Posts Tagged: "The Robot Report"

Robotics: The Business Depends on More than Patents

In the late 1970s patents for devices which would accommodate the self-care and mobility needs of the aging and handicapped began to be filed. But it wasn’t until 1990 that the filings increased, numbering about 20 a year. By 2005, they totaled about 50 annually. The current trend in patent applications is now focused on humanoids, that is robots resembling and making movements like human beings. That is exactly the kind of story which attracts considerable media attention, creating the illusion that this robotics niche is taking off.