimes have difficulty figuring out how they can automate certain processes. With technology reaching new levels at a fast rate, it is cool to see the final results of an automation cell, which might be complex for the integrator, but is totally transparent and easy to use for the end user.

This is truly an example of Industry 4.0 happening now.

Kiva warehouse robots

Clever ads that emphasize ROI, presentations that show production benefits, new robot sales records, capital expenditure for warehousing systems and increased attendance at trade shows are all focusing attention on the business case for robotics.

The Robotics Industries Association (RIA) reports that North American robot sales set new records for the first half of 2015: 14,232 robots, valued at $840m, were ordered during that period. Sales in the semiconductor sector (30%), automotive components (23%) and life sciences (8%) increased strongly. In contrast, orders to automotive OEMs were down 18% from their record highs in 2014. In March,  RIA offered an in-depth return on investment calculator and tutorial by Tanya Anandan. Anandan also produced a more recent article about how new robots are using various sensors and cameras to raise their IQ. Bottom line: as sensors, cameras and CPUs get cheaper and more capable, they are enabling robots to sense, see and do more at less cost.

The Robot Report’s monthly recap of fundings, IPOs and acquisitions has confirmed the broadening interest by business and finance. Funding in the first six months of 2015 was greater than for all of 2014 and the number of strategic acquisitions has grown as well.

One of the presentations at the recent Automation World Conference described a recently built facility in the sweet potato business. Utilizing camera-aided sorting systems, automated case erection, weighing and filling stations, and robotic palletizing and shrink wrapping systems, the new facility now only requires about 40 people to ship 50,000 lbs/hr where it used to need 75 people to ship 20,000 lbs/hour. The control software also allows the firm to put unique codes at the item level that enables complete track and trace details from farm to warehouse to packaging to consumer.

In a recent advertisement, Universal Robots (UR) describes how a medical device maker freed up 11 full-time workers to handle more complex tasks when they deployed three UR robots. The ROI on those robots was less than six months. “We were looking at cost, accuracy, ease of implementation and ease of use. The Universal Robots nailed it in all those areas,” said their Director of Engineering.

Three industrial robot trade shows this year — Automate, Promat and CIROS — have all drawn record crowds, had greater floor space and more exhibitors. At Promat, which focused on material handling, warehousing and distribution center automation and robotics, the consensus was that the show produced more orders than any previous event.

All of these disparate items, when combined, imply a serious business case – and growing momentum – for the deployment of robots.

Privately held Danish company Universal Robots – the successful producer of the UR line of collaborative robots – has sold to Massachusetts-based Teradyne, a provider of electronic testing equipment.

Universal Robots has had rapid growth since their startup in 2005. Their first products were sold in 2009.

• 2014 sales of $38M were 70% greater than in 2013.
• The company recently moved into a larger factory in Odense, Denmark (100 miles east of Copenhagen).
• Their new 130,000 sq ft production facility was established to enable UR to keep up with sales for the next few years.
• They have grown their network of integrator/distributors to almost 200 worldwide.
• Collaborative robotics is currently a $100 million segment of the industrial robotics market, growing at more than 50% per year.

Universal recently launched their new line of smaller UR3 robots. The UR3 can handle payloads of up to 3 kg (6.6 lbs), enabling close work in scientific, pharmaceutical, agriculture, and electronics and technology facilities for tasks such as mounting of small objects, gluing, screwing, operating tools, soldering and painting.

Teradyne, a publicly-traded supplier of test equipment with over 3,900 employees and a product line that doesn’t include anything robotic, has a market value of $4.37 billion. Teradyne does use robots in their manufacturing process and their customers are good prospects for Universal’s robots.

“Universal Robots is the technology and sales leader in the fast growing collaborative robot market and we are excited to have them join Teradyne,” said Mark Jagiela, President and CEO of Teradyne. “This acquisition complements our System and Wireless Test businesses while adding a powerful, additional growth platform to Teradyne.”

