Service Robot

服务机器人Common

A robot that performs useful tasks for people or equipment, as distinct from an industrial robot.

Under ISO 8373:2021, which the IFR's statistics follow, a service robot is a robot that performs useful tasks for humans or equipment, excluding industrial automation applications, which are classed separately as industrial robots. The IFR further splits the category into professional service robots, covering logistics, cleaning, medical, agricultural, inspection, and food-delivery robots, and personal or domestic service robots, covering vacuum robots, companion robots, and education or entertainment robots. Most operate in environments that are crowded and constantly changing, so they rely more heavily on perception, navigation, and human-robot interaction. The household, guided-tour, and retail scenarios that today's embodied-AI companies target with humanoid and mobile-manipulation robots mostly fall under this category.

ExampleRestaurant food-delivery robots, hospital logistics robots, and household robot vacuums are all service robots.

Related: Industrial Robot · Robot Vacuum Cleaner · Companion Robot · Autonomous Mobile Robot · Human-Robot Interaction · International Federation of Robotics
Sources: IFR: Service Robots
IFR: Robot definitions at ISO