In Germany, robots set for bigger role in home life

BERLIN

From mundane chores to security, robots could soon be playing a much bigger part in daily life in German households.

Several companies are working on prototypes of robots designed specifically to make home life easier, including local firms such as Neura Robotics and foreign companies like China’s Yarbo.

Neura’s humanoid robot, called 4NE1, can see, hear, speak and understand, so it can provide unrivalled domestic help, from cooking to laundry and even calling emergency services if needed, according to the company’s CEO David Reger.

“Robots are there to do things that you don’t like to do, which can include everything like cleaning your room, filling up or emptying the dishwasher or even preparing your dinner, lunch, breakfast,” he told Anadolu.

“They will also be able to give you more safety. If you fall, for example, there will be somebody who knows that you have fallen and will be able to help you.”

The robot can also evaluate a person’s vitals, so “it will maybe warn you before greater things happen,” he added.

He said the company, set up in 2019, aims to “revolutionize the world of robotics.” It currently has more than 170 team members from over 30 countries working on advanced technology in the fields of environmental perception, drive and control technology, materials science, mechanical design, and artificial intelligence.

“We want to expand the skillset of collaborative robots with cognitive capabilities so that they can work with humans in existing environments,” said Reger.

Still in the prototype phase, Neura’s 4NE1 is expected to go into production by next year, and will cost somewhere between €20,000-€40,000 ($22,300-$44,600), according to the official.

- Multipurpose helpers

Germany ranks first in Europe and third among the most automated countries measured by robot density, according to World Robotics 2023 report of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

It had 415 installed units of industrial robots per 10,000 employees in 2022, said the report.

Germany’s stock of industrial robots, as of 2020, was about 10 times the number in the UK, five times of France, and three times the number in Italy, according to management consultancy firm Scaler8.

The existing ecosystem in Germany makes it all the more attractive as a market for foreign companies such as Yarbo, which focuses on multifunctional yard robots.

Its products include a modular design that enables the robot to function as a lawn mower, snowblower and leaf blower among other things.

The company is particularly focused on tackling the challenge of snow removal, according to Candice Yinglu, a senior sales official.

That is a “task in high demand but lacking effective technological solutions,” she said.

Yarbo has so far sold over 1,000 units around the world and has incorporated other outdoors task into its core robot since 2015.

The firm has high hopes for its snowblower module, which Yinglu said has been developed after “countless experiments, bug fixes, and rigorous field testing.”

“We also have plans to innovate and bring in more utilities for Yarbo’s core bot, such as a sweeping function, plowing, and a Yarbo arm, which could help pick fruit or heavy items around the yard,” she added.