The agreement calls for $285M in cash and an additional $65M if certain performance targets are met through 2018, thereby bringing the overall sales price to $350 million.

Bottom Line

Many manufacturers are looking to shore up their market share in the robotics and automation space, and acquisitions such as this one are win-win transactions for all involved: Teradyne becomes a player in the collaborative robotics space and the inventors and entrepreneurs of Universal get a serious strategic partner and, after a few years, the ability to move on and invent the next big thing.

A sad day at Rethink Robotics. 21 jobs have been cut in Rethink’s first layoff.

Although Rethink Robotics is downsizing, their action is not indicative of the robotics industry, which is booming and hiring.

The Boston Globe reported that Rethink Robotics, maker of the $22,000 Baxter 2-armed robot, has cut 21 jobs from their staff of approximately 90.

In the Boston Globe article Rethink CEO Scott Eckert said:

The layoffs are the result of Rethink deciding to focus on the market segments that have been most receptive to Baxter since its launch: plastics manufacturing, consumer goods packaging, warehousing and logistics. Our volume trends are encouraging, our customer pipeline is encouraging, and we expect to see significant growth in 2014, however we will be able to achieve that in a more focused manner with fewer resources.

Since 2005, Rethink Robotics (previously named Heartland Robotics) has taken in $73.5 million from Boston-based VCs and Bezos Expeditions (the personal investment fund of Jeff Bezos), the most recent $11.5 million in November, 2013 (source: CrunchBase).

Rethink Robotics’ Rodney Brooks.

Rethink Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Rodney Brooks has been an energetic and eloquent spokesman for building and selling an affordable, safe and easy to train plug and play robot to help US manufacturers — particularly smaller shops and factories. With such a robot, Brooks assured, these businesses could increase productivity and keep jobs from migrating offshore. The two-armed Baxter robot is his vision. Thus it comes as a big surprise that Rethink needs to retrench their operations and cut 23+% of their staff to focus on the few industry sectors in which they have deployed robots.

Brooks has been right on the mark in describing the needs of small and medium-sized manufacturers. He’s defined the marketplace, defined their needs, and gotten people to accept that an easy-to-train robot can help improve productivity, be safe to work alongside and have affordable metrics. He’s even built and funded a company that ramped up to be able to produce 1,000 of these robots a year. But the robot itself doesn’t measure up to those needs at present. It’s been a work in progress — a miraculous achievement but one not fully ready for factory operations. Perhaps this highly publicized ramping up has clouded the focus on improving the product to live up to their promise (and the sizzle that Brooks has been selling).

Baxter’s main competitor has many of the same positive characteristics as Baxter: relatively low cost, it’s safe to work alongside humans, it’s plug and play, and training is relatively easy. Universal Robot’s UR line of robots cost a bit more and only have one arm. However, they work much faster, with more precision, can carry a heavier load and are engineered to have a longer work life.

Universal Robots has sold 2,500+ robots in 50+ countries through more than 200 distributors in the last five years. The Danish robot manufacturer added 50 people in 2013, a 100% increase in the company staff currently totaling 97 worldwide, and is hiring for 2014. They are ramping up to move into larger facilities with a much greater manufacturing capability.

Ed Mullen, the company’s National Sales Manager in North America attributes the growth of Universal Robots to the quality and capability of the robots the company has been able to create. “They meet the expectations of SMEs: a collaborative, user-friendly robot presenting a plug&play automation solution for a wide range of industries. Not only have we been able to penetrate large accounts — supplying the first collaborative robots to BMW and VW — we’ve also been able to get our robots on the shop floors of many small and medium sized businesses that never thought they’d be able to employ a robot due to cost and complexity.”

With financial news reporting big robotic acquisitions by Stryker ($1.5 billion for MAKO Surgical Robotics), Apple ($350 million for PrimeSense) and Google which has set up a robotics division and seeded it with seven start-ups and an eighth acquisition announced today – Boston Dynamics (of Big Dog, Cheetah and ATLAS fame) – it seems clear that the layoff at Rethink is not indicative of the robotics industry in general. In fact, there’s a hiring boom searching for robotics talent country-wide.

