Will the increased use of robots in everyday life continue even after Covid-19 is under control?

China’s robotics market is forecast to reach US$103.6bil by 2023, driven by manufacturing, consumer, retail, health care and resource applications. — SCMP

When an earthquake and tsunami damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima in Japan in 2011, the country’s robotics makers were called on to develop special units that could enter the highly toxic environment and clean up the mess.

It took six years before the robots were able to locate and remove the first melted uranium fuel cells, after a series of failures where they got stuck in debris or experienced circuit malfunctions from excess radiation. Just over a year ago, remotely controlled robots developed by Toshiba were sent in to start removing contaminated debris.