Despite early enthusiasm for the technology, humanoid robots are expected to progress beyond the experimentation phase for less than 100 companies through 2028, with fewer than than 20 companies pushing them live for supply chain and manufacturing purposes.
According to an analysis from Gartner, the majority of production deployments of humanoid robots over the next couple years will be limited to "tightly controlled environments," with the hype surrounding the technology outpacing its actual readiness for widespread use.
"The promise of humanoid robots is compelling, but the reality is that the technology remains immature and far from meeting expectations for versatility and cost-effectiveness," says Gartner senior principal analyst Abdil Tunca.
Although humanoid robots are designed to replicate human movements and tasks in warehouse and factory environments, they also face substantial barriers for adoption in the supply chain, logistics and manufacturing sectors. As Gartner notes, models currently being tested don't have the dexterity, intelligence and adaptability needed to perform day-to-day warehouse tasks, such as SKU picking, trailer unloading, and exception handling. Additionally, it's proven difficult to ensure that humanoid robots are compatible with existing systems and workflows, the technology is still prohibitively expensive, and limited battery life shortens the amount of time they can perform certain high mobility tasks.
However, robots still have a place in warehouse environments, Gartner adds. So-called "polyfunctional robots" carry several advantages over their humanoid counterparts, given that they aren't reliant on human-like design. In practice, that could be a robot with wheels and a telescopic arm that moves boxes, picks cases, scans inventory and performs inspections. Polyfunctional robots also typically come with higher uptime and use less energy than a humanoid attempting the same tasks, Gartner explains.
“For the majority of companies that will need to prioritize robots that maximize throughput-per-dollar invested, we expect polyfunctional robots to be the superior solution," says Gartner senior director analyst Caleb Thomson.
