© Fraunhofer IPA

"Robotics in private and household applications has seen strong growth worldwide," says Martin Hägele, IFR Service Robot Group and long-time author of the report. Floor cleaning robots, robotic mowers and edutainment robots (the latter are increasingly referred to as social robots) have increasingly become part of our lives. Future product visions point to household robots of greater complexity, capability and value, such as assistance robots to support the elderly, help with housework and provide entertainment".