--- title: The forecast is robots description: as robots become commponplace, security, reliability, cost are all critical. ROS runs on Ubuntu. Ubuntu Core is the OS for robotics, IoT, embedded devices. url: https://canonical.com/blog/the-forecast-is-robots?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Eric Jensen](https://canonical.com/blog/author/jnsn "More about Eric Jensen") on 15 February 2019 # The forecast is robots [IIoT](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/iiot) [IoT](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/iot) [robotics](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/robotics) [Robots](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/robots) [ROS](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/ros) [ROS Industrial](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/ros-industrial) [Ubuntu](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/ubuntu) [Ubuntu Core](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/ubuntu-core) Share on:* [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.canonical.com/blog/the-forecast-is-robots "Share on Facebook") * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/share?text=The%20forecast%20is%20robots&url=https://www.canonical.com/blog/the-forecast-is-robots&hashtags=ubuntu "Share on Twitter") * [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.canonical.com/blog/the-forecast-is-robots&title=The%20forecast%20is%20robots "Share on LinkedIn") --- --- ## Newsletter signup Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up ROS Industrial 2018 Robots are an increasingly important part of our lives, in more ways than we realise. I’m not talking just about Roombas, or the toy robots that inhabit the wish lists of the world’s children (and the young at heart). Robots are increasingly behind the scenes, powering the modern world we experience daily. From clothing to pharmaceuticals to home electronics to automobiles, robots are a major part of manufacturing and production. Take, for example, the Tianyuan Garments Company. You may not have heard of them, but there’s a chance you’re wearing their clothes right now. Tianyuan makes clothing for everyone from Adidas to Armani. If you guessed they’re a Chinese company, you’d be right. But their latest factory isn’t in China, it’s in the United States. These factories are filled with a revolutionary new robot called the SewBot, from US-based SoftWear Automation. The SewBot can create finished garments from fabric and thread. [Tianyuan’s US factory](https://www.deviceplus.com/connect/sewbot-in-the-clothing-manufacturing-industry/) produces over 1,100 shirts per 8-hour shift, and is capable of operating around the clock. Another example is the  Small Robot Company, which operates farming robots in the UK. They created three robots named [Tom, Dick, and Harry](https://www.smallrobotcompany.com/meet-the-robots/). The Small Robot Company doesn’t sell these robots though; instead they offer something they call FaaS, or Farming as a Service. You rent the robots you need for your farm, and that’s it. No need to spend vast sums on farm machinery that sits idle most of the year, and comes with a costly maintenance schedule. Even better, the robots constantly analyse soil quality and plant health, dispensing fertiliser or pesticides only when and where they’re needed. This saves the farmer even more money, and is better for the environment. Best of all, Tom, Dick and Harry run Ubuntu. These two examples are already in the market, but they are only the beginning. We are around the corner from a ‘Cambrian explosion’ type event in robotics. In the coming years, we’ll grow accustomed to robots assisting us at work, home and play, in sickness and in health, etc. As robots become more and more a part of our world, there will be increasing pressure to make them secure, reliable, long lasting, and at lower prices than ever before. If you’d like to know more about these challenges, and how we are working to address them, you might be interested in a talk I gave at the [ROS Industrial conference](https://rosindustrial.org/events/2018/12/11/ros-industrial-conference-2018) in Stuttgart, Germany a couple months ago. ‘ROS’ refers to the ‘[Robot Operating System](http://www.ros.org/about-ros/),’ a software project built on Ubuntu, aimed at simplifying robotics development. ROS Industrial focuses on the manufacturing sectors. The talk explores [Ubuntu Core](https://www.ubuntu.com/core), the Linux OS expressly designed for robots and other devices. You can watch the video here: #### Related posts --- [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 25 August 2026 ### [Arduino® VENTUNO™ Q is available for pre-order with Ubuntu pre-installed](https://canonical.com/blog/arduino-ventuno-q-is-available-for-pre-order-with-ubuntu-pre-installed) Canonical announcements Ubuntu tech blog London, UK – August 25, 2026 – Following our initial collaboration announcement in March 2026, Canonical and Arduino (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.) are excited to announce that VENTUNO Q is now generally available for pre-order, pre-loaded with Ubuntu. VENTUNO Q is a dual-brain developer board designed for edge AI and robot ... --- [Jonathan Beri](https://canonical.com/blog/author/jmberi) 18 June 2026 ### [So you need to add microcontrollers to your fleet: now what?](https://canonical.com/blog/microcontrollers-ubuntu-core-golioth) Ubuntu and Linux Ubuntu tech blog Your Ubuntu Core fleet is running beautifully. 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