How can it be that such a prominent headliner as Rethink Robotics is regrouping? Four likely answers: (1) they were trying to do too much with too many people; (2) they were rushed to market by their VC investors; (3) they provided a product (the Baxter robot) that offered too much but didn’t do it too well; and (4) they haven’t yet finished the development of their product so that it delivers what the buyers want and need: a fast, safe, flexible, cheap and easy-to-train co-robot.

Small and medium shops and factories (SMEs) are an untapped marketplace for robotics but direly in need of automation to remain competitive in this global economy. Two new start up companies: Rethink Robotics and Universal Robots have entered that marketplace. Both companies have U.S. sales in the hundreds of units; Universal has a head start internationally and has sold about 3,000 to-date, but Rethink is way ahead in the US. Both have similar 60-100/mo manufacturing run rates – so the future looks bright for selling flexible, lightweight, low-cost robots that are easily programmed, safe for humans to work alongside, don’t require a caged or roped off area, and perform at affordable metrics.

The importance of this new robotic capability and its effect on jobs was the subject of a CBS News piece on October 5. A few of the quotes from that newscast:

• U.S. productivity and efficiency are three times greater than China.
• Baxter’s effective cost is $3 per hour.
• 3-5 million new jobs will happen this decade due to the deployment of Baxter and other co-robots.

Boston-based Rethink Robotics – the maker of the low-cost two-armed Baxter robot shown above on the left – has already begun to sell to small and medium-sized U.S. businesses (SMEs) as well as schools and colleges. They recently announced beginning to sell to European academic institutions.

Danish-based Universal Robots has started to benefit from sales from their new distributor network in the U.S. supplementing their growing European, Asian and International distributor networks and robot sales.

Each company has provided a video profiling how their client companies are using and benefitting from the use of their respective robots. Although these videos are public relations puff pieces, they are also an information resource describing the needs smaller companies have and the benefits offered by robotics.

UNIVERSAL ROBOTS

Of the two companies, for the present time, Universal Robots UR robots are better able to handle industrial tasks than Baxter robots. Universal’s UR5 and UR10 robots can handle 5 and 10 kilos respectively and have sufficient torque to pull open doors and operate hand tools. They also run faster.

Universal Robots got lots of publicity last month when it became known that a UR robot was working at a VW diesel engine production plant in Germany. It was the first publicly-known instance of a robot working alongside a human in an auto factory. In that example, the robot carefully picks up delicate glow plugs and places them into hard-to-reach drill holes alongside a human who then insulates the cylinder head. The robot acts as an assistant and enables the worker to carry out their activities in an upright, healthy posture, unlike previous methods. This week MIT Technology Review showed another Universal robot, this time at a BMW factory in South Carolina, helping workers perform door assembly by doing the strenuous task of applying door sealant thereby freeing human workers to do the less physical tasks.

In the following video, a 72-person short-run metal products maker displays two applications for their new UR robot: CNC machine tending and loading and unloading a metal bender.

[In a recent case study, machine-loaded costs for a part came to $0.97/part in the U.S. and $0.76/part in China. When a robot was used for machine tending and loading, the total cost shifted to $0.73/part in the U.S. versus $0.76/part in China (including offshore costs like duties and transportation fees). In the study, using the robot boosted efficiency. The machine utilization under manual loading was 82%, when you account for shift changes and breaks. When robots did the tending and loading, the efficiency figure approached 99%. Source: PlasticsToday and Fanuc Robotics.]

RETHINK ROBOTICS

Almost all of the big industrial robot makers have or are working on lightweight and human-friendly arms, but none are offering them at low cost, or with user-friendly training, or the plug and play and safety features. There are other robot startups in the SME marketplace – and on the horizon – but none are as far along in their development and low cost as Rethink Robotics and Universal Robots.

Rethink Robotics’ Baxter

Rethink Robotics‘ new Baxter robot is getting a software upgrade. Big deal? Actually, it is. When Rethink Robotics launched Baxter late in 2012, it was obvious that Baxter needed some improvements. Rodney Brooks promised those improvements incrementally over the next few months and year. Brooks’ vision was to have a hardware platform frequently enhanced with new software and capabilities – and it is happening as promised and on schedule.

Rethink recently launched an academic version of Baxter with a Software Development Kit (SDK) enabling users to train the robot and share their programs with other Baxter owners. Although the SDK academic version is different than the production model, after a while, the concept of an open SDK and an Apple-like app store will be enabled across Rethink’s whole product line.

Just the other day Rethink upgraded their operating system to V1.1 to make it easier to integrate existing factory machine synchronization, I/O and task sequencing and ordering systems into Baxter’s repertoire of programs – a very neat and necessary feature. Now Baxter can integrate and connect with up to 9 digital ports to existing automation systems through signaling. This new update also enables users to coordinate actions across Baxter’s two arms.

Baxters are being produced at a pace for sales of 500+ units in 2013.

Universal Robots UR5 and UR10 Robots

Danish Universal Robots (UR) has quickly built an extensive North American distributor network of 16 experienced robot integrator/distributors.

One of those new distributors, Scott Hendrickson, CEO of Olympus Controls, said: “The quality of new leads has been off the charts. Most of our existing clients are Fortune 500 companies, but now we’re able to better service small business owners on Main Street as well,” he says, attributing the growth to the cost and ease of use of the UR robot. “In typical robot solutions, you multiply the robot cost by three or more to get the end price due to safety guarding and expensive programming. None of this is necessary with the new Universal Robots.” Hendrickson went on to say: “We believe these new robots will soon cross the chasm between early adopters and mainstream users.”

“A key selling point of our robots is that they are continuously upgraded”, said UR Sales Manager Kristian Hulgard. “Once purchased, our users can expect a steady stream of software upgrades giving them access to all the new features on the latest robots to leave the factory. This makes their investment future-proof.”

UR is building 100+ robots a month of which approximately 25-30% are for customers in the U.S.

Both UR and Rethink are finding price acceptability and each have provided case studies of how their robots are being utilized.

Features Comparison

A Couple of Examples of How These Robots Are Being Used

At a Johnson & Johnson factory in Greece, a UR5 is used on a production line where it performs repetitive pick and place tasks as a link between two parts of a production line.

The robot takes bottles of cream from one production line, and places them onto the packaging line. Flexibility is the key requirement because there are several different types of cream containers coming down the line, each positioned differently.

The Greek integrator/distributor, InnoPro Technologies, which sold and installed the robot, said that J&J engineers were 100% satisfied and have even given the robot a name.

A Baxter robot has been deployed at the Rodon Group, a Hatfield, PA injection molder and is among the first plastics processors to deploy a Baxter robot. It is being used for repetitive tasks like picking up parts off a conveyor and placing them into boxes or onto a nearby packaging line.

The robot is being “trained” by the very people it is assisting. Because Baxter is oblivious to heat or noise, it can take on those “hard to fill.”

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Rethink Robotics is downsizing
• Unbounded Robotics launch affordable, all-purpose UBR-1
• Co-robots really ARE a BIG thing
• Factory-in-a-Day: EU FP7 invests €7.9M to make robotics affordable for SMEs

See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.

People appear willing to pay more to get the extra features of an iPad or tablet. Thus e-readers were a device for a particular moment in time that has been replaced by a newer technology. This process is analogous to secretaries being replaced by word processing machines and then by PCs, WordStar and Microsoft Word.

Temporary, Incremental and Transitional Solutions

CyPhyWorks new EASE drone.

A great example of a temporary solution is CyPhy Works‘ new pair of drones (EASE and PARC): timely, innovative and providing solutions for specific needs with a transitional solution: a tether.

CyPhy Works began with funding to research methods to view and analyze bridges and other potential security targets but soon concluded that conventional drones couldn’t handle the payload of cameras and instruments, sensor processing, security, and flight duration needed to get the job done.

“The biggest problem with [surveillance] robots today is they send them inside a building, they go down the stairs, no communications; they go around the corner, no comms. You go into a bunker and it’s got some rebar and you don’t get comms,” CEO Helen Greiner says.

“The problems are power and communications. It all comes down to that.”

“When you have a flying vehicle of a size, a diameter that can fit through a door comfortably, it will last for, you know, 20 minutes. And then the customers will want to carry something else, and that something else requires power, and it weighs the robot down and it ends up lasting 15 minutes, and somebody else puts something on and it ends up lasting 10 minutes, and none of it’s acceptable. You would have to be small and fly for at least a few hours to make it useful. With the filament, basically you get high-definition video images all the time, and then it has the added advantages in that it can’t be jammed, it can’t be spoofed, it can’t be intercepted. And it has unlimited power.”

Hence the tether, a clever adaption to today’s limitations enabling the drones to fly for as long as necessary, stream high-def images and sensor data to the base station for processing (instead of onboard), and with security assured (from the device at least) to the base station. [As an aside, the tether is enhanced by having the spooler autonomously controlled by the drone instead of the base station thereby reducing the chances for entanglement. Should it happen to snag or break, the vehicle can use its battery power to fly back to its point of origin.]

An example of an incremental product is the slow but steady movement toward autonomous cars. First there was adaptive cruise control (2001) which automatically adjusts your speed depending on the car in front. Next came active braking (2004), which could detect if a crash was imminent and apply the brakes if necessary. This was followed by lane assist (2008) and self parking systems. The 2014 Mercedes-Benz S Class by Daimler AG (ETR:DAI), will be the first car capable of fully driving itself (under certain minor limitations) by adding new rear-end sensors, pedestrian awareness and driver alertness cameras. The system will rely on 26 separate sensors, including radar and stereo cameras, to monitor traffic and pedestrians up to 650 feet in front. “Steering Assist” will steer in stop-and-start situations and at speeds up to 124 mph; it will slow entering curves but stay in its lane until the driver takes over. [This is just the beginning folks!]

Other incremental and transitionally useful consumer products include CaddyTrek‘s follow-the-golfer carts, Zodiac Marine & Pool‘s Polaris pool cleaners, Husqvarna‘s lawn mower (STO:HUSQ-B) and iRobot‘s (NASDAQ:IRBT) family of floor care products – all examples of early-adopter products for the tech savvy offering some level of utility for their stated tasks. 3D printers also fall into this category with a range of products from $300 on up to $1 million. The stocks of these companies have been highlighted by many of the analysts in recent months as great buys: Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) (which just acquired competitor Objet), 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) and Arcam AB (STO:ARCM). All three stocks have doubled in the last year. Alas, MakerBot, the do-it-yourself (DIY) phenom, is still privately held.

Really Great Inventions

The da Vinci surgical system by Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), Kiva’s warehouse robots and goods-to-man concept (Kiva was acquired by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) earlier this year), and Liquid Robotic‘s wave gliders are present-day robotics stars. Each is unique and disruptive to the way things were done and each is just a precursor to how things will be in the near future.

Less well known inventions are the inroads the larger industrial robot makers have been making with lightweight single and dual-armed robots capable of working alongside their human counterparts – without a protective barrier between them. Yaskawa Electric (TYO:6506), ABB (NYSE:ABB), KUKA (ETR:KU2), ST Robotics and Universal Robots all have new products making waves in the industry. Rethink Robotics‘ Baxter is the newest player in this trend toward robotic co-workers.

Toys, Kits and Academic Training Bots

WowWee’s Femsapien, Parrot’s AR.Drone quadcopter and Aldebaran’s Nao.

