Yole: Market for sensors for robots and drones to double by 2021

In a Yole Développement (Yole) report, the market research company suggests that the market for sensors fordrones and robots will double from $350 million to $709 million at a compound annual growth rate of 12.4% from 2015-2021, and that sensors—image sensors in particular—will play a key role in that growth.

This growth, according to Pierre Cambou, Activity Leader, Imaging, Yole, will be aided by adoption of drones and robots in new markets.

"Defense and manufacturing have been the traditional drones and robot markets,"he said. "Within five years, the emerging robotic market segments will grow from 14% to 28% of the global drones and robots market share."

Entitled“Sensors for drones and robots: market opportunities and technology revolution,” the report is the first from Yole’s MEMS & Sensors team and concerning sensors for robots and drones. In it, analysts identify drones and robots applications by market and technology. Though defense and industrial remain the two largest markets for drones and robots, their usage is being adopted elsewhere.

"Through our research, we’ve identified at least 10 new applications for which drones and robots that will generate more than $1B in revenue per year," said Cambou.

These applications include consumer drones, autonomous vehicles,hospitality robots, exoskeletons, and telepresence. These new applications will see a compound growth rate of 40% and above over the next five years, according to Yole. The report also cover such markets as medical, security, transportation, industrial, and defense.

The report also lists key players for each application and their market positioning. Machine vision and imaging companies cited in the report include Cognex, Teledyne DALSA, e2v, FLIR, Keyence, Olympus, ON Semiconductor, SICK, Sony, and Toshiba.

Sensors are key enablers for the emerging robotics revolution, and will play a role in all applications, according to Yole.

"Optical sensors, in particular visible cameras, lidar, and 3D cameras, are the major enablers," according to Dr. Eric Mounier, Senior Technology & Market Analyst at Yole."Acoustic and positional sensors will also enjoy double-digit growth rates for drones and robots applications."

View a press release on the report.
View or purchase the report.

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