Robotics 4.0 – Are we there yet?

Robotics is one of the major megatrends unfolding this decade. Robots are capable of doing more and more as becoming detached from the assembly lines, and service robots are starting to have an impact on the whole society. This paper deals with establishing the overarching theme and context of the quite few exciting novel aspects of automated technologies: Industry 4.0 in the factories, robots on the roads, as self driving cars, and robots in the operating theaters, performing not only teleoperated surgeries but complex, delicate procedures. A robotics taxonomy should be developed clearly identifying the types and functions of such robots, assessing their key components and capabilities. Both the common sense and the standardized definitions of these robots should be agreed by the community of developers, manufacturers and users. Ensuring the safety of such hybrid control systems requires a good understanding of the technology from the user side and novel and efficient human–machine interfaces. This will lead to increased transparency and trust towards these systems, which shall have a positive effect on the robot development procedures, increasing safety.