Survey results on status, needs and perspectives for using mobile service robots in industrial applications

Mobile robots for carrying out service tasks in industrial plants and on infrastructure gain importance e.g. due to aging assets and demographics. In order to identify key areas requiring research and development activities a questionnaire-based online survey was conducted in 2009. Addressed were participants working in industry knowing best about needs potentials obstacles and pitfalls of applying mobile service robots in their companies/industrial sector. This paper presents the surveying methods and the obtained results which mainly cover chemical and automotive industries due to their world-wide economic significance as well as their research and innovation intensity.