In the context of reindustrialization, energy transformation and increasing technological dependence, some decisions should be merely technical to be transformed into strategic ones. The ability to manage, supervise and maintain critical infrastructures – energy, transport, water or industry – is one of them. The operational resilience of essential systems is a key element of public interest and in any case has economic and social consequences.
In this scenario convergence between artificial intelligence and autonomous systems I’m redefining how these environments are managed. Inspection robotics is one of the areas where this change manifests itself with greater clarity and where many industrial, economic and strategic dilemmas are expected to be faced by Spain and Europe in the next few years.
The sector’s recent acceleration is significant. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), sales of robotics applied to inspection and maintenance will increase by +2,476% in 2024 compared to the previous year. More than the picture, what it represents is important: the transition from highly manual supervision models must be done more independently each timecapable of continuous operation in complex and critical environments.
This change is not incremental but structural. For years, inspection robotics has been based on highly specialized platforms programmed to perform very specific areas under controlled conditions. It now gives rise to the integration of advanced deep learning techniques systems capable of understanding their surroundingsadapt to unexpected situations and make informed decisions in real time. Technology like Embodied intelligenceVisión-Lenguaje-Acción (VLA) or Agéntica IA models radically expand the power of service robotics.
Inspection robotics is a good example of this development. Traditionally, these systems are based on sensors and algorithms designed to detect specific events: scream, flight, thermal anomaly. Currently, robots not only detect defects, but interpret the context in which they are produced. They identify objects, understand spatial relationships, combine visual, thermal or acoustic information and distinguish between normal and abnormal behaviour.
This step from revelation to understanding has profound implications. It allows you to reduce the number of false alarms, improve the quality of the data received and automatically prioritize the results, thus optimizing the number of decisions where response time is critical.
There is a sum of advances to it semantic mapwhich allows you to generate representations of the environment that include meaning: what each object is, what its function is, and how it should be controlled. Comparing these maps between inspection rounds facilitates the detection of relevant changes when necessary for explicit inspections, thereby increasing the efficiency and coverage of operations.
From this technological foundation, architecture emerges even more transformatively. Vision-Language-Action models allow you to translate expressed human instructions in natural language into physical robot actions, radically simplifying interaction with these systems and reducing the need for full interfaces or explicit programming.
In parallel, the AI agency is introducing a new paradigm: systems able to track high level targetsplan complete missions, evaluate results and adapt your behavior independently.
In practice, this is intended to include robots performing pre-defined rounds platforms capable of accepting general orders -for example “infrastructure inspection and reporting of critical issues”-; and independently decide where to act, which sensors to use and how to generate relevant information. The potential impact is significant: reduced operational costs, improved safety, greater inspection coverage and scalability that is now difficult to achieve.
Spain features solid technical capabilities in robotics, automation and applied artificial intelligence, as well as an industrial system that can benefit enormously from these solutions. no embargo, large-scale adoption continues to hamper barriers construction: market fragmentation, reluctance to face critical situations, lack of common standards and a persistent gap between technological development and industrial deployment.
From an international perspective, the contrast is evident. Countries like China have transformed robotics and artificial intelligence into central pillars of their industrial policies, combining public turnover, manufacturing capacity and large scale strategies.
Europe is moving forward mainly through R&D programs that support innovation, but the transformation of this innovation into competitive industrial deployment is more difficult. In this context, the dependence of technologies developed outside Europe for the operation of critical infrastructure plants, which call into question relevant questions from the point of view resilience, control and strategic autonomy.
The network for Spain and Europe is not limited to the development of the most sophisticated algorithms, as the technological possibilities are available. The main problem is the strategic nature, related to the form in which autonomous robotics is approached, including medium and large reverse policiesincentives for its adoption in sensible industries and conditions for its industrial scale.
Inspection robotics is an active part of this dilemma. What is currently being considered in pilot projects will soon be a basic requirement for the proper functioning of critical infrastructures. It is appropriate to consider not only the description of these technologies, but also the environments in which they are developed and the low-control devices in which they operate. These decisions will affect you position in Spain and Europe in the development of industrial automation.
*** Roberto Guzmán, CEO and founder of Robotnik Automation.
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