With the improvement of logistics technology, the demand for mobile robots in the manufacturing industry is becoming more and more urgent. Today in mobile robots are mainly used in the automotive industry, 3C electronics, chip manufacturing, tobacco industry, logistics packaging and other industries, the more significant use in actual production is handling. They can be divided into sorting mobile robots, forklift mobile robots, goods transfer mobile robots, traction mobile robots, submerged mobile robots and many other types according to the form of operation. Mobile robots have unique advantages in terms of automation, flexibility and safety, making them a better choice for intelligent and automated logistics.

With the rapid development of the industry in recent years, more and more companies have entered the field of mobile robots, including new companies that have entered the market with AMR, such as Jia Zhi Technology, UAI Zhihe, etc., and companies that have entered the "new track" from the traditional AGV and warehouse robot field, such as JI Zhijia, Xinsong Robot, etc.

I. Current situation of mobile robot industry development

Mobile robots are one of the important components of China's industrial robot industry, and data show that the production of mobile robots in China reached 29,559 units in 2019, an increase of 15.05% year-on-year, accounting for 15.81% of the total production of industrial robots. Mobile robot products mainly consist of manufacturing and warehousing mobile robots, service mobile robots, and special application mobile robots.In 2019, manufacturing and warehousing mobile robots accounted for more production, up to 74%, while service mobile robots and special application mobile robots accounted for 14% and 12%, respectively.

With the development of China's e-commerce logistics industry in recent years, the demand for mobile robots has grown significantly. Data show that from 2011 to 2019, China's mobile robot market size from 200 million yuan to 6.175 billion yuan, although the growth rate has been reduced, but the application of mobile robots will continue to penetrate all walks of life, its market size will still maintain a faster development trend.

Outdoor mobile robotics and "big data" technology mature

Previously, the application cases of mobile robots were mainly focused on indoor environments, such as intelligent warehouses and factory workshops. In outdoor areas, such as the "last mile" of express delivery, port cargo handling, etc. can not be applied. However, with the maturation of outdoor mobile robot technology, mobile robots can be used in purely outdoor or semi-outdoor applications, which brings a whole new revolution to the logistics industry. With intelligent transport through mobile robots, efficiency will be greatly enhanced.

In addition to the maturity of outdoor mobile robot technology, the application of artificial intelligence technology to mobile robots will also further improve efficiency. Through the medium of the internet, production management systems can collect and aggregate data on the operation of robots to obtain 'big data'. By analysing the big data, the robot's crop rate, production information and fault information can be known, so that production methods can be intelligently adjusted in real time according to the actual situation, thus further improving production efficiency.

Third, the layout of the mobile robot industry chain tends to be complete

The upstream of mobile robots are robot parts manufacturers, drive controllers, systems, and excited navigation sensors and other core components are the core of the industry chain, occupying the vast majority of the cost in robot products. The midstream is for robot manufacturing and system integration companies. The downstream includes automotive, 3C electronics, logistics and other application industries. The domestic mobile robot market currently has a high localisation rate of over 80%.

Upstream: the localisation process continues to advance, gradually getting rid of dependence on foreign imported technology

Mobile robot mainly by the drive, system and guide three parts, which, in the drive controller, system, and excited navigation sensors and other core components, the localization process continues to advance. 1996, the underlying algorithm started Kollmorgen NDC will be laser navigation AGV into the Chinese market, since then ** the development of AGV in the Chinese market. For quite a long time, the mobile robot sensor market in China was occupied by foreign brands such as Kollmorgen, SICK, Koyo and Efma. In recent years, most companies in the Chinese market have started to focus on the development of component technologies for mobile robots, and for a while foreign brands have had challengers in the Chinese market. For example, for the core components of laser SLAM mobile robots, Thor Intelligence has emerged. For controllers and dispatching systems, Xian Gong and BITO Robotics have emerged.