Will Robots Reflect a Nation's Character?
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In his latest column, Matthew Brooker laments the state of the UK robot industry. Even as the Labour government struggles to keep its promise to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years, a lack of workers both human and humanoid slows things down. There are non-human workers, some of whom — don't tell the Brexit part of the electorate — are distinctly foreign. Says Matthew: 'A construction automaton developed by Switzerland's Schindler Holding AG was deployed in the UK for the first time at a net-zero office building in central London.' In another part of the city, a robotic arm created by ABB Ltd., a UK company, 'is being used to cut and assemble timber-frame panels for sustainable homes below a railway line in an area that was once home to taxi-maintenance yards.' Otherwise, the British robot sector is far from what the industry is like in the US, Germany and Japan, much less global leader China.
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