Part 5/11:
Software: The Critical Bottleneck in Robotics and Automation
Historically, hardware—motors, actuators, sensors—has advanced rapidly, but the software brain lagged behind. With recent breakthroughs, the software component has become the key bottleneck. As Hans and others have observed, the pivotal factor now is the quality and sophistication of AI software.
Battery improvements, which have been driven by consumer electronics and EV markets, have facilitated the hardware side of robotics. Yet, without intelligent algorithms capable of flexible, nuanced decision-making, even the best hardware remains limited. The convergence of hardware improvements and AI progress now signals that robotics software has finally caught up, paving the way for transformative applications across industries.