IFR invited the international press to a Round Table discussion on "The Future of Robotics" and "The first results of World Robotics 2010" at the AUTOMATICA 2010 in Munich.
 
Ake Lindqvist, IFR President, Vice President ABB Robotics, presented the first results on the worldwide distribution of industrial robots in 2009.
 
Afterwards, the CEO's of major robot companies from Europe, Japan and North America discussed "The Future of Robotics".

From left to right: Ken Fouhy, MM Maschinenmarkt (Moderation), Manfred Gundel, CEO KUKA Roboter, Germany, Olaf Gehrels, CEO FANUC Robots Europe, Luxembourg, Åke Lindqvist, IFR President, Vice President ABB Robotics, Sweden/USA, Yoshikatsu Minami, Director and General Manager Robotics Division Yaskawa Electric Corp., Japan, John Dulchinos, CEO Adept, USA

Main topics were

• Which industries will set the future for industrial robots?
• Which industries determine the technological challenges for the robotics industry?
• Robots in small and medium sized enterprises
• Robot programming
• What do manufacturers of industrial robots think of professional service robots?  

See more:
http://www.ifr.org/news/ifr-press-release/ifr-round-table-on-the-future-of-robotics-153/