Orbbec leads the field of visual perception of Chinese service robots

The bottom-up domestic substitution of the industrial chain has begun to accelerate.

On July 14, Gaogong Industry Research Institute (GGII) released the "2023 Machine Vision Industry Development Blue Book" (hereinafter referred to as the "Blue Book"), which was co-edited by Orbbec. According to the Blue Book, Orbbec's market share in China's service robot 3D vision field exceeds 70%, leading the global 3D vision perception market.

Caption: On July 14, Orbbec, Gaogong Robot Industry Research Institute (GGII), Mecha-Mind Robotics, Constar, and Zhixiang jointly released the "2023 Machine Vision Industry Development Blue Book".

Service robot 3D vision sensor market share exceeds 70%

After decades of development, the 3D visual perception industry has successfully expanded from the early stage to the consumer stage, and its application areas are still expanding. The industry has gone through the start-up and primary development period and is about to usher in a period of rapid growth.

In the application field of service robots, 3D vision sensors can help service robots efficiently complete functions such as face recognition, distance perception, obstacle avoidance, and navigation, making them more intelligent. Currently, applications that have been implemented include sweeping robots, automatic delivery robots, guided companion robots, etc., serving multiple offline scenarios such as homes, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals.

The blue book points out that from the perspective of 3D vision sensor participants, there are mainly Obbec, Sony, and Yinniu Micro. Among them, Obbec's market share in China's service robot field exceeded 71.09% in 2022.

Competition landscape of 3D vision sensors in China’s public service robot sector in 2022 (unit: unit, %) Source: GGII

According to GGII statistics, China's production of public service robots in 2022 was 102,400 units, a year-on-year increase of 30.61%; the compound growth rate is expected to exceed 27% in the next few years, and the output is expected to reach 270,000 units by 2026.

China's public service robot production and forecast from 2017 to 2026 (unit: 10,000 units, %) Source: GGII

A service robot is generally equipped with 1-7 sensors. Depending on the design and scenario, the type and quantity of sensors selected will vary. At present, more service robots are equipped with 2-4 sensors, mainly 3D vision sensors. GGII predicts that the number of sensors carried by a single service robot is expected to increase in the next few years, and the compound growth rate of sensor demand will exceed 30%. By 2026, the demand for sensors is expected to be close to 800,000 units, of which 3D vision sensors account for nearly 80%.

Demand and forecast of sensors for public service robots in China from 2017 to 2026 (unit: 10,000 units, %) Source: GGII

Driven by companies represented by Orbbec, 3D visual perception technology is becoming increasingly rich and comprehensive. With the development of the underlying and core layers, 3D visual perception is also moving towards low cost, low power consumption, small size and high performance.

**Currently, there are more than 100 robots that have reached business cooperation with Orbbec,** and its cooperative customers include industry leaders such as Purdue, Gaoxian Robotics, Qinglang Robotics, Yunji Technology, and Stand Robotics, covering many service robot application scenarios such as smart factories, warehousing and logistics, building automation, smart inspection, lawn mowers, hotel delivery, building delivery, commercial cleaning, and education.

Domestic substitution is accelerating, allowing service robots to move towards diversified scenarios

The Blue Book points out that from the perspective of the machine vision industry chain, the localization substitution from the bottom up has begun to accelerate. In the process of integrating visual applications into cameras, light sources, lenses, industrial computers, software, and vision, the localization process is deepening.

According to the data, the localization share of major core components of machine vision in the Chinese market has exceeded 70% in 2022, including more than 90% for light sources, about 80% for lenses, more than 70% for 2D cameras, more than 60% for 3D cameras, and more than 40% for visual software**. The growth rate of China's 3D vision market in 2022 is close to 60%,** and many domestic manufacturers are beginning to emerge. It is expected that the next five years will be a key "positioning period" for the development of the machine vision industry, during which more leading companies are expected to stand out in various segments.

At the roundtable session of the Blue Book Conference, Zhong Lianghong, General Manager of Orbbec's Robot Product Line, said, "Robots live in a three-dimensional world. When they need to perceive the three-dimensional world, especially when they need to perceive geometric space, 3D vision is indispensable. By creating 3D vision sensors, Orbbec can enable robots to adapt to more diverse scenarios and enable robots to accurately locate, avoid obstacles, identify, and navigate."

Zhong Lianghong also mentioned that 3D vision and 2D vision are not substitutes, but complements, and the combination of the two can help robots solve more problems. However, in some more sophisticated scenarios, such as arm grasping, 3D vision can better ensure grasping accuracy and not damage the device, which is more advantageous than 2D.

Currently, 2D vision is extending to 3D vision. With the continuous deepening of intelligent manufacturing, facing complex object recognition and size measurement tasks, as well as the complex interactions required by human-computer interaction, 2D vision has some technical limitations in terms of accuracy and distance measurement, and the market demand for 3D vision is increasing day by day. The development of 3D vision technology will largely fill the application gap of 2D vision and better meet the needs of positioning, grasping, and other scenarios.

As an industry-leading provider of 3D visual perception overall technology solutions and a major domestic provider of 3D visual sensors for service robots, Orbbec can provide robot customers with a complete visual perception product matrix including monocular structured light, binocular structured light, LiDAR, and iToF, and has more than 7 years of industry implementation experience. In the future, Orbbec will continue to focus on the field of robot visual perception, continue to provide customers with advanced product solutions, and enable the industry's 3D intelligence.





Review editor: Liu Qing