I would not expect them to. Industrial robots have no need for human "personable" characteristics (looks, voice). It's a good description of evolution in fact. The design of robots for two different environments causes them to take on different characteristics.
Great recap of major milestones. I would think, to your point, that there has to be some crossover eventually of robotics advances on the automation side with the useability advancements led by consumer developments. On the useability/human interface front, I just read earlier this week about a robot the South Koreans developed that looks like ET, but is designed to function as a prison guard. There's something disconcerting about a cute little mechanical guy cruising the corridors keeping order behind bars.
I've noticed the same division. Industrial robots, including surgical ones, seem to be following one "evolutionary" path, while consumer-oriented robots are developing in a different direction. What I'm wondering is whether these paths will join or cross over in the future. For example, will functions and features of the consumer robots and the motion replication robots merge in military or medical applications?
What jumps out at me is the bifurcation taking place in the field. On the one hand, we have incremental advances in industrial robots (pick and place etc.), where they're being butressed by technologies like improved machine vision. OTOH, in the consumer sphere, we're seeing an explosion of experimentation. In this regard, see our slideshow, Humanoid Robots Get Real.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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