Overview
AMR share is expected to exceed 50% within the next three years.
Accelerated adoption: over 30% share in 2022
AMR (Automated Mobile Robot, autonomous mobile robot) is a category of industrial mobile robots used mainly in manufacturing and logistics. AMR products generally follow two navigation technology routes: laser SLAM and vision SLAM.
Market Share and Deployment
According to CMR Industry Alliance and the New Strategy Mobile Robot Industry Research Institute, AMR sales volume in 2022 accounted for more than 30% of the overall industrial mobile robot market (see the 2022-2023 China industrial mobile robot (AGV/AMR) industry development report for more details). The gap with the market leader, QR-code navigation products, has narrowed. AMR deployment expanded in 2022, with a concentration in industrial manufacturing. Compared with warehousing and logistics, manufacturing requires higher flexibility from mobile robots and therefore favors trackless AMR solutions.
Industry forecasts indicate that within the next three years, AMR will account for over 50% of the industrial mobile robot market, enabling broader intelligent mobile robot applications.
Market Structure
In the Chinese market, more than 85% of AGV chassis manufacturers offer natural-navigation products, and that number continues to grow. The field includes companies focused on natural-navigation solutions as well as traditional AGV and warehouse robot vendors and logistics integrators. Representative suppliers include Jiazhikeji, UAITech, BlueCore, SIASUN Robot, Stand, Jiuwu Huitong, Geek+, Hikvision Robotics, Future Robot, and Megvii, among others.
Technical Development: Breaking Scenario Constraints
AMR navigation today mainly relies on SLAM. SLAM types are divided by sensor type into laser SLAM and vision SLAM. In 2022 deployments, laser SLAM accounted for 85.6% and vision SLAM for 14.4% of AMR products. Laser SLAM has an earlier start and is relatively mature, making it the dominant approach. Vision SLAM started later and lagged in adoption, but its use has been increasing in recent years.
Mobile robots face diverse deployment scenarios, and current natural-navigation techniques cannot cover all cases. As AMR applications deepen, navigation remains the key capability to advance. Important development paths include full-lifecycle SLAM, dynamic-object filtering, multi-sensor fusion, and semantic segmentation and recognition. The use of 3D navigation technologies is also expected to increase.
3D navigation can be implemented with 3D LiDAR or 3D vision sensors. Conditions for 3D LiDAR deployment are now largely in place. Algorithms have matured, 3D LiDAR costs have fallen significantly—partly due to advances in autonomous driving—and robot control hardware now generally has sufficient compute power at acceptable cost. 3D LiDAR enables robots to build more detailed environmental models and simplifies system deployment. It provides richer environmental information even in feature-sparse settings, improves navigation stability, offers higher robustness in highly dynamic environments than 2D laser navigation, and reduces dependence on ground flatness.
3D vision navigation has also advanced rapidly. Vision sensors are low cost and provide high information density. Multi-camera arrays can capture features across a larger spatial range, and camera options iterate quickly, enabling faster technology upgrades. Vision systems can support full-lifecycle SLAM. Vision SLAM has developed rapidly and is now a strong complement to laser SLAM; it may eventually surpass laser SLAM as the preferred natural-navigation technology.
Key Technical and Market Trends
- Higher technical maturity: Continuous development in AMR hardware, software, and navigation systems is raising autonomy and expanding applicable scenarios.
- Integration with other technologies: AMR systems are increasingly combined with artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing to enhance autonomous decision-making, perception, navigation, and obstacle avoidance.
- Lower deployment cost: Manufacturing and component cost reductions, along with rental and service models, are lowering barriers to AMR adoption.
- Diversified application scenarios: Beyond manufacturing and logistics, AMRs are expanding into healthcare, agriculture, food service, retail, and other sectors.
With coordinated development across the industry chain, AMR adoption has reached a growth peak. As technologies and market demand continue to advance, AMR systems are expected to see wider adoption across more fields.
