As a relatively young business sector, and one in which research advancements, technological developments, and societal need have combined to remove barriers to innovation and commercialization, the robotics industry has the good fortune of offering a vast number of business and investment opportunities. However, with the potential landscape for robotics so large, and the rate of technical advancement so rapid, choosing which opportunities to pursue can be difficult.

Choice is good, but an overabundance of options can be overwhelming, stifling the decision-making processes and, more regretfully, resulting in less informed, incorrect decisions. similarly, too much detail—the “trees” in the “forest and trees” metaphor—can swamp the decision-making process. Limiting the robotics universe of potential investment and development opportunities to all but the most promising prospects addresses some of the problem. Another approach involves “rolling up” low-level technical details to focus only on larger “macro trends,” allowing interested parties to distinguish the business develop-ment and investment “forest” from the “trees.”

The purpose of this article is to provide business development professionals and investors, along with the academic and robotics communities, with an overview of the leading macro trends in robotics, particularly as they relate to business development, investment, and commercialization opportunities.