Recent Advances and Challenges in Industrial Robotics: A Systematic Review of Technological Trends and Emerging Applications

Industrial robotics has shifted from rigid, task-specific tools to adaptive, intelligent systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and sensor integration, revolutionizing efficiency and human–robot collaboration across manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, and agriculture. Collaborative robots (cobots) slash assembly times by 30% and boost quality by 15%, while reinforcement learning enhances autonomy, cutting errors by 30% and energy use by 20%. Yet, this review transcends descriptive summaries, critically synthesizing these trends to expose unresolved tensions in scalability, cost, and societal impact. High implementation costs and legacy system incompatibilities hinder…