Structured Megatrends Research as Foundation for Future-Oriented Research-Planning and R&D Roadmapping in Robotics

It is impossible to foresee the future. However, in today’s Anthropocene, as todays era in the world’s history is called - an era mostly influenced by human inventions and technological disruptions - carrying a crystal ball would be more important than ever. Product lifecycles get shorter and shorter and technologies progress with an increasing speed. There is hope, though: The so-called ‘megatrends’ are a well-accepted indicator to predict what will drive and bother the world of tomorrow. Their analysis can help to identify upcoming challenges and potential scenarios for the future of societies and humankind. Therefore, it has to be assumed that the most impactful megatrends will also deeply affect the development as well as the application of robotics and automation. The rapid advances in inventing new automation solutions and robotic systems will have an impact on our private everyday life and on the future working conditions. This paper lays foundation for further research, comparing various scientific megatrend studies, seeking to quantify their importance and to determine their impact on the field of robotics.