Toys like Parrot‘s (EPA:PARRO) AR.Drone quadcopter (a present-day global hit) and WowWee‘s line of robotic toys and pets (Robosapien, Roboraptor, etc.) have sold millions of units. Aldebaran‘s Nao robots have a large following in high schools and colleges partly because of their enticing humanoid form, their involvement in robotic soccer games, and their high functionality for low cost.

But there are also toys and other robotic items that whither because the developer didn’t want to be diverted into a business when all he/she wanted was to build something fresh and fun. Many of the tele-presence devices getting crowd-funding in recent months are fun-tech gimmick products with no long-term business plan or even interest in having one.

Don’t get me wrong. Robotic toys are likely to be the precursor to more useful robotic inventions – perhaps from the same inventors. But there is definitely an explosion of this kind of robotic toy – SWIVL, Autom, Sphero, Romo and Botiful being examples.

Within academia, industrial robot companies have donated and made available low-cost robots and teacher’s guides for high schools, junior colleges, tech schools and universities for years to help stimulate STEM careers and robotics in particular. Staubli’s Robot House at SCI-Arc, a leading architectural school in Southern California, is an example. But in recent years, more humanoid and open source robots are becoming affordable. Also helping speed up development are open source software resources such as Willow Garage’s ROS.

Healthcare Robotics

In a few recent articles in robotics and healthcare media, including one by the editor of Robotics Review, there has been a call for leadership – for national direction in strategic areas of the robotics industry, particularly in the area of healthcare. Henrik Christensen and the team involved with the publication and presentation of “A Roadmap for U.S. Robotics: from Internet to Robotics” began the process and it has slowly gained momentum.

Early last year President Obama established the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative which included a section for robotics. The initiative was funded with $500 million, 10% earmarked for robotics. The scope of his directive was to insure that critical (defense and security) products were manufactured by Americans in America. Tom Clancy’s new book “Threat Vector” shows just how critical this can be in his fictional account of a virus planted on a foreign-made hard drive component installed in an American-made disk integrated into a high-security American defense installation.

Other countries – the EU, Korea and Japan in particular – have public-private consortiums working on difficult problems for which solutions are in the national interest, hence the reason why they are funded. Other than the American Manufacturing Initiative, American doesn’t have any such strategically-funded national interest projects (except military and defense).

To my way of thinking, advancements in healthcare shouldn’t be held up or otherwise thwarted because of patents, research funding or other corporate or personal (selfish) rationalizations. Patient care should be paramount, profits and profitability secondary. But that’s not the way it is at present nor will it change without political intervention.

I’d like to suggest a change similar to what Henry Ford did when confronted with a similar situation 100 years ago.

In the early years of automobile development, a group owned the rights to a two-cycle gasoline engine patent. By controlling this patent, they were able to monopolize the industry and force car manufacturers to adhere to their demands or risk a lawsuit. In 1911, Henry Ford won a challenge to the patent. The result was that the patent became virtually worthless and a new association – which would eventually become the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association – was formed. The new association instituted a cross-licensing agreement among all U.S. auto manufacturers: although each company would develop technology and file patents, those patents were shared openly and without the exchange of money between all the manufacturers. By the time the U.S. entered WWII, 92 Ford patents and 515 patents from other companies were being shared between these manufacturers, without any exchange of money – or lawsuits. The best braking system was shared by all as was the best window wiper, and many, many other inventions passed freely from one car company to the others. The result was that the user – the car driver – benefitted with the safest and best cars, no matter the brand – and the auto industry flourished as a result.

If an association like the MVMA – with a charismatic and visible leader – were to be launched in the medical robotics arena, perhaps the wonderful new inventions we’ve all read about would become available quicker and with less constraints, patents, and other hold-ups. Patients – you and I – care-givers and healthcare systems would all share in the benefits and lives saved which would come from focused development speed-ups in the robotics-related healthcare marketplace.