This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the Unmanned Non-Road Vehicles market. This segment comprises Civilian Unmanned Non-Road Vehicles and Military Unmanned Ground Vehicles.
The use of unmanned non-road vehicles for civilian applications is gaining traction due to their multiple benefits such as safety, reducing manual labour used for mundane tasks, and enhanced operational efficiency. Businesses across multiple industries (especially mining, warehouse, agriculture, and construction) are enjoying the benefits of unmanned vehicles’ ability to quickly finish repeatable tasks that include driving through rough terrains and picking and transporting goods across a facility. Their round-the-clock operation can eliminate the limitations associated with the restricted working conditions of manual labour.
Further, in military applications, the adoption of unmanned non-road vehicles has great potential but is expected to grow slowly due to the complexity involved in the deployment of such vehicles. Government support in terms of funding and using autonomous vehicles in war-torn regions is highly important.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used and revenue.
A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector break-downs and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
This section begins with a definition of what “Unmanned Non-Road Vehicles” are and lists their benefits in detail, such as reduced maintenance costs and enhanced operational efficiency.
It then explains how these vehicles can play a crucial role, especially in developed economies, which are facing a dearth of skilled labour in various industries, like the trucking industry. For instance, the American Trucking Association reported a shortage of 78,000 truck drivers in 2022 in the US which is expected to cross 160,0001 by 2031. In such a situation, unmanned non-road vehicles can be of immense help.
This subsection first claims that the use of unmanned non-road vehicles is steadily increasing across various industries, like warehousing, mining, construction, and agriculture. It then explains why their usage is mostly prevalent in warehouses and distribution centres in the form of automated forklifts and automated guided vehicles (AGVs).
This subsection of the report groups unmanned non-road vehicles into two major categories (based on their size): large and small, and defines these two categories.
This subsection talks about multiple sensors (including cameras, LiDAR, radar, GPS system, and artificial intelligence systems) that support the wide range of automated machines such as tractors, road rollers, and dump trucks – that are widely used in construction, mining, agriculture, and logistics industries.
It argues that managing unmanned vehicles on defined paths is easier than on public roads. Consequently, companies like John Deere, Caterpillar, and Komatsu have developed and successfully deployed remotely controllable autonomous vehicles across various industries. In mining, these vehicles boost safety and productivity, with Caterpillar reporting a 30% increase in productivity, while Komatsu cites a 40% reduction in wear and tear costs.
This subsection mostly focuses on the benefits of small, unmanned vehicles in the agriculture, construction, and warehousing industries. For example, while these unmanned vehicles can help farmers with sowing, weeding, and spraying crops, they can also support construction projects by executing a variety of tasks on dangerous construction sites. Similarly, in warehouses, these autonomous vehicles (especially autonomous forklifts) are used to transport goods safely with better precision and increased speed of loading and unloading, which increases efficiency and reliability. To cite an instance, in 2021, DHL Supply partnered with Crown Equipment and JBT Corporation to introduce an autonomous forklift in its US warehouse, boosting efficiency by 20% and reliability by 98%.
This subsection focuses on some of the challenges that may hamper the adoption of unmanned non-road vehicles. For instance, countries with cheap and abundant labour (like India) may show reluctance towards their adoption. Besides, the significant upfront cost and technical know-how (required to deploy and operate these vehicles) may also adversely affect their adoption.
It also explains how drones can threaten this sector and charts both the advantages as well the disadvantages of drones over AGVs and forklifts. For instance, while drones are more agile and faster, one of their major drawbacks is their limited load capacity.
This section also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, like Dana improving its warehouse logistics with FlexQube's eQart and Automobil- und Motoren AG (AMAG) collaborating with Swisslog for AGVs.
This section first talks about the reasons behind the growing popularity of unmanned vehicles among various militaries across the world – safety. It also discusses their importance in life-threatening situations surrounding the defusing of landmines, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and unexploded ordnance. It also mentions some of the challenges these vehicles may face, including the lack of sufficiently detailed maps covering war zones or remote combat areas.
It then discusses how the combination of disruptive digital technologies (like AI and IoT) can significantly help in safeguarding soldiers by using autonomous vehicles to engage enemies. It also lists some example contracts for bomb disposal robots and other military unmanned ground vehicles. Case in point, in September 2017, the UK army awarded a GBP55 million (USD67.1 million) contract to Harris Corporation to provide 56 bomb disposal robots to support the country’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams. Lastly, the section mentions a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, including the US Army awarding a contract to Stratom for unmanned ground vehicle systems and the Australian Department of Defense deciding to procure unmanned robots.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the unmanned non-road vehicles market, such as Bear Flag Robotics, John Deere, Swisslog, Toyota Material Handling, SSI Schaefer, and Seegrid. The report provides profiles of the various vendors including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the total number of dedicated unmanned non-road vehicle connections - which were fewer than 30,000 in 2023 and is expected to reach 683,000 by the end of 2033.
Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the Unmanned Non-Road Vehicles Application Group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Unmanned Non-Road Vehicles Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 28%.
