When Amazon acquired North Reading, Mass.-based Kiva Systems for $775 million in early 2012, the future of manufacturing became all too clear. With the purchase, the retail giant announced it would be automating its fulfillment centers, putting autonomous mobile robots to work as a means of improving productivity.
The end of the following year, Amazon announced it was testing drones for same-day parcel delivery. The flying machines, called "Octocopters," are said to be able to carry as much as five pounds within a 10-mile radius of any of the e-commerce giant's fulfillment centers.
Amazon isn't the only behemoth giving away jobs to robots, however. In November, word surfaced that Apple was investing $10.5 billion into factory robots to assist in the production of iPads, iPhones and other gadgets.
The following month, Google announced its acquisition of Waltham-based MIT spin-off Boston Dynamics. The purchase marked the eighth in a string of robotics companies Google gobbled up within a six-month span. The New York Times reported:
The deal is also the clearest indication yet that Google is intent on building a new class of autonomous systems that might do anything from warehouse work to package delivery and even elder care.
So, the statement, "Robots will eventually take the place of the majority of global manufacturing jobs," sounds like a given, right? But would those in the robotics industry agree?
We'll find out on Thursday at BostInno's State of Innovation Forum, being held at the Westin Waterfront. As part of the half-day conference, we have put together an expert robotics panel, which will be moderated by WBUR's Curt Nickisch and feature Jim Lawton, the CMO at Rethink Robotics, Jason Walker, the director of operations at CyPhy Works, and Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab.
We have already posed the aforementioned statement to them, giving them the option to strongly agree, disagree or fall "somewhat" in between. Their responses will be displayed on screen Thursday, come 4:45 p.m., and they'll be forced to defend and explain their reasoning.
For those who want to be in the room for the conversation, time is ticking down to purchase tickets. Be one of the first 15 to use the discount code "BSOIRobots," however, and you'll receive 50 percent off. Don't let a drone beat you to